Future Journeys

The bicycle, ready for touring.
The bicycle, ready for touring.

I have a few major bike trips planned. Some of them alone, some with a group. For the remainder of 2010, I have no trips planned. Only local journeys, when I can go. I might try and get another 100 mile ride in, but I’ll see how things go. Next year, 2011, should be an exciting year. At some point during the year, probably in May or June, I plan to break my distance record. I set that record on May 15, 2010 by riding from San Luis Obispo to Ventura in a day, a distance of 151 miles. It was quite a ride, very enjoyable. I plan to break that record and ride 200 miles next time. I haven’t figured out the route just yet, but I will make it a good one, something I know I can complete. In late April or early May, I will go on an overnight ride to Julian. It will be the third time I’ve done it, something I really enjoy doing. The first time I did, in 2009, it was the first time I’d done anything like it in many years. It was a success, and decided to make it an annual trek. At the end of July, I will embark on my next major bike tour. This one will be an extension of my last tour along old US 99 in 2009. I will take the train up to Portland, OR, and ride to Klamath Falls, OR, taking the train back. I also plan to spend some time in Seattle and possibly Vancouver, BC. I was there on my 2009 tour, but didn’t get to spend as much time as I’d like. For Thanksgiving weekend, I will be returning to Death Valley, still not sure what I’ll see this time.

In 2012, I plan to bicycle through Yellowstone National Park. I haven’t fully figured the route yet, but so far I have planned starting in Montana, perhaps at Glacier National Park, ending the ride in Salt Lake City. Why these points? I try to begin and end rides like that by train. In 2013, I plan to ride my longest bike tour yet. So far, the trek is planned to begin in Portland, Oregon, head to the coast along the Columbia River (US 30), and head south along US 101 at least as far as San Francisco. From there, if time allows, I want to go to San Luis Obispo. Going there would allow me to include the Big Sur coast, a place I got to finally ride in June of 2010. For the 2013 ride, I want to get a group together. It isn’t that I don’t want to go alone, or feel uncomfortable doing so, it is that I want to have others along to enjoy the trip with. A ride of that magnitude is something that is best shared with others. So if you know anyone, or are interested in going, keep in touch!

I also plan to go on many local rides in the spring. I always have enjoyed my travels in the Laguna and Cuyamaca Mountains. Pine Creek Road and Kitchen Creek Road are two of my favorite ways to get to the top of those mountains. I’ve taken Sunrise Highway before, but those are more fun.  I want to explore the Santa Ana Mountains more by bicycle, as well as get more rides in the San Gabriel Mountains. There are so many places to see, so many places to ride, so many different ways to get there. The only things necessary are time and the sense of adventure to do it.

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