i'm in the final stages of planning the minutia of the travel and packing details, and things are all falling into place for my trip. getting very excited....
briefly, the itinerary goes like this:
ship my bike to my dad's place in naples, FL. send all my gear to my bud Dave's place on the FL east coast.
fly to naples, FL to visit my dad. then, make a one-day dash across florida to ft. pierce (about 130 miles). ought to be pretty nice, as i'll not be carrying a full touring load. visit with friends for a day, load up my gear, ceremoniously dip my wheels in the atlantic, and depart on 4/4.
my route consists of a combination of 4 of the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) routes in the United States: the Southern Tier (once I reach Tallahassee, FL, to Gulf Shores, AL), the Underground Railroad (to Cave-in-Rock, IL), the TransAmerica (TransAm) (to Missoula, MT), and the Lewis and Clark Trail to Astoria. OR. ACA has detailed cycling-centric maps for each of these routes, complete with elevation profiles, and annotations for services like lodging, groceries, campgrounds, libraries (for internet access), bike shops, etc., along with pertinent contact information for the above in each significant locations along the way. the routes themselves are generally rural roadways thru small towns, intentionally avoiding traffic areas.. roughly 4500 miles. shooting for 80 days or less.
i'm fortunate to live close enough to safely bike-commute to work, so i've been getting many training miles on the bike loaded with 'gear' in my panniers; not 'gear' per se, but bricks to simulate the weight. with weekend longer rides and practicing camp setups, the shakedowns are coming along very well....
i'll post final prep news as i go, so stay tuned.
BUT, before that .........
Thursday, March 11, 2010
... a little nostalgia from 1997 ....
I'm not entirely new to bicycle touring. my desire to cycle self-contained across the united states was as strong in 1997 as it is now. however, as a novice at this sort of thing, i chose a more modest and flat route for my first extended tour: the atlantic coast.
after visiting my folks for a couple of days in early june 1997, i departed from ft. myers, FL. made it to the atlantic side in 2 days, and proceeded up the east coast thru florida, georgia, south carolina, north carolina ( the outer banks were the best part of this trip !!!), virginia, the eastern shore of virginia, maryland, back to virginia, ending up at my brother's house where i started. 21 days, 1,504 miles total. it took another 13 years to get the opportunity for the coast-to-coast, but it's here !!!!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Trek 520 touring bike
9-speed: 48-36-26, 11x32
schwalbe marathon tires 700x32
brooks saddle
ortlieb panniers
schwalbe marathon tires 700x32
brooks saddle
ortlieb panniers
Current Packing Setups ....
right front pannier: 7.5 lbs - coleman stove with addt'l fuel bottle
- msr 2-pot kit
- coffee percolator - GOTTA HAVE THIS...
- stainless steel 2-cup cup
- wind shield
- one pack fire starter sticks
- bike cover
right rear pannier: 9 lbs.
cycling and general-wear clothing:
- zip-off cargo pants
- 2 pairs cycling shorts
- 1 pair baggy shgorts w/ pad liner (not shown)
- 2 pair triathlon shorts
- 3 pairs wool socks
- wool ski mask (for chilly times)
- 2 sleeveless triathlon tops
- 2 short-sleeve cool-max shirts
- 2 long-sleeve cool-max shirts
- arm wamers (thinking layers !)
- 1 pair mid-weight wool top/bottom
- 1 pair light-weight wind-proof gloves
- 2 camping bath towels
- 1 cool-max sleeping bag liner
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