Back from a Ride to San Francisco and Seattle

(July 4, 2016) Last Sunday night (June 26) I returned home from a 17-day, 7,494-mile ride through 22 states (including ten state capitals):

1. Arizona
2. Arkansas (Little Rock)
3. California (Sacramento)
4. Idaho
5. Illinois
6. Indiana (Indianapolis)
7. Iowa (Des Moines)
8. Minnesota (Minneapolis)
9. Montana
10. Nevada (Carson City)
11. New Mexico
12. North Carolina
13. North Dakota
14. Ohio
15. Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
16. Oregon (Salem)
17. Tennessee (Nashville)
18. Texas
19. Utah
20. Virginia
21. Washington
22. West Virginia (Charleston)

The primary goal of the trip was to ride the Pacific Coast Highway (CA 1 - US 101) from Half Moon Bay, CA into Oregon, thus completing my goal of riding to and through all of the Lower 48 states. I achieved this goal and then some. Secondary goals included:

- Spend a night in Taos, NM
- Visit my mother at her home in St. George, UT
- Ride US 50 across Nevada to Carson City
- Spend a day in San Francisco with my cousin, Ray
- See Mount Ranier up close
- Spend a day with my niece and her family at their new home in Bellevue, WA
- Ride US 2 across Montana, Idaho, and North Dakota

I also achieved all of these goals. The only objective I did not manage to complete, due to dangerous weather conditions, was riding US 2 through Minnesota from Grand Forks, ND to Grand Rapids, MN.
 
I had quite an adventure and will spend the next couple of months documenting some of that experience on this web site. Among what I want to share with you is what products worked well at keeping me comfortable and functioning for so many miles over 17 days, especially the last three in which I rode from Havre, Montana to Cary, NC -- nearly 2,300 miles.

Here is a final summary for the itinerary and mileage (a new ride duration record for me, both in days and miles):

Day 1 - Friday, June 10: Cary, NC to Hendersonville, NC (270 miles)
Day 2 - Saturday, June 11: Hendersonville, NC to Marion, AR (540 miles)
Day 3 - Sunday, June 12: Marion, AR to El Reno, OK (520 miles)
Day 4 - Monday, June 13: El Reno, OK to Taos, NM (530 miles)
Day 5 - Tuesday, June 14: Taos, NM to St. George, UT  (609 miles)
Day 6 - Wednesday, June 15: Rest day in St. George (0 miles)
Day 7 - Thursday, June 16: St. George, UT to South Tahoe, CA  (570 miles)
Day 8 - Friday, June 17: South Tahoe, CA to Redwood City, CA (213 miles)
Day 9 - Saturday, June 18: Redwood City, CA to San Francisco, CA  (65 miles)
Day 10 - Sunday, June 19: San Francisco, CA to Langlois, OR via the PCH (500 miles)
Day 11 - Monday, June 20: Langlois, OR to Bellevue, WA (523 miles)
Day 12 - Tuesday, June 21: Rest day in Bellevue/Seattle (0 miles)
Day 13- Wednesday, June 22: Bellevue, WA to Spokane, WA via US 2  (346 miles)
Day 14 - Thursday, June 23: Spokane, WA to Havre, MT (513 miles)
Day 15 - Friday, June 24: Havre, MT to Grand Forks, ND (649 miles)
Day 16 - Saturday, June 25: Grand Forks, ND to Peoria, IL (813 miles)
Day 17 - Sunday, June 26: Peoria, IL to Cary, NC (Home) (831 miles)

Keep the shiny side up!

The Long Rider

P.S. My experience with Crestline Road at the Utah-Nevada border deserves a blog post all by itself.