BEYOND the Pony Express Bike Ride: Ready to ride.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Caught the train from Martinez this afternoon to be in position for an early morning start from Sacramento tomorrow. Looks like the day-early start to avoid Monday's nasty high Sierra weather was a good idea. Sunday's weather looks ideal to cross the Sierra. Also, leaving Sacramento at 5:30 on a Sunday morning will be much better for car traffic. There will be none! My favorite.

About the 2017, and final, Coast-to-Coast segment.

Alone on my Trek Madone road bike with just the water and food I can carry, a change of clothes, an Ipad, credit card and a healthy bit of enthusiasm, I will pedal along the 2100 mile Pony Express Route from Sacramento to St. Joseph, Missouri. I don't know how many others have done this before me, certainly some, but clearly it's not a popular idea. -June, 2012.

What began in 2012 as a goofy idea and personal goal; to cycle alone following the historic 1860's Pony Express horseback mail route from Sacramento, CA to St. Joseph, MO, evolved into an epic adventure and life experience for me. 22 days alone on a bicycle will do that. The Pony Express ride was complete in 2014, but I missed it, so in 2016 continued from where I left off to work toward a new goal: the Atlantic Ocean.

Plenty of folks ride their bikes across the country but this ride is unique in that it is solo and unsupported, just the bike and me, and most of it does not follow an established cycling route; I mapped my own route using a variety of road maps and internet resources. Nor does it follow a traditional all-at-one-time cross-continent riding schedule. In order to work best around family and the guys at work I have been making my way east in stages ("Phases"), one stage each spring, each stage 7 days long. At an average of about 100 miles pedaling per day it's taken me 4 stages to reach Louisville, KY. A bit of back-and-forth shuttling is necessary but this keeps the people in my life happy and helps me avoid the burnout.

Phase 1, in 2012, was Sacramento, CA-Salt Lake City, UT.

Phase 2, in 2013 was SLC-Scottsbluff, NE.

Phase 3, in 2014, was Scottsbluff-St. Joseph, MO (Kansas City actually) to complete the 2100 mile route.

In 2015 I had a different sort of cycling adventure closer to home. Good, but not good enough.

Phase 4, May, 2016, the journey continued for another 7 day/700 mile segment across Missouri, the Mississippi River, southern Illinois and Indiana to end in Louisville, KY.

Phase 5 in 2017 should wrap things up to end this ride at the Atlantic Ocean somewhere along the Virginia coast.

This blog is a daily account of my journey and I try to add to it at the end of each riding day with a fun re-cap. The blog reads "backward"...the most recent post is at the top. If you're interested there is an index at the bottom of the page that will take you to earlier archived posts or you can pick through the Interactive Map to see the same. Enjoy.

BEYOND the Pony Express Bike Ride

Interactive map

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Ready to ride.

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