Bike Tour Snapshots of 2009 Season

The Details....

April 15th marks the beginning of my 2010 bike touring season.

I'll be flying to San Francisco, CA and biking down the Pacific Coast Bicycle Route to San Diego, CA.  I'll then turn my bicycle east and head towards Phoenix, AZ and fly back home.

It's about 1,100 miles total and I'll have about 13 days of bike travel.  

Between the ACA maps and the book "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" I shouldn't get lost too much right?  Skimming through the book there appears to be a lot of places to get out of the saddle and hike around.  This should be very doable seeing the daily average miles need be only around 85 miles/day.   

Such attractions along this route:  

Golden Gate Bridge, Anu Nuevo State Reserve, Natural Bridges State Park, Big Sur, McCay Canyon, Hearst Castle, Pismo Sand Dune Reserve, Yuha Desert, Chocolate Mountains....just to rattle off a few attractions.  

I'll be using my usual bike set up: Fuji Roubaix with the bolt on seat post rack.  This will encourage me to pack light.  

I've been training as much as this winter season allows and already feel very strong on the bike despite the relatively low miles I've been able to put in....

Another month and a half to clean up bike, put on new chain, cables, etc and continue training and making of flexible itinerary. .....

Reflections...

Well, with cabin fever comes the motivation to map out the year in a casual way. 

After a tough 2009 bike touring season I'm hoping for better in 2010.  I've had much time with being snowed in all winter to analyze the various tours I did in 2009:

x2 day Los Angeles to San Diego

x2 day trip on Delmarva Peninsula

x4 day Central Colorado Trip

x3 day Allegheny Mtns Bike Loop

(I had planned on biking from VA to Maine but that fell through before it even began.)

With each of those trips in 2009 I learned a good bit about how being prepared physically, mentally, emotionally and mechanically can all contribute to a successful bike tour; regardless of it being a 2 day or 40 day trip.  I hope to carry these lessons with me on each intended tour for 2010.  So, here's to an exciting year ahead in the world of bike touring!  With many miles of roads yet still to explore!