Rough Route & Stops

So over the past week or so I have been pencilling out a rough route for my adventure. The aim of this pencilling is not in anyway to plot a definitive route to cycle - rather to mark some milestones and estimations of daily mileage. To plot the route I've used google maps bicycle tool: enter your start, end and way points and off you go. I'm not quite sure about how good it is, my understanding that fundamentally it takes you down quiet routes whenever possible and works best in towns and cities with designated bike routes. It will be interesting to see on the ground with local maps whether the google route stands up.

My key milestones are Boise (to see the blue American football field), Yellowstone and the Titons (no explanation needed), Wichita and Little Rock (friends) and then through the Southern States to Jacksonville, Florida.

My initial end point was going to either be Savannah or Charleston further up the coast, but due to some bizarre flight prices I ended up selecting Jacksonville. Not quite as historical but it will still have a nice beach. I've read quite a on riding direction, and views seem to be mixed. Those favouring the route to the west point out the fact that scenery only improves with the ride, the fact the biggest climbs are at the end and that this route follows that taken by explorers like Lewis and Clarke (I had no idea who Lewis and Clarke were until I lived in the states!) 

These I will admit are very good points, but you will have noticed that I am cycling from West to East and this is solely because of the wind. It blows from West to East in general and I need it on my side! I have a particularly painful memory of cycling from Versailles to Louisville in an Easterly direction with my friend Jeremy. Its a 60 mile ride and we figured and all in ride time of under 5 hours with stops. Anyway it took us all day due to a brutal headwind, and was soul destroying. Since this point I have vowed to ride from the West whenever possible!!

One last thing I wanted to mention was mileage. I've generally gone with the theory at the start or through mountains I'll be doing fairly low daily mileage. Then as I build fitness and the route flattens out I should be able to increase mileage. I've estimated the lowest mileage as 40 miles and top at 70 miles. Rest days scheduled in at least once a week...

So taking all that into consideration my route rout looks as follows:

 

		Status	State	Miles	Cumulative
10/05/2011	Tuesday	FLY
11/05/2011	Wednesday		Washington	45	45
12/05/2011	Thursday		Washington	45	90
13/05/2011	Friday		Washington	50	140
14/05/2011	Saturday		Washington	50	190
15/05/2011	Sunday		Oregon	50	240
16/05/2011	Monday	REST			240
17/05/2011	Tuesday		Oregon	52	292
18/05/2011	Wednesday		Oregon	52	344
19/05/2011	Thursday		Oregon	52	396
20/05/2011	Friday		Oregon	51	447
21/05/2011	Saturday		Oregon	50	497
22/05/2011	Sunday		Idaho	50	547
23/05/2011	Monday	BOISE			547
24/05/2011	Tuesday		Idaho	40	587
25/05/2011	Wednesday		Idaho	40	627
26/05/2011	Thursday		Idaho	40	667
27/05/2011	Friday		Idaho	40	707
28/05/2011	Saturday		Idaho	40	747
29/05/2011	Sunday	REST			747
30/05/2011	Monday		Idaho	40	787
31/05/2011	Tuesday		Idaho	40	827
01/06/2011	Wednesday		Idaho	40	867
02/06/2011	Thursday		Idaho	40	907
03/06/2011	Friday		Montana	38	945
04/06/2011	Saturday	YELLOW ST			945
05/06/2011	Sunday		Wyoming	50	995
06/06/2011	Monday		Wyoming	50	1045
07/06/2011	Tuesday		Wyoming	50	1095
08/06/2011	Wednesday		Wyoming	50	1145
09/06/2011	Thursday		Wyoming	50	1195
10/06/2011	Friday		Wyoming	50	1245
11/06/2011	Saturday		Wyoming	50	1295
12/06/2011	Sunday	REST			1295
13/06/2011	Monday		Wyoming	60	1355
14/06/2011	Tuesday		Nebraska	60	1415
15/06/2011	Wednesday		Nebraska	60	1475
16/06/2011	Thursday		Nebraska	60	1535
17/06/2011	Friday		Nebraska	60	1595
18/06/2011	Saturday		Nebraska	60	1655
19/06/2011	Sunday	REST			1655
20/06/2011	Monday		Nebraska	65	1720
21/06/2011	Tuesday		Kansas	65	1785
22/06/2011	Wednesday		Kansas	65	1850
23/06/2011	Thursday		Kansas	70	1920
24/06/2011	Friday		Kansas	66	1986
25/06/2011	Saturday	WICHITA			1986
26/06/2011	Sunday		Kansas	67	2053
27/06/2011	Monday		Oklahoma	67	2120
28/06/2011	Tuesday		Oklahoma	68	2188
29/06/2011	Wednesday		Oklahoma	68	2256
30/06/2011	Thursday		Oklahoma	67	2323
01/07/2011	Friday		Arkansas	67	2390
02/07/2011	Saturday		Arkansas	67	2457
03/07/2011	Sunday	LITTLE ROCK			2457
04/07/2011	Monday		Arkansas	55	2512
05/07/2011	Tuesday		Arkansas	55	2567
06/07/2011	Wednesday		Mississippi	55	2622
07/07/2011	Thursday		Mississippi	55	2677
08/07/2011	Friday		Mississippi	55	2732
09/07/2011	Saturday		Mississippi	55	2787
10/07/2011	Sunday		Alabama	55	2842
11/07/2011	Monday		Alabama	55	2897
12/07/2011	Tuesday	REST			2897
13/07/2011	Wednesday		Alabama	55	2952
14/07/2011	Thursday		Alabama	55	3007
15/07/2011	Friday		Alabama	55	3062
16/07/2011	Saturday		Georgia	55	3117
17/07/2011	Sunday		Georgia	55	3172
18/07/2011	Monday		Florida	55	3227
19/07/2011	Tuesday		Florida	55	3282
20/07/2011	Wednesday	OFF
21/07/2011	Thursday	FLY
22/07/2011	Friday
23/07/2011	Saturday
24/07/2011	Sunday
25/07/2011	Monday
26/07/2011	Tuesday
27/07/2011	Wednesday
28/07/2011	Thursday
29/07/2011	Friday	Wedding
30/07/2011	Saturday
31/07/2011	Sunday

Plans and Preparations - My First Post!

It's now early March and I have passed the point of no return. My last day at work is scheduled for March 31st 2011, and on the 9th May I will fly to Seattle from London Heathrow via Chicago.

This gives me over 2 months to prepare, plenty of time you may well think. What I failed to mention is that during this time I am trying to find a new job ("sorry I can't attend the interview I'm in Wyoming"), that I am actually getting married a week after I finish the ride and in addition to all this I am trying to sell my house. these three factors are no easy balancing act!

To be fair the all the big things for the wedding are arranged (venue, catering, dress, bride) and Pam is going to have 2 months of peace and quiet to do the finishing touches. Wedding Venue shown below!

 

Louisville Glassworks

(sorry just testing out putting photos in the blog!)

So I've scheduled the ride to last 70 days - with me arriving in Jacksonville, Florida on 21st July and then flying to Louisville, Kentucky where the wedding is on the 29th July. Pam and I fly back to the UK on the 3rd August from Dayton in Ohio after visiting her family for a few days. This means I am in the States for a whopping 87 days (my old work visa has now expired), which is 3 days below the maximum on the visa waiver!!

As for training - well I haven't done much yet. I'm in training for a half marathon which I'll be running next weekend, after that I'll switch to cycling but should be at a good place to start.

I'll leave it there for my first post I want write a bit about my planned route, the bike I have chosen and equipment I am taking but I think I'll let those have their own entries.

On a separate note I've just finished reading the blog of Ryan Andersen - which was great! Really impressed with his adventures and certainly worth a read Cycle Across America

Oh and before I forget, please sponsor me - Virgin Money Giving