After two days of being on the road, it’s clear that this is harder than any of us anticipated. The main challenges so far have been the heat and the road conditions. The temperature today got above 100 and felt much hotter on the pavement. As for the roads, when we’re not on a bike path there is debris everywhere! Bolts, glass, gravel, trash- you name it, we’ve seen it. I’m feeling really glad Jordan and I invested in the Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour tires despite the extra drag they create.
As for the positive side of things, the bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge and around the Bay Area was beautiful. There were significant climbs involved, but it felt good to get some uphill miles logged with the bikes being fully loaded. Proof of concept if nothing more!
On the horizon is a long uphill climb to Lake Tahoe. I’m feeling a mix of nerves, dread, and eagerness to start this section. If we can make it up in a reasonable amount of time, I’ll feel much more confident that this crazy goal of Biking Across America is even possible.
Changes to make going forward: 1) get an earlier start (at or before sunrise) to avoid the heat and 2) try not to stress about the daily mileage but focus on forward progress.