Rather Nicely

They have moved around. No longer safe in their steel file cabinet at the cabin, where they remained since their creation, my journal notes from 1993 and 1997 were rescued from their temporary deep storage yesterday. Those two volumes are especially useful because they each contain field notes from my bike adventures from Los Angeles to Seattle. Along the Pacific Coast. I dug them up as reference. This exhumation primarily for the simple fact that we are planning another adventure over the same terrain. With the main difference that we will reverse the direction and ride from North, from Bainbridge Island, WA to South, final destination to be announced, but somewhere between Malibu and Manhattan Beach, CA.  Here are the most oft asked details, taken directly from my final log on each trip:

1993: Playa del Rey, CA to Bainbridge Island, WA. 1,586 miles in 22 days, 72 miles per day average. 

1997: Same start and finish. 1,602 miles in 23 days, 69.65 MPDA. 

From this historical data alone I think it is safe to consider 1,600 the distance and three weeks the time. That, however, is where the data ends and the fun begins.

In ’93 I didn’t even own a heart rate monitor. EVERYTHING was done by feel, or what we now call RPE, rate of perceived exertion. I was in decent shape at the start of each trip, having just returned from tours as Navy Morale, Welfare and Recreation liaison, but I would really like to see some additional info, such as, elevation gain, average heart rate, power output, resting heart rate, weight loss, and so on. Additionally I was carrying only a small Kodak instamatic camera, not even a cell phone. Stop and consider what updated gear we now have at our disposal as the lap top or phone has all but replaced the analog hand-written journal and the GoPro does more in high-def than even the most expensive camera could do back then. And bikes! OMG. On the ’93 trip I purchased and built up a Raleigh MT400. Dual panniers, front shocks and enough hand positions to make 70 miles a day tolerable. That wonderful ride set me back all of $800. On the latter trip I brought home a Marin Eldridge Grade that I bought in Singapore, and rode joyfully over our Indian Ocean Navy Support Facility for a year, before outfitting it for the Big Trip II.

Now, I am looking at options, most likely a gravel bike, that could end up anywhere from a grand to three. Yikes, will that make me faster? Will it guarantee a more enjoyable ride? Will I be able (as we consider) to do a century a day in relative comfort? 

A thousand additional questions are currently in the process of the planning. There is something very special about this logistical effort. I actually like it. I have an idea, field notes from my personal experience, a bit of data and a few pictures, a map and a plan that is coming together. 

Rather nicely.