Route Update: April

All hotels are booked, so I have made a few slight changes to the route.

Original Itinerary

New Itinerary

The changes start at Day 12. I added about 20 miles to finish in Pampa, TX instead of Borger, TX. From there I decided to route through Anadarko, OK instead of New Cordell, OK. I mainly switched because of the hotel situation. It makes for a long Day 13, but Day 14 becomes shorter and a rest day of sorts.

On Day 15 I switched from Talihina, OK to Heavener, OK. This was a route change that I didn't necessarily want to make, but the hotel situation forced my hand. The switch removes a section of the Talimena Scenic Byway. It's unfortunate, but I'll still get to ride half of the Byway. On the positive side, the switch adds extra mileage to the route as a whole, pushing it over the 3,000 mile mark. I don't know why, I wanted that number. It's one of those irrational human things. Is a 100 mile ride more impressive than a 99 mile ride? No, but I'd ride that extra 1 mile almost every time. Is 3,000 more impressive than 2,900? Probably not.

Those are the only major changes. The other cities stayed the same, but mileages may have changed slightly because of more exact routing from hotel to hotel. I've updated the daily GPS files and the big route map on the website.

Training Update: March

After a slow February, I picked things up a little in March. I had 1,400 miles for the month and 9 centuries. (For the year I'm sitting at 3,700 miles and 23 centuries.) Most importantly, I was able to complete a 4-day block of training where I averaged 119 miles per day. There's more detail on those 4 days here if you're interested.

I felt good during the 4-day block and I'm getting a better feel for how I have to pace myself for multiple long days in a row. However, 4 days is less than 20% of what I'll need to do for Petoji. I feel good about my progress so far, but I still understand that I have a lot more work to do.

Towards the end of May I might have time to fit in a 9-day block of training, so I'm going to use April to focus on back-to-back rides. I want to do 2 100-mile rides in a row on 3 of the 4 weekends. I also want to squeeze in one double century. There are a few days around 170 miles, so I want a few doubles in the bank before Petoji.

There won't be any long training blocks, but April should be a busy month and May will be even more important.

Training Update: February

As expected, February was a quiet month. I only got in 724 miles for the month. However, I did start adding more intervals into the schedule and I'm doing 2 days per week now. I don't really have a structured plan. I'll do 40/20s, pyramids, or just go 100% on a climb.

It doesn't sound like much, but I have to keep reminding myself that this was all part of the plan. Things will start to pick up in March. I want to start getting my weekly long ride into the 110 mile range and I have a block of 4 100-mile days in a row planned. I should start to feel like I'm making progress again.

Training Update: January

January is over and Petoji is only about 6 months away. How did January's training stack up and am I on track with my training plan?

So far the plan is on track. I was able to work on one of my big points of emphasis- riding hard on consecutive days. I completed two different blocks of 4 days in a row at 100 miles per day. These blocks were the main goal for the month and the most Petoji-specific training I could do. I was even able to fit in some adequate recovery time after both blocks, which is something I don't always have the discipline to do.

January turned out to be a big month. I did 1,596 miles and a total of 11 centuries. I was blessed with a combination of more free time and better weather than normal. Hopefully it's a good foundation for the year to come.

February is going to be a change of pace. I'm going to have less free time on my hands. As a result, I will pick up the intensity. I might even do some dreaded indoor riding (I find it easier/safer to do intervals indoors). I'll still do my weekly long ride and I want to fit in one weekend of back-to-back centuries. Aside from that, there won't be a whole lot going on when it comes to Petoji-specific training. Essentially I'm just trying to stay in decent shape until March and then I will ramp up the training again.

Why a Credit Card Tour?

Petoji is a credit card tour, meaning that I will carry basic cycling gear and clothing and pay for things like meals, supplies and overnight accommodations along the way. Why choose a credit card tour over other methods of touring?

In the world of cyclotouring, I'm more of a cyclist than a tourist. I love to ride. A big part of the appeal of riding across America is the physical challenge. I've always wanted to do something similar to America By Bicycle's Fast America rides, which are supported tours that average about 100 miles per day. To me, that would be the perfect trip- just focus on riding and let the support crew take care of everything else. Unfortunately, their schedule doesn't work for me this year. Neither does the PAC Tour Elite ride. I'm on my own.

Hiring a SAG driver crossed my mind. It would be nice to pre-plan water stops, have a wide variety of food available, have spare parts in case of a breakdown, etc. In the end I simply can't afford it. There aren't a ton of bike tour companies that can do this sort of thing and the ones I found were too rich for my blood. I tried to be creative and look for a non-cycling specific tour guide or driver, but I ran into similar problems. A Petoji SAG wouldn't really make sense unless I had a group of 5 or more riders organized. I have no idea where I'd find 4 other riders who would be willing to join me.

A credit card tour is a decent compromise. I'm going to try to go as light as I can with just one set of off-bike clothes, mini tool, mini-pump, 2 tubes, patch kit, phone, Garmin, charging cable, sunscreen, toothbrush, ID, and credit card. (Note: I'm still working on the exact packing list and will post it later on.) Obviously there are a few concerns. The first is water. Towns are few and far between on the Western portion of the route. I've been mapping out mileages between towns and looking for any potential water sources in between. I'm going to want to carry 4 bottles on certain days. The second is the potential of a mechanical issue. A mini tool can solve a lot of problems, but not all of them. On my normal rides around home I know how to deal with a broken spoke, a broken chain, or a severely cut tire and slowly make my way back. However, that's usually only 50 miles away at the most. At any given time during Petoji I may be hundreds of miles away from a bike shop. All I can do is have quality equipment that is properly maintained and hope for the best. That's true of any ride, though.

I'd be a liar if I said I wouldn't prefer a SAG wagon. It would certainly make things easier. That doesn't mean that doing it by myself is impossible, and by the time I make it to Jekyll Island I'm sure there be a sense of satisfaction from doing things on my own.

The Route

Why ride Pescadero, CA to Jekyll Island, GA, and why do it over 23 days in August? Why not stay further north or use an Adventure Cycling route?

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.

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.

Training Plan

What's the training plan for Petoji?

It all starts with a base. First of all, I've been riding seriously for 10 years and have averaged over 11,500 miles during the past 5 years. I've completed more than 325 100-mile rides, including one per week in 2012 and 2013. I have enough miles in my legs to trust that, with the proper training, I can complete the ride. My training will have two areas of focus.

My first focal point is riding hard on consecutive days. For most of my riding life I've focused on one long ride per week, usually giving myself one recovery day before and after that long ride. In 2015 I need to train myself to ride hard on consecutive days. My specific Petoji training began in December of 2014 when I rode 400 miles in 4 days and continued in January when I did 4 100-mile days in a row. In an ideal world I would keep on building until I could do 1,000 miles in 10 days. However, I don't have enough free days to do that. Instead, I'll do one week a month where I do back-to-back 100 mile days on the weekend and add as much intense riding as I can during the week. This will be my way of training myself to ride hard day after day.

My second focus is increasing the length of a "comfortable" long ride. I don't know why, but 100 miles has always been that magic number to me. My long weekly ride is almost always very close to that 100 mile mark. Rarely do I ride 120-150 miles or so. It seems like I'm either doing 100 miles or I jump straight up to 200. 100 is very comfortable to me and my mind and body tend to think they are done after that point. However, Petoji averages 130 miles/day, so I would like to be comfortable at 130 miles. That's a long way of saying that I want to get my long weekly ride up in the 130 range. This shouldn't be too difficult, and I'll start ramping up in March.

Aside from those two points of emphasis, I'll just try to ride as much as I can. I've been lucky to have some time off in January, so I should get well over 1,000 miles for the month. Things will get busy again in February, and with the short days I'll probably focus on intervals and then ramp up the mileage again in March. Starting in March I will begin to increase the mileage of my weekly long ride and I'll try to fit in 6 days in a row of riding hard on consecutive days as mentioned above. In April I'll go up to 8, then 10 in May and June. I'll relax a little in July and focus on doing intervals again.

I know it's not the perfect plan and I'm not the most scientific-based rider out there. However, I believe that this plan will work for me and I'm looking forward to putting it to the test.