Planning Our Route: 115 days until departure

With 115 days until our departure for Portland, Oregon, our route and itinerary planning is underway! We have decided to ride west to east along the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) TransAmerica Trail, also known as Bicycle Route 76. The TransAm Trail officially begins in Astoria, Oregon and travels through 10 states to its final destination of Yorktown, Virginia. We, however, will begin our journey along Oregon's Pacific coast at Cape Lookout State Park, cutting out the northwest most portion of the route and a few days of riding.

For planning purposes, we are using the ACA iPad app and purchasing the official ACA TransAm Trail maps. The maps outline the route and provide information on sites of interest, lodging, food, water, distance, and elevation. We have planned the first 10 days of the tour and will try to plan a week ahead while on the road. We hope to average between 60 and 72 miles per day (not including the first week when we are getting used to the weight of our bikes) and expect the whole trip to take between 10 and 12 weeks.

In addition to planning our itinerary, we have been trying to create a daily and total trip budget. The typical daily-budget rule of bicycle touring is $1/mile traveled. Our goal is to remain within budget by camping and using Warmshowers.org every chance we get. WarmShowers is an online community of bicycle tourers who open their homes to other cyclists on tour for a shower, a night's stay, or a hot meal. As we continue our planning and trip preparation, we will share as many details with you all as possible. Thanks for reading!