…and welcome to the blog I have started to document the planning for and undertaking of my solo unsupported transcontinental bicycle ride from Atlantic Beach, Florida to Pacific Beach, Washington.  I’m calling it the Beach 2 Beach Trans-Con, or b2b for short.

Here’s the Ride With GPS route I have created for it [linkie].  I am in the process of fine tuning the route and breaking it into 50 mile segments, which I will make available in future posts on this blog.  As of May 9th, the initial “tuning” is done and the 50 mile segments of the route are posted on Ride with GPS.

My current plan, subject to change, is to start the ride the last week of May following attending my daughter’s wedding in Rhode Island .  Based on that start date I would reach the left coast sometime in the second week of August, around 60-65 riding days later. The start date now is likely to fall somewhere in the last 10 days of July.  The reasoning behind this will be addressed in an upcoming post.  The “About Me” post here [linkie] will give you some idea of the considerations that have gone into making the trip.

I’ll be starting on the Atlantic Coast east of Jacksonville, cross the State of Florida, then bike along the Gulf Coast until I reach New Orleans.  From there I’ll pick up the Mississippi River and turn north, riding mainly on levee tops to the mouth of the Arkansas River.  This first 1,000 miles of the ride is almost flat, and will be a great period during which to recondition long disused muscles.  Once at the Arkansas, I’ll turn northwest and follow the Arkansas River into central Kansas, where I’ll then make a jump over to the Platte River Valley in Nebraska.  I’ll ride along the North Platte into central Wyoming, then up over the Continental Divide and into Idaho through Jackson and the Grand Tetons.  I’ll miss entering Yellowstone National Park by that much, but you can’t do everything.  Once in Idaho the road will turn north and I’ll be in Montana for a short time before finally turning west and heading for the Columbia River Valley.  On reaching the Columbia, I’ll dip down into Oregon for a few miles then return to my final destination state: Washington, for a long (mostly) downhill run along the north bank of the Columbia River  to Vancouver.  The last two days of the ride will be spent reaching the Pacific Coast and the hamlet of Pacific Beach, where I’ll dip my tires in salt water for the second time of the trip.

The next couple of blog posts will deal with the issue of finding a bike to make the ride on.  I hope you will find what I write here informative and interesting, and welcome you in advance to comment as you would see fit.  Please speak up in particular if you think I could be doing something better in planning and preparing.  Your opinions are absolutely appreciated, whether I wind up agreeing with them or not.  Please speak up sooner rather than later, too.  I’m on a really tight time frame, and decisions about things- in particular equipment and accessories- will be getting made on almost a daily basis starting very soon.  I would also appreciate input as to location-specific routing, as well.  I will be writing various cycling clubs and bike shops asking for comments about the route I have come up with, but there’s nothing like hearing from someone who has detailed info about a better/more scenic/more bike friendly routing.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

David Edgren