September 2012 - Ride Across America

Afternoon all,

Just a little topic to say that I plan to cycle across America in September of this year.

I deploy to Afghanistan in a few weeks time, and if all goes well I'll be back in September with about 6 weeks of post-tour holiday to take. I've been thinking of what to do with my free time, and also all of the money that I'll save whilst being away, and I think cycling across America is the best option.

I've thought of so many things that I'd love to do in that time and it's my one chance to do something epic whilst I'm 'young'. 6 weeks is a hell of a time off from work so I plan to utilise it well.

The plan at the moment is to fly to the East Coast/Miami, buy a suitable bike, a tent, a sleeping bag and a few other things, and then hit the road hard. I want to end up in San Francisco as I love the City, and then i'll fly home and back to reality.

So yeah, as ropey as it is, that's the plan. Long hours in the saddle and sleeping under the stars at night. I don't know if anyone has ever done this before (or anything like it) but if so then I'd love to hear from you. Any info on reasonably priced and suitable bikes, possible routes and nutrition will be warmly received.

Roll on September.

Jealous. Go for it, and send us a postcard.

Have fun. NY Times reporter did this this year though went the other way, from Oregon to NYC. I think his account is here
http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/category/life-is-a-wheel/?ref=travel

Just read that NYT piece, it's lovely. Damn I wish I could get 12 weeks off work to have a go. If you look at the gallery you can see that he's riding an Indy Fab. Niiiiice.

Bumped into a Scottish guy in Oregon last September who had just done the Trans American bike trail from Virginia to Oregon - I think it was the reverse of this one with a few scenic diversions thrown in.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/transamerica.cfm

He did 4,300 miles fully loaded on an old Roberts tourer and said it was brilliant fun. Not quite the route you want, but the site looks like it may have good info on other routes. I'm toying with the idea of a west coast Vancouver to San Fran trip about the same time as you, but haven't got my act together to actually make any plans. Good motivation from that blog...

Alright a bit of an update. So I'm over halfway through tour and things are going well. I've had my dates confirmed so it looks like I'll be back in early October, where i'll have a week or so at home and then i'll head to Miami and hit the road hard.

Planning needs to kick in big time as I was going to be messed around on my return but I'm getting a new posting and a guaranteed 6 week block.

I'll keep you posted on updates. Time to buy a ticket to Miami, buy a trucker map, and start thinking of which bike.

The adventure begins..

Good luck man!