The schedule is to have arrived in San Francisco at 2 p.m. on Friday 30th by Virgin Atlantic, then
today show up for check-in afternoon at the motel in Burlingame, a smidgin south of SFO airport, and just 16 miles north of Menlo Park, where I hope to stay overnight on the Friday with Erika, a veteran of coast-to-coast 2002.
We intend to get up with the lark this morning, along with John & Paul, also from C2C 2002, to do a warm-up ride, maybe over Skyline Boulevard and out to the ocean near Pescadero. This should blow away most of the cobwebs from being cooped up in a plane for 11 hours, and get the legs and lungs ready for the ride proper, starting tomorrow, Sunday, morning.
The whole town-by-town itinerary, with expected mileage, is as follows:
Sun June 1 San Francisco, CA to Fairfield, CA 82 miles
Mon June 2 Fairfield, CA to Sacramento, CA 57
Tue June 3 Sacramento, CA to Auburn, CA 51
Wed June 4 Auburn, CA to Truckee, CA 76
Thu June 5 Truckee, CA to Sparks, NV 50
Fri June 6 Sparks, NV to Lovelock, NV 91
Sat June 7 Lovelock, NV to Winnemucca, NV 76
Sun June 8 Winnemucca, NV to Battle Mountain, NV 55
Mon June 9 Battle Mountain, NV to Elko, NV 72
Tue June 10 Elko, NV to Wendover, UT 108
Wed June 11 Wendover, UT to Salt Lake City, UT 117
Thu June 12 Salt Lake City, UT (Rest Day) 0
Fri June 13 Salt Lake City, UT to Provo, UT 64
Sat June 14 Provo, UT to Price, UT 75
Sun June 15 Price, UT to Green River, UT 67
Mon June 16 Green River, UT to Grand Junction, CO 94
Tue June 17 Grand Junction, CO to Montrose, CO 70
Wed June 18 Montrose, CO to Gunnison, CO 63
Thu June 19 Gunnison, CO to Salida, CO 66
Fri June 20 Salida, CO to Pueblo, CO 95
Sat June 21 Pueblo, CO (Rest Day) 0
Sun June 22 Pueblo, CO to Lamar, CO 121
Mon June 23 Lamar, CO to Garden City, KS 104
Tue June 24 Garden City, KS to Dodge City, KS 51
Wed June 25 Dodge City, KS to Great Bend, KS 85
Thu June 26 Great Bend, KS to McPherson, KS 64
Fri June 27 Mc Pherson, KS to Abilene, KS 64
Sat June 28 Abilene, KS to Topeka, KS 108
Sun June 29 Topeka, KS to St. Joseph, MO 89
Mon June 30 St. Joseph, MO (Rest Day) 0
Tue July 1 St. Joseph, MO to Chillicothe, MO 91
Wed July 2 Chillicothe, MO to Kirksville, MO 82
Thu July 3 Kirksville, MO to Quincy, IL 97
Fri July 4 Quincy, IL to Springfield, IL 101
Sat July 5 Springfield, IL to Champaign, IL 103
Sun July 6 Champaign, IL to Crawfordsville, IN 82
Mon July 7 Crawfordsville, IN to Indianapolis, IN 64
Tues July 8 Indianapolis, IN (Rest Day) 0
Wed July 9 Indianapolis, IN to Richmond, IN 73
Thu July 10 Richmond, IN to Marysville, OH 105
Fri July 11 Marysville, OH to Wooster, OH 104
Sat July 12 Wooster, OH to Niles, OH 91
Sun July 13 Niles, OH to Erie, PA 96
Mon July 14 Erie, PA (Rest Day) 0
Tue July 15 Erie, PA to Hamburg, NY 82
Wed July 16 Hamburg, NY to Canandaigua, NY 94
Thu July 17 Canandaigua, NY to Liverpool, NY 63
Fri July 18 Liverpool, NY to Little Falls, NY 85
Sat July 19 Little Falls, NY to Latham, NY 83
Sun July 20 Latham, NY to Brattleboro, VT 77
Mon July 21 Brattleboro, VT to Manchester, NH 86
Tue July 22 Manchester, NH to Portsmouth, NH 62
.... back in the summer of 2002, I was fortunate enough to be able to cycle coast-to-coast across USA with 41 others, starting in Everett, just north of Seattle and ending in Gloucester, just north of Boston. That ride, with a company called Cycle America, lasted 9 weeks and covered 4456 miles. The ride was a wonderful experience on so many levels, not least of which was the founding of very many firm and lasting friendships; many of that group have met up in ensuing summers to ride together again in England & Scotland, Holland & Belgium, Tuscany, Canada and USA. Even before the 2002 coast-to-coast was over, I think I knew that I would want to cross again, by a different route.
And so it has proved. In 2008 I am riding with America by Bicycle, and leave San Francisco CA on June 1st, once again with a few veterans of 2002, to ride across to Portsmouth NH, where I arrive on July 22nd, a trip of 7 weeks and a projected <3900 miles.
