A Change of Plans...

Okay... so I think I waited (procrastinated) too long to make another post. There's a lot I want to write about! Oops.

On the bridge to St. George!

So Dylan, Jesse, and I went on a mini tour as our first test-run for the big tour. We rode 200 miles over the course of three days, camping one night at Wright Lake in the Apalachicola National Forest and the other at the St. George Island State Park. It was our first time putting some real distance down on the bikes, as well as our first mini-tour! I'm really excited about how well it all went. Our route was very scenic and relatively safe, and the gear I purchased all worked perfectly. I've definitely been bitten by the bike-tour bug, and I seriously can't wait until the next mini-tour (and the cross-country tour, of course).

The biggest lesson I learned from this experience is that you have to be on top of everything:

Being aware of your route and road conditions. Making sure your bike and equipment is in proper working order. Where's the next source of water? Food? Having the proper camping gear while accounting for weight. When does the sun go down?

You get the idea...

Shortcomings in any of these categories can easily ruin your day, and perhaps even your tour. With a combination of preparedness and a little luck, we made our weekend excursion work. 

After setting up camp at Wright Lake

Preparing for and doing the weekend tour also made me change my mind on a few different things. For one, I have decided not to use my DIY Bike Buckets on the cross-country tour. While they worked amazingly on our mini-tour, I'm not sure that I trust them to hold up for our entire journey across America, and I really do not want to have to deal with unnecessary equipment failure. Also, we have chosen to abandon the "voluntouring" aspect of The Ride. Just planning and executing for a three-day tour proved to be stressful enough, let alone a two-month one. Money and time was also a concern, plus we will now have more leisure to explore and document our experiences without the constraints of volunteering. Therefore, I have renamed the blog "The Ride: A Bike Tour Across America" with no particular mission statement. The blog will simply cover the tour from our perspectives, and offer pictures and videos to further enhance your viewership! And finally, we have changed the route slightly: We will be going on the TransAmerica route as planned, up until Pueblo, CO where we will transfer to the Western Express, which will take us through to San Francisco, CA! It's a bit shorter, but the idea of ending in SFO and meeting up with my family there sounds really awesome. Also who doesn't like a little taste of California? Check out the maps in our updated About section! 

So... departure date is set for May 30th or 31st. We're still figuring out how to get to Virginia, but there have been discussions about taking a train from Jacksonville. I am also getting a new touring bike, which I'll probably post about in the near future. And there's an epic going-away party that we're planning for May 16th. Very, very exciting times for us. So ready to hit the road. 

See you next post! 

- Chris