On 31 Jul 2006 14:48:41 -0700, "Scott"
wrote:
Mike Vermeulen wrote:
I'll second the suggestion you've already received about using Adventure
Cycling maps. I rode the southern Tier in a San Jose to Jacksonville
ride in 2001 and mostly followed their route
(http://www.mvermeulen.com/oneyear/usa.htm).

My second suggestion would be to assume you might have some days of tough
weather (cold, headwind, rain) and plan with that contingency in mind -
either by having some extra days or equipment or both...

Thanks for the hints. I'd thought about the Adventure Cycling Southern
Tier route, but (and there's always a "but...") I need to stay as far
south as reasonably possible due to weather concerns in February, I'll
have just enough time to make it if I average 100m a day, with two
planned rest days and a possible third contingency day, AND (drum roll
here...) I'm going to do it on a fixed gear.

Yeah, I know... fixed is nuts and most folks think it's not doable, but
I ride fixed gear all winter long for my base mile training (I race
road and track) and will often ride 300-400 miles a week on fixed
gears. I figure if I'm doing that WHILE working 40 hrs a week, then it
shouldn't be too big a stretch to do a century a day if I'm not
working. I'll do a bit of extra prep work in November/December to make
sure before biting off more than I can chew.

Well, you certainly sound ambitious. Good luck! (Do you have any
bail-out plans?)

So, the hillier sections in Arizona, especially east of Phoenix through
New Mexico to Silver City aren't really what I'm looking for. I
suppose that the Southern Tier route from La east will work just fine.
I've just got to get from San Diego to Dallas in early February without
freezing.

Dallas often freezes in February. I'm trying to imagine how you're
going to get there without freezing, without much success. El Paso can
be pretty chilly, too, and you can't get any further south while
staying in the U.S.

Have you considered doing the trip in reverse? If you took the
Adventure Cycling route leaving out of Jacksonville in early February,
you'd have the Gulf to mediate temperatures on the first part of the
trip, and maybe things would warm up before you got to the mountains.

Pat

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