Belonging to the Coast2Coast mailing list and Bubba’s facebook page has been really helpful in learning new things about long distance touring.

Here I’m trying to capture some of the conversations so that I can put these things in my checklists.

Various comments:

Hi All, I was waiting for this question, a question which is so very hard to answer since the weather on each past C2C tour has been different.

No such thing as a “weather pattern”. 2015 the coldest night of the entire tour was the night spent at the Alabama/Mississippi border. 2016 it was very cold in middle Texas where normally it is very warm. Past years Tombstone would hold that honor. Alpine, CA as well has held that honor.

Before suggestion some items to help keep you warm allow me to make this suggestion. Feel free to bring a “cold weather bag”. Might be just a gym bag or small carry on bag. Once the tour gets out of the normally cold area that bag can be left of the baggage truck. If by chance, as in 2015, the weather gets cold again the cold weather bag can be off loaded for your comfort.

Now, ideas of things to bring. At least two pairs of wool socks. Keep one inside your sleeping bag and wear them only at night. Do not sleep in the same sock you wore that day since moisture may be trapped in the socks. A good knit cap is also a great idea. It packs easy and works well. As you know, you loose lots of heat for your head at night. A > knit cap will keep you much warmer at night. Pair of warm gloves also. Actually two pair. One pair for riding and one pair for non-riding.

Hands down however the most important thing to pack is a GOOD SLEEPING BAG. Zero degree. Of course it will never get to zero degree, at least lets hope not, but history has shown those with a good sleeping bag get the best rest.

Each of you will be sleeping on an inflated air mattress. That is the good news. What happens on cold nights is the air inside the mattresses becomes cold. To help on those nights it is suggested you have some sort of barrier between you and the mattress. An extra blanket which then could become your covering for the warmer nights.

Actually, there is no such thing as bad weather just bad clothing. It’s ALL Good!

On another note Mary has a great idea about stuffing the sleeping bag into a dry bag. Think I read somewhere in Bubba’s packet that the crew tries to keep our baggage dry but it could get wet. No one likes a wet sleeping bag. I will have to look at my kayaking gear.

Rain jacket, rain pants, rain booties, helmet cover. Also a very lightweight faux down jacket, one or tights, 1 light fleece top, 1 very lightweight long underwear top, arm warmers. 1 pr convertible gloves/mittens. Also bring a wind vest but maybe the Bubba safety vest will suffice.

Good suggestions. The safety vests will not help in keeping you are since they are mesh. It’s ALL Good!

I agree with Phil. It normally takes about ten days to get “settled in” even for the staff who all have done is several times. So > early on do not fret, thing will “settle in” I promise.

On bike electronics are for two things: safety and “don’t get lost”.

Safety

See and be seen is the motto.

• Rear DesignShine DS-500 flashing light (red, super bright)
• Rear Dinotte flashing light (red, very bright)
• Front Dinotte flashing light (amber, very bright)

This has a, one-button-push, get an ambulance here now function.

• Spot Gen3 Satellite Tracker

Also, I have created a “Find my bike” page using the Spot tracker on my blog.

To make sure I don’t over do it at the beginning of a long days ride I use the following sensors:

• Cadence Sensor
• Heartrate Monitor

Don’t Get Lost

Always have a paper route sheet in a plastic waterproof protector. Know how to use it.

For the route sheet you will need an odometer on your bike. I have two. One is very cheap, but has a battery that lasts at least a year. This is my backup. The other odometer is either the Garmin Edge 1000 or my iPhone.

I have been using a Garmin Edge 1000 for the last couple of years. I’m thinking of moving to the iPhone instead but I’ll need to test this on some long rides over the next couple of weeks.

• Cateye Odometer
• Garmin Edge 1000
• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
• Apple iWatch Gen2
• Battery USB Charger (extends the life of above)

Today I went on my first long ride of the year. It was about 57 miles total. It was a lesson in perseverance.

Including breaks, it took me about 6 and 1/2 hours with a very leisurely lunch stop. Probably an hour off the bike making about an average speed of 10.5 mph. I was averaging around 12.5 mph until the winds came up and I had a long 20 mile stretch at the end with a 12 mph headwind. That put the serious hurt on me.

With the ride goal being long distance, and time on bike, I set out at a real easy pace keeping my heart rate under 120 and my cadence around 80 uphill, or a real easy 60 to 70 rpm on the downhills.

At the turn around point (32 miles) in Salado I only burned just under 1,000 calories and averaged 13.8 mph.

http://www.strava.com/activities/838097757

I had a nice relaxing brunch of 3 breakfast tacos and a very large ice-tea. When I got back outside to the bike the winds had picked up and I could see I was going to have a pretty good headwind for the 25 mile ride back.

Once on my bike I noticed that my Garmin Edge 1000 was being wonky. It stopped being able to track satellites. I could get my other sensors ok (heart rate and cadence) but anything related to GPS was wonked (speed, distance, moving map, directions). Bummer. So, since I had my iPhone with me I started up the Strava app and tracked the ride back with it.

http://www.strava.com/activities/837545521

Winds were pretty good on the way back.

Spot Tracker

I carry a Spot Gen3 tracker. This sends tracking messages directly to satellites every 5 minutes. Good for tracking my progress when I’m out of cell phone range. The map will refresh automatically every 5 minutes.

The map shows my last 4 hours of riding. This could be 40 to 60 some miles of riding depending upon my average speed.

FastBack System Bag

• 1 Lezyne Multitool (tagged)
• 1 Lezyne Road tire pump (tagged)
• 2 ParkTool steel tire irons (tagged)
• 1 NEW tube repair patch kit (tagged)
• 1 CO2 inflator with 2 cartridges
• 2 28-622 tube (rear R-84 wheel)
• 2 28-406 tube (front R-84 wheel, one with valve extender already on)
• 3 park emergency tire boot
• 2 valve extender (with tools)
• 1 Reading glasses (cheater)
• 1 Quicklink
• 1 Pair SPD cleats and bolts
• 6 Tie wraps
• 1 Red shop rag (tagged)

Red Arkel Seatback Bag

• Road-ID bracelet
• Heart rate monitor (w/new battery)
• Fanny (belly) pack (small and quick on/off bike capability)

On Bike

• Wireless cadence sensor (w/new battery)
• Backup bicycle computer with mileage and at least 6 month battery

hi

Reading through the various crazyguyonabike blogs I was able to piece together a pretty good schedule for my Coast 2 Coast ride this spring.

The map is probably not exact because the ride varies slightly year to year.

Put your mouse over the markers to see the date and location (city, state).

Reading through the various crazyguyonabike blogs I was able to piece together a pretty good schedule for my Coast 2 Coast ride this spring.

The map is probably not exact because the ride varies slightly year to year.

Put your mouse over the markers to see the date and location (city, state).

Reading through the various crazyguyonabike blogs I was able to piece together a pretty good schedule for my Coast 2 Coast ride this spring.

All the dates and places below are subject to some amount of change. The begin and end dates are solid though.

Robyn is going to be loosely follow along in El Heffe Rojo (our big, fire engine red, Mercedes Crew Van). She will be joining up with me every now and then.