Alright, so I have had an itch to go explore the West Coast for some time now and what better way to do it than by bike. The plan is to take about 5 weeks and ride from Vancouver to, well, wherever. That's the gist of it. No structured plan because that would take away from the spontaneity of the adventure. There are of course certain things that I have in mind, such as spending time in Vancouver, Victoria, and San Fran. I may check out Whistler before leaving Canada. Cycle Lake Tahoe if the weather permits. Spend as much time with the Sequoias and bask in the beauty of Yosemite, the place John Muir had in mind when he said "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."
Going solo will enable me to explore at my own pace and spend my time exactly the way I want to. I plan on meeting a lot of great people and thriving from the kindness, advice and generosity of friends I have yet to meet. Most nights will be spent camping. Others in hostels, hotels or at the residence of people I meet through warmshowers.org, a site made specifically for touring cyclists.
At this point I have my flight booked - 3/30, all the equipment I should need, cycling maps showing my route as well as many possible side trips and my bike is being put together at Dream Cycle in Vancouver. I have never toured before so I anticipate the vast difference from riding a carbon framed racing bike to a steel framed touring bike loaded down with 60 or so pounds of gear will take some getting used to.
Most of my meals will be from restaurants since I will not be lugging around cooking gear. My increased need for balanced nutrition will be supplemented by juice plus capsules, which contain the nutrients from 17 fruits, vegetables and grains, many of which I would not be able to obtain while touring. I am pretty sure I will constantly be eating, even more so than I do already, which is saying a lot.
Thank you to all the people who have helped me out already, including Jeffrey and Jessica Evans, Mitchell Atherton, Ira from Craigslist (nice panniers!) the cast and crew of Bicycle Sport Shop (Austin) and Dream Cycle (Vancouver), members of GruppoVOP and Velocity Cycling here in Austin and all the rest I can't remember right now.
I will try not to get too distracted and forget to post every couple of days while I am out there. No promises though.
I'm praying about this, already! It really will be the trip of a lifetime and I'm glad you're getting to do it, even if I REALLY wish you weren't going it alone! Would like to hear more about the capsules when you get back...Jeff could benefit from supplements like that if we can talk him into it. Good luck, my friend! Can't wait to see posts from the road :)
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