Summer Tour Set - Oregon to Montana

Most bicycle tourist don't bother with a lot of planning. They just get up every morning and pack their stuff and start riding toward some predetermined general route and then let what happens happen. I kind of like it that way.

In the 1980's my brother and I rode from San Francisco to LA. No reservations, just a route and our bikes and gear. We would decide each day if we camped that night or stayed in a hotel. We didn't even bother with reservations. Just ride and solve our basic essentials challenges as each day progressed. A simple life and a simple vacation.

After a few camping nights, we migrated to hoteling it. We even stopped along the way to mail home unneeded camping gear, including most of our cooking stuff. That was the tour that hooked me on bicycle touring. Some call it credit card touring. Stay in a hotel and eat mostly at restaurants.

For another persons first hand account of riding long distances, check out this site: http://www.familyonbikes.org/ Watch her Ted Talk video. Most families would never dream of doing what this family did.

Since the last post, we have begun active planning for our summer tour. (Oregon to Montana) The Adventure Cycling maps arrived and as expected are stuffed full of useful information about the route, weather, lodging, and things to do along the way.

We will dip our wheels in the Pacific Ocean just outside Florence Oregon and end in Missoula Montana. The route distance will be around 800 miles and will take us through the heart of Oregon, across Idaho and into western Montana. If all goes as planned, next year we will begin where we end this year and ride across the US all the way to Maine.

Our departure date will be around August 24. And as of this post we have 5 riders.  Bill Oswald, BJ Davis, Mike Kimball, Joe Schumacher, and me. The photo below was taken recently taken on a training ride out of Anderson Texas, three of 5 riders who will ride this years tour. From left to right, Oswald, Standley, Davis.

More soon.