There are many answers to these questions, but the biggest answer is time. I have 24 days off in August and there is nothing I can do to change that. Instead of putting off a cross-country ride for another year, I decided to do what I can to make it work this year. That involves making a few compromises.
Pescadero
First, I decided to start close to Reno. This saves me a day of traveling to Washington, Oregon, or Los Angeles. If I start somewhere near San Francisco I can drive there immediately after my last day of work and start riding right away on my first day of vacation.
Second, I decided to keep my total distance as close to 3,000 miles as possible. This is just a simple math problem. 3000/23 = 130.4. 3200/23 = 139.1. My original plan was to ride through Colorado and my native state of Indiana to finish in Virgina, but those extra miles would add up. Instead, I decided to finish in Georgia or Florida.
With these two decisions in mind, Pescadero begins to make more sense. It's within a reasonable driving distance of Reno and it offers a relatively straight route across California. Starting near Santa Cruz was another option, but CA 152 does not look bike friendly at all near San Luis Reservoir, so I chose Pescadero instead.
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| Two starting point options, with Pescadero on top. Pescadero offers a relatively straight line through Yosemite to US 6 in Nevada. |
Jekyll Island
What about Jekyll Island? As mentioned, I wanted to keep the total mileage close to 3,000 miles, which meant finishing in Georgia or Florida. The two obvious cities that jumped out were Savannah, GA and Jacksonville, FL. However, I wanted to finish somewhere a little smaller. After doing some research I found that Jekyll Island is the end point of Georgia Bike Route 10. The more I looked into it, the more I liked it. It's about an hour away from JAX airport, so I can finish on Saturday and fly out first thing Sunday morning. It allows for a relatively straight route through Georgia, avoiding any major cities along the way.
In Between
Once I had the start and end points, the rest of the route pretty much made itself. There aren't many ways to get across Nevada, and US 6 was the obvious choice here. With that in mind, I choose to take a relatively straight line through California to get to US 6. There's a lot of climbing on the Caliornia portion of the route, but I enjoy climbing and I'll still be fresh.
After crossing Nevada, I could choose either St. George, UT or Cedar City, UT. I've been to both cities and they are both beautiful. Either one would be a good choice, but I chose Cedar City. From there the obvious next step is to head to Farmington, NM, then a straight shot over to the Texas panhandle.
That's where things start getting tricky. There are a lot more roads to choose from and the route possibilities become endless. To narrow things down, I focused on passing through the Talimena Scenic Byway in Oklahoma/Arkansas. I did a little bit of riding near that area in 2014, but not nearly enough. What better time to go back and see more of the area? From there on I was aiming straight southeast to Jekyll Island.
Sounds easy enough, but it involved a lot of hours on Google Maps, state DOT websites, traffic density maps, local cycling club websites, Strava, etc. The work isn't done yet. I'm always looking to improve the route and as spring and summer arrive I'll have to be on the lookout for road construction or any other potential problems.
I do not expect my route to be perfect. I tried to stay on bike-friendly roads as much as possible and I tried to stay away from big cities. (However, this is a credit card tour, so I need to pass through a town big enough to have a hotel and a restaurant or grocery store every now and then.) I did what I could to keep things safe. But research and planning can only go so far. Street View maps can be out of date. Some state DOT websites are more helpful than others. Same goes for local cycling club websites. I've done enough riding in unfamiliar territory to know that things aren't always what they seem when I was planning the route. I've run into busier roads than expected, gravel roads that weren't expected, and a closed road or two. It's always frustrating in the moment, but at the end of the ride they make for a better story. Petoji will be no different.
