Coast-to-coast training

[trombone]

I am just starting to get into biking. One of the things I have always dreamed of doing in this life was to ride coast-to-coast. I have no idea how to train; what to train on; or how far out to schedule the trip. Is a year too aggressive? Two years? If anyone can refer me to a good resource for this I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[SilentGTboy]

If you could get any info on doing a coast-to-coast ride send it to me.
[email protected]
I'd love to do a ride like that!
I'm just starting to train for Bike Across Florida (B.A.F.) with a little group in the nieghborhood and everyone else is twice as old as me. I'm 17 as of this Sunday. I just joined the group so I'm following there training plan.

 

[gntlmn]

I am just starting to get into biking. One of the things I have always dreamed of doing in this life was to ride coast-to-coast. I have no idea how to train; what to train on; or how far out to schedule the trip. Is a year too aggressive? Two years? If anyone can refer me to a good resource for this I would greatly appreciate it.

It's not really very complicated. You could easily average 50 miles a day with no advance preparation and use the mileage to get in shape. If you want to go longer later, you will be in pretty good shape in about 2 weeks.

You plan your trip on the fly. Since you don't know what the weather will be like, you might not want to ride on very bad days. So that blows all the advance prep. I would just think about the next town you want to stop in as a goal only when I am already sitting somewhere on the road. You talk to the locals when you get there or people on the way who are also doing tours. They give you ideas. You can detour to interesting places when you hear of them. If you stay in hostels, the guests and owners can also give you ideas. If you have everything all planned in advance, I don't see how that would be very enjoyable. It ignores the reality that the it's easier to work with the weather than against it.

The thing I would check first, if I didn't check anything else, is what directions the prevailing winds are. You don't want to go against the wind day after day after day. This is something you might be able to check in the Farmer's Almanac (I think). I wish I would have checked this overwhelmingly important thing before I did my tour. You will want to start your tour on the upwind location and pedal with the wind, not against it.

Some people like to carry everything but the kitchen sink. It's a lot more enjoyable if you can somehow take only your road bike and a credit card. I've seen a guy do this, and I was envious. He stayed in a hotel every day and washed his riding gear in the bathroom sink. It's a lot easier to climb over the mountains with no gear than to be lugging 30 to 60 lbs.

If you really want to get serious, check out Race Across America (RAAM). They could give you some training tips.

 

[Margaret]

I am just starting to get into biking. One of the things I have always dreamed of doing in this life was to ride coast-to-coast. I have no idea how to train; what to train on; or how far out to schedule the trip. Is a year too aggressive? Two years? If anyone can refer me to a good resource for this I would greatly appreciate it.

My boyfriend and I are going on a coast-to-coast self-supported trip this spring. The absolute best place to start investigating long-distance touring in the U.S. is Adventure Cycling -- www.adventurecycling.org. They are a great organization that has mapped routes all over the country and their site is a great resource, not only for seeing their routes and ordering maps, but for tips and advice and information about bike touring in general. You should also check out www.kenkifer.com and www.sheldonbrown.com for more resources and tips on bike touring. Also, www.crazyguyonabike.com is a collection of ride journals from many long-distance trips by many different people -- both coast-to-coast and shorter trips.

I definitely do not think a year is too aggressive, depending on your current fitness and how much time you have to do the trip. You should try to take at least a couple of overnight trips before then, with your gear, in addition of course to your regular riding to build endurance and comfort with the bike.

Good luck! I think you'll see as you start investigating that this goal is very achievable --