EPIC FAIL: The Southern Tier

On Day 2 of his EPIC cross-country bicycle journey, Sean Hockensmith QUIT, but he refused to come back home!!! Despite his cross-country cycling FAILURE, he remained on the iconic Southern Tier Bike Route assuming he would die in the desert! ALONE and UNSUPPORTED, Sean struggled each day finding a way to take “one more ride!” Thanks to his severe stubbornness, some angelic words of encouragement, and the grace of God through the power of prayer, Sean Hockensmith eventually completed the arduous Southern Tier Bicycle Route! EPIC FAIL reveals EXACTLY how Sean completed the grueling feat by revealing over 100 trip-ending obstacles and how to avoid them.

With his bike packed in a cardboard box, Sean Hockensmith flew from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to San Diego, California, assembled his bicycle at the Baggage Claim area inside the San Diego Airport, and began pedaling his bicycle across the country. Over the next 43 days, Sean pedaled over 3,000 miles across the southern portion of the United States of America all the way from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, an endeavor in which he was mostly unprepared and unqualified. Against the odds, Sean and his bicycle reached the sparkling sands of Jacksonville Beach on Day 43 of his epic bicycle journey. Solo, unsupported, and continuous Sean learned day-by-day what it REALLY takes to pedal a bicycle across the country.

Along the way, Sean Hockensmith battled heat exhaustion, hypothermia, saddle sores, panic attacks, threatened imprisonment, fierce attacking dogs, lost equipment, stalking coyotes, butchering hosts with assault rifles, United States Border Patrol, frozen water bottles, areas without cell phone service, wild pigs, wet and cold clothes, a lost cell phone, closed overnight accommodations, COVID 19, 4 flat tires in one day, injured knees, physical exhaustion, cockroaches, long detours, fierce headwinds, an almost near-death crash atop a 100-foot-high windy bridge, wrong turns in the “middle of nowhere,” belligerent honking drivers, huge tractor trailers, eerie darkness, an uncontrollable bowel movement on the side of the road, an unexpected hail storm, rain, thick fog, homesickness, broken wheel spokes, a 14-mile uphill mountain pass, dangerous 40 mile per hour downhill descents, a sick and overwhelmed wife back home, and much more…..