March 25 - two days before leaving Tuscaloosa

Today is a busy but rainy day. Everything has to be ready to hit the road Friday morning! Flat Stanley, Share Bear, and Barry are almost ready. This is going to be a wonderful adventure so please follow along the journey through this blog if you would like. Attached is an overview of the Route and the Itinerary for the trip.

It will be about a 4 day drive out to California. We will climb on the bikes on March 31. We will be riding the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier Bicycle Route from San Diego,CA. to St Augustine,FL. The ride will start on the beach in San Diego on Tuesday, March 31. We plan to end on the beach at St. Augustine on Saturday, May 9. We will ride approximately 3028 miles in 40 days, an average of 76 miles per day.

The climbing starts the very first day as we will climb from the Pacific Ocean at sea level to over 4000 feet into the coastal mountain range. Then we will descend into the Imperial Valley of California through Brawley and Blythe. As we enter Arizona, we will be in low desert all the way to Phoenix. Beyond Phoenix, we will start a gradual climb into the high desert of southeastern Arizona and into the mountains of southern New Mexico and the vast Gila National Forest. The highest point on the ride will be the 8200-foot Emory Pass between Silver City, NM and Kingston, NM on April 10. After the long week of climbs, we will descend into the Rio Grande Valley though El Paso, though the hills of the lower Texas panhandle, and down the Rio Grande to Del Rio, TX, arriving there on April 17. After Del Rio, we will head through the famous and breathtaking Texas Hill Country, passing through the Texas German settlements between San Antonio and Austin. This section will be the most challenging riding on the whole trip. It feastures mile after mile of never-ending, short, steep hills. After passing out of the hill country, south of Austin, we will enter the east Texas pine woods and the Thicket Wilderness area. Finally, after 15 days in Texas, we will cross the Sabine River into Louisiana on April 26. Riding through southern Lousiana, we will cross the Mississippi River on a ferry to St Francisville. Then we will ride across the "toe of the boot" of Louisiana between Baton Rouge and New Orleans before heading south and crossing Mobile Bay on the ferry from Dauphin Island. On May 3, we will dip our bikes, and other bodily parts, into the Gulf of Mexico on the beach at Gulf Shores, AL. The final leg of the trip has us riding through the Florida panhandle through Tallahassee and Gainesville, arriving at the beach in St Augustine on May 9. Just wanted to give an overview as to what to expect over the next weeks ahead.

Again, please pray for safe travels for us all as we head to California and for Barry's Charity - Eagles Wings of Tuscaloosa. Updates will come as soon as the bike ride begins.


until then...
Barry, Flat Stanley, and Share Bear