Bicycling Across America
  • Blog
  • Our route so far
  • Contact

the Bicycle Diaries

roy and marie's travel Blog

CalIFORNIA dreaming on Such a Winter's Day . . .

3/6/2015

4 Comments

 


The two questions our friends most frequently ask:  (1) What route are you taking?  and (2)  Why East to West? 
The route:  Adventure Cycling Association Maps for the Various Segments of Our Trip:  We plan to leave from our house near Washington, DC and follow the C&O Canal to the Allegheny Gap to Pittsburgh.  From there we will pick up Adventure Cycling Association Underground Railroad Spur route to Erie, PA.  We will join the ACA Northern Tier Route and follow that to the Dickinson, ND, where we will pick up the ACA Lewis & Clark route to Missoula, MT.  From there we will follow the ACA Transamerica Bicycle Trail to the Oregon Coast.  If we have time, we plan to cycle down the Pacific Coast Trail  to Oakland, CA, to visit the West Coast outpost of our family. If we don't have time, we hope they'll come rescue us.

So why East to West
1. We like to start from home.  Although we have done one shake down trip, we tend to discover problems on the first day.  It's easier to solve problems near home. If the airlines are going to delay, damage, or lose our luggage, we'd rather that they do it after we have completed our trip than before we start.  
2. We want an easy start.  The C&O Canal and Allegheny Gap offer a relatively flat start compared to hitting the Cascades in the first week.  When we get to the Rockies, we should be in pretty good  shape.
3. Our son and daughter-in-law live on the West Coast.  That's a goal worth focusing on. 
4. People who have traveled both ways have assured us that the wind is against you no matter which way you go.  We are as likely to encounter side winds as head winds or tail winds.  The prevailing winds prevail at altitudes that affect weather and airplanes, but many other factors govern local winds.
5. We like the idea of the sun being behind us when we start the day.  We hope to be off the roads before the summer sun is in our eyes.
6.  We like the idea of generally following the history of European settlement in the United States.
 





Picture
4 Comments

A Word About Our Sponsors

3/6/2015

1 Comment

 
For Christmas we received an unsolicited gift, offering us a sponsorship package that included jerseys, this website, technical support, a finish line reception, and a recovery stay at CASA 549.  The jerseys arrived last week.  Who knew there was a company that will do a run of 2 semi-custom jerseys? 
Picture
So here's a shout out to our beloved sponsors, start up companies in the Bay Area:  TerrAvion  and Wof Couture, who are engaged in real high stakes adventures.    

1 Comment

Winter, Winter Go Away

3/3/2015

0 Comments

 

We thought our training program would begin March 1, but Old Man Winter has had other ideas.

Picture
0 Comments

    About 

    We are spending this summer bicycling from Virginia to California.

    Archives

    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    December 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.