Summary

Vancouver, BC to Imperial Beach, CA
33 riding days, 1 rest day

Stats

Longest day: 92.8 miles: Day 3 (Anacortes, WA to Bremerton, WA)
Most climbing: 5042 feet: Day 3 (Anacortes, WA to Bremerton, WA) and Day 26 (Monterey, CA to Pacific Valley, CA)
Fastest day: 14.2 mph: Day 24 (Daly City, CA to Santa Cruz, CA)
Slowest day: 10.1 mph (Napa, CA to Daly City, CA)

Stat Totals

Mileage: 1985.9 miles
Riding Time: 155 hours 52 minutes
Elapsed Time: 234 hours 27 minutes
Total Climbing: 83607 feet (15.8 miles)

The Average Day

Distance: 60.2 miles
Riding Time: 4 hours 44 minutes
Average speed: 12.7 mph
Elapsed Time: 7 hours 06 minutes
Maximum Speed: 37.9 mph
Total Climbing: 2534 feet
Maximum Elevation: 610 feet

Technology

I carried a 3lb Dell Inspiron 300m laptop and typed up my commentary almost every night. The maps come from Topo USA 4.0. The Topo USA DVD was mounted as a drive image on the hard drive so I wouldn't have to carry a CD/DVD drive with me. When we stayed at motels (which was almost every night), I dialed up to an AOL account and e-mailed my files back to Linda. She proofread my prose and uploaded the files to the web site. Linda also handled almost all e-mail communications. She forwarded e-mails to the web site to us at my AOL account. Sometimes she forwarded the responses.

Problems

Things went incredibly well. Our only serious mechanical problem was my blown out sidewall on Day 11. Otherwise, the tires held up amazingly well. We ran through all kinds of crap on the roadsides but we never had a puncture--not even a slow leak. JT burned through a set of brake pads. The only real problem was the weather in Oregon, and there was nothing we could do about that.

Gear

Bob: Cannondale T-800 Touring bike, upgraded with Dura-Ace Bar-End shifters, Shimano 105 cranks and bottom bracket, 36-spoke wheels built on Mavic Touring rims, Bruce Gordon front and rear racks with matching panniers, REI handlebar bag, and an old Cannondale insulated trunk bag. Tires were Continental Top Touring 2000s at the start and Specialized Armadillos at the end.

JT: Cannondale T-2000 Touring bike, fitted with Dura-Ace Bar-End shifters, everything else stock. Continental Touring tires. Ortleib panniers and rack on the front. Something else on the back.

Our bikes were shipped from the Annapolis Bike Doctor to Greggs Greenlake Cycles in Seattle. The return shipment to Annapolis was from Zumwalt's College Cyclery in San Diego.

Lessons Learned

We learned not to try and outsmart the weather. We took a day off because the weather was bad and was supposed to improve. Instead we wasted a day in Tillamook--we didn't even visit the cheese factory--and the weather was worse the next day.

Finally, I learned that it pays to carry extra gear so that you won't need it. After I bought a new rain jacket it stopped raining. After I started carrying a spare tire, I had no more tire problems. After I bought a disposable camera my regular camera worked perfectly. There's nothing like the threat of replacement to make a balky inanimate object a little more reasonable.

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