The Plan…

This trip is my (early) retirement gift (and birthday gift, anniversary gift, and any holiday gift for many years probably)! Since buying our bikes a few years ago, I have had the bug to do longer and longer rides, so why not across the country?! The answer to that is my job, of course; while teachers have a decent summer break, it’s not long enough for what I want to do:

Ride from coast to coast, see the sights, visit a few people along the way. The planning has been pretty intense but mostly fun. We used MapMyRide and Furkot to settle on routes, tentatively plan lodging and meals, and estimate distances and elevation. We are taking camping gear, even though we plan to stay primarily in hotels, a laptop to keep this updated and deal with random stuff back home, and minimal clothing and supplies. We are riding Trek Checkpoints which are suitable for roads and gravel, as we’ve planned as many routes as possible on some amazing trails (many rail to trail), not all of which are paved.

Enjoy the ride with us! -Melanie