The Plan

OK, this is the plan. The route is below. You can click on it and get a really big copy. Note that the profile on the bottom goes the opposite direction from the map, because I'm riding east to west.

WholeThingThumb (69K)

Even though I made a plan with a place to stay every night, usually I don't follow the plan. It's fun to make a plan, and it's even more fun to do whatever you want when the moment arrives. The plan has 50 days of bike riding, but I have 57 days to ride, or even more if I change my flight.

The summary of the route is

  • Start at the Atlantic Ocean
  • Cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge
  • Go through Washington DC
  • Ride Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway
  • Go to Gatlinburg, Dollywood, and Nashville
  • Ride the Natchez Trace across Mississippi
  • Go to Austin
  • Ride across Loving County, Texas, population 47, the least populous county in the United States
  • Go across the desert southwest, visiting Silver City, NM, and Bisbee, AZ
  • Then pick up the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier route to San Diego

    • Here is a spreadsheet of where, according to the plan, I will be every night and how far that day's ride is. There are some gaps, which are days off or one day of riding split between two days with sightseeing in between.

    Day End Miles Date
    1 Tuckahoe 72 Sat, Oct 11, 03
    2 Cherry Hill 74 Sun, Oct 12, 03
    3 Front Royal 98 Mon, Oct 13, 03
    4 Big Meadows 49 Tue, Oct 14, 03
    5 Waynesboro 56 Wed, Oct 15, 03
    6 Otter Creek 63 Thu, Oct 16, 03
    7 Roanoke 57 Fri, Oct 17, 03
    8 Meadows of Dan 56 Sat, Oct 18, 03
    9 Laurel Springs 70 Sun, Oct 19, 03
    10 Blowing Rock 44 Mon, Oct 20, 03
    11 Little Switzerland 40 Tue, Oct 21, 03
    12 Pisgah 76 Wed, Oct 22, 03
    13 Cherokee 60 Thu, Oct 23, 03

    		Pigeon Forge
    		Fri, Oct 24, 03
    14 Rockford 71 Sat, Oct 25, 03
    15 Cumberland Mtn 82 Sun, Oct 26, 03
    16 Cedars of Lebanon 90 Mon, Oct 27, 03

    		Nashville
    		Tue, Oct 28, 03
    17 Meriwether Lewis 107 Wed, Oct 29, 03
    18 Tishomingo 83 Thu, Oct 30, 03
    19 Davis Lake 66 Fri, Oct 31, 03
    20 Jeff Busby 55 Sat, Nov 1, 03
    21 Ratliffe Ferry 71 Sun, Nov 2, 03
    22 Rocky Springs 71 Mon, Nov 3, 03
    23 Vidalia 60 Tue, Nov 4, 03
    24 Kisatchee 84 Wed, Nov 5, 03
    25 Martin Dies 102 Thu, Nov 6, 03
    26 Double Lake 69 Fri, Nov 7, 03
    27 Bryan 82 Sat, Nov 8, 03

    		Bryan Sun, Nov 9, 03
    28 Austin 102 Mon, Nov 10, 03

    		Austin Tue, Nov 11, 03
    29 Llano 77 Wed, Nov 12, 03
    30 Menard 74 Thu, Nov 13, 03
    31 Eldorado 50 Fri, Nov 14, 03
    32 Iraan 80 Sat, Nov 15, 03
    33 Monahans 104 Sun, Nov 16, 03
    34 Orla 87 Mon, Nov 17, 03
    35 Pine Springs 60 Tue, Nov 18, 03
    36 El Paso 113 Wed, Nov 19, 03

    		El Paso
    		Thu, Nov 20, 03
    37 Leasburg Dam 66 Fri, Nov 21, 03
    38 Caballo 48 Sat, Nov 22, 03
    39 Silver City 72 Sun, Nov 23, 03
    40 Rodeo 94 Mon, Nov 24, 03
    41 Bisbee 77 Tue, Nov 25, 03
    42 Sonoita 62 Wed, Nov 26, 03
    43 Catalina 72 Thu, Nov 27, 03
    44 Tempe 103 Fri, Nov 28, 03
    45 Wickenburg 78 Sat, Nov 29, 03
    46 Harcuvar 57 Sun, Nov 30, 03
    47 Blythe 64 Mon, Dec 1, 03
    48 Brawley 88 Tue, Dec 2, 03
    49 Live Oak Springs 80 Wed, Dec 3, 03
    50 San Diego 73 Thu, Dec 4, 03



    		Fri, Dec 5, 03
    Total
    		3689
    Miles/day
    		67.07