Introduction
Welcome to my Southwest U.S. Coast-to-Coast bicycle tour journal.
The original plan was to end the tour in San Antonio, but I continued to the Gulf of Mexico to make it a coast-to-coast tour.
I pedaled 2744 miles (4390 km) in 52 days, starting on February 26 in San Diego, California, and finishing on April 17 in Corpus Christi, Texas.
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It's easier to visualize the route if you click the button in the upper right of the map and select "Terrain" view.
The map above is the only route map in this journal. If you want to see the map while reading the journal, click the "View Full Version" link in the upper left of the map to open a full screen map in a new tab. Then you can easily switch between the journal and the interactive map.
Designing the route
The main inspiration for the route was simply to go places I had never biked before. My route planning started with the Adventure Cycling Association Southern Tier route, but I quickly modified that route because it doesn't go to the areas that interest me the most.
For example, the Southern Tier route barely goes into the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts which I think are the most scenic deserts in North America. And in the west Texas region the Southern Tier route bypasses two of three big mountain ranges and all three National Parks. Furthermore, the Southern Tier route goes through the big cities of Phoenix and El Paso that I prefer to avoid.
The end result is that only 20% of my route is on the ACA Southern Tier route. My route is more challenging because it's longer, more mountainous, and has longer distances between services.
My ambitious plan got simplified in a few places during the actual tour. In New Mexico I aborted the high mountainous route to Gila Cliff Dwellings because of a winter storm. In Texas I took a lower alternate route through the Davis mountains. I also aborted a remote detour to Chinati Hot Spring because the weather was too hot. And in Big Bend National Park I aborted a detour to Santa Elena Canyon because the route from there to the Chisos Basin had too much climbing for one day. I wasn't upset that this tour bypassed those places because I visited them all during car trips, and some during previous bike trips.
The Bike
This is my 7th tour on a Bacchetta Giro 20 short wheelbase recumbent. The bike description in my 2010 tour journal is still accurate.
The only change since then is that I replaced the stock Bacchetta foam seat pad with a longer-lasting Ventisit seat pad from the Netherlands.
Getting to San Diego
This tour is farther from home than my recent tours, so for the first time in 8 years I flew to the starting point and flew home afterwards.
To get to San Diego I flew in a Delta Airlines regional jet from Eugene to Salt Lake City. Flying into Salt Lake City is always a treat because of the spectacular view of the Wasatch Front east of the city.
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Then I flew in a larger jet to San Diego, arriving just before sunset. It was dark by the time I finished assembling the bike in the baggage claim area. Fortunately the San Diego airport is very close to the city. I only had to pedal 2.6 miles on busy well-lit streets to Porto Vista hotel in the Little Italy neighborhood just north of downtown.
My flights were on time, the bike was undamaged, and I had an easy time finding the hotel. My 4th floor balcony has a partial view of downtown San Diego. Quite a contrast to my home town which has fewer than 1000 residents!
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I have never spent much time in San Diego, so I will stay 2 nights and tour the city tomorrow.
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