Adam's Cycle Tours: A New Adventure - Vancouver, BC to Lake Tahoe, CA

Nearly 6 years ago to the day I completed my first bike tour across the Southern portion of the US. It was an incredible experience that I knew back then I'd never forget. It's always nice to read through the old blog here and try and relive some of the magic that is cycle touring - definitely glad that I chose to chronicle it like I did.

Fast forward to 2018 and here I am on the precipice of diving into a whole new adventure. During the first trip I ran into quite a few touring cyclists whom were not on their inaugural trip. I distinctly remember hearing about how, if the trip was enjoyable to me, I'd plan another one down the line. I suppose they knew what they were talking about.

When in the planning stages of this new tour I quickly decided that the preference was to see as much of the West Coast as possible having moved out to California last year. In researching Adventure Cycling's map offerings for this region I was excited to see that the Pacific Coast is widely considered a world class cycling route. It begins in Vancouver, BC and with only a few exceptions has you riding right along the ocean all the way to San Diego, CA. I immediately knew this would be a part of the route, but the two concerns were that I'd already been through San Diego on the last trip, and that at roughly 1,700 miles the tour wasn't going to be quite long enough to fill the gap of free time I'd carved out. My goal was to have the tour end in Lake Tahoe, CA in early July as a I have a family vacation scheduled there. To not end up cycling back the same way I'd came I pieced together some other routes that will take me East once I reach Los Angeles. From there I'll make my way to the Grand Canyon before looping back Northwest via Utah and Nevada to get back into California.

The idea for this trip was hatched back at the beginning of the year, and I can't believe how fast time has flown since then. In just 5 days I'll be boarding the train that'll take me to the starting line. So many hours have gone into preparation and planning, but soon it'll just be time to pedal. I'll be trying to update the blog as frequently as possible, although on my last tour I chose to bring a netbook with me which made the blogging easier. This time I'll just be rolling with an iPhone, so we'll see how that goes. Please feel free to comment on the entries as extra motivation is always welcomed. The trip will officially be underway on May 1st!

Gear breakdown (loosely from left to right): Sleeping bag, tent poles, tent, sleeping pad, towel & wash cloth, inflatable pillow, rain suite, rain shoe covers, cycling shorts, camelbak, spare tubes, lifestraw filter, cleaning wipes, cycling gloves, shorts, underwear, t-shirts, maps, passport, socks, long johns, toilet paper, mess kit, stove, fuel canisters, bike light, head lamp, sunscreen, vitamins, caffeine pills, bear mace, air pump, chain grease, chainlink tool, tube repair kit, bike muli-tool, tire lever, duct tape, camera, kindle, solar power bank