Planning and Prep

The most common response I received when they heard I planned on riding to New York from San Jose was, "Won't that hurt your ass?" You bet it will. But bucket lists don't care about my sensitive ass or available time off work. They're meant to be hard, memorable, and fun. I don't think I'll be disappointed...

I'm a project manager and a type-A personality. I know it's an odd career for someone with that type of personality but it's helped me attempt to plan this trip. Fortunately, I'm riding with a buddy with a better attitude. Tim said, "F-it - we'll figure it out as we go along". But, try as I may, I can't not plan. So, we came up with a route. A route that I doubt we'll stick to past day 3. But we'll try anyway. We built some slack time in so we can take a day off here or there to recover from a hard night in Vegas, notthatwe'deverdothat.

The route looks like this:

Day 1 – Sat - 9/27/08 - SJ to Las Vegas NV – 547 mi
http://tinyurl.com/5tnhp9

Day 2 – Sun - 9/28/08 - Las Vegas NV to Flagstaff AZ – 385 mi
http://tinyurl.com/6na3yf

Day 3 – Mon - 9/29/08 – Flagstaff AZ to Albuquerque NM – 421 mi
http://tinyurl.com/5evzca

Day 4 – Tues - 9/30/08 – Albuquerque NM to OK City OK – 548 mi
http://tinyurl.com/5oo8sj

Day 5 – Wed - 10/1/08 – OK City Ok to Memphis TN – 466 mi
http://tinyurl.com/6nc9tt

Day 6 – Thursday - 10/2/08 – Memphis TN to Knoxville TN - 391 mi
http://tinyurl.com/6n6swd

Day 7 – Friday - 10/3/08 – Knoxville TN to Raleigh NC – Tail of the Dragon! – 413 mi
http://tinyurl.com/6nz53t

Day 8 – Sat - 10/4/08 – Raleigh NC to Philadelphia PA – 425 mi
http://tinyurl.com/6dxha6

Day 9 – Sun -10/5/08 – Philly PA to Syracuse NY – Catskill Park – 328 miles
http://tinyurl.com/5ahpn4

Day 10 – Mon -10/6/08 – Syracuse NY to Boston – 388 mi
http://tinyurl.com/5b59nv

Day 11 – Tues - 10/7/08 – Boston MA to NY NY – Cape Cod NY – 397 mi
http://tinyurl.com/68zk9f

I'm shipping my bike back on Friday 10/10 and flying home on Saturday 10/11. Speaking of shipping, let's talk a bit about (the rediculous) costs.

- Shipping - $850
- Flight home - $250
- Luggage for the bike - $750
- New tires - $300
- Pre-ride Maintenance - $150
- Misc parts that might be needed on the road - $250
- Gas - $600 (150 gallons * $4.00/gal)
- Hotel - $720 ($60/night * 12 nights)
- Electronic gizmos - $500 (GPS unit and iPod)
- Total = $4370

Fortunately, I burn money to keep my apartment warm in the winter so I'll just use wood this season and spend the rest on this trip.