2023 Bike Tour Itinerary and Worries

Itinerary

I sat down a few days ago and worked through an itinerary for my bike tour. Each day ends at a campground or motel. The only exceptions are on my first day when I will stay at my friend Mark’s house outside Baltimore and a couple of weeks later when I stay with my daughter Lily in West Harford, Connecticut. The itinerary does not factor in staying with Warmshowers hosts. (Warmshowers is a program in which people provide shelter to bicycle and other active tourists, like Couchsurfing with wheels.) I did a bit of browsing on the Warmshowers website this week and was pleased to see hosts pretty much all along the route. As I travel I’ll seek out Warmshowers hosts each day.

I appreciate well-meaning friends and readers who offer shelter or suggestions for things to check out near the route. If you are so inclined, please keep in mind that “we’re only 30 minutes away” translates to a half day of riding. It’s one of the shortcomings of bike touring that you have to make difficult decisions about what to exclude from the tour. A good example is the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington State. A couple of people urged me to check it out and I’d have loved to see it during my 2018 ride, but it would have added over 60 miles to my tour which ended up being 4,300 miles as it was.

The 2023 tour as planned involves 2,537 miles over 47 days, an average of 54 miles per day. There are five rest days which make the riding days average 59 miles. That’s a lot considering how hilly this ride is sure to be. Also, the actual mileage will probably be over 2,600 miles because of wrong turns, food and shelter searches, and such.

I learned a couple of days ago that a friend lives close to the route in New Hampshire. Katie Fignewton (not her real name) was a college student back in 2017 when she rode the first Cider Ride, an event held that December near Washington, DC. She was hurting with about five miles to go on a cold, wet day so Chris Mamone (who was flagging when I scooped him up five miles earlier) and I gave her a two-middle-aged-men escort to the finish where we fed her recovery food (pizza). Katie and I have been in touch online ever since. (Chris, sadly, passed away a few years ago.) I hope to connect with her somewhere on the legendary Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire.

Begin	End	End State	Day Miles	Tour Miles	Lodging	Date
Home	Mark’s House	MD	60	60	Mark’s	May 23
Mark’s House	Freeland	MD	80	140	Camp	May 24
Freeland	Lancaster	PA	55	195	Camp or hotel	May 25
Lancaster	Norristown	PA	62	257	Hotel	May 26
Norristown	Milford	PA	60	317	Camp	May 27
Milford	Del Water Gap	PA	57	374	Camp	May 28
Del Water Gap	Cuddebackville	NY	47	421	Camp	May 29
Cuddebackville	Poughkeepsee	NY	50	471	Hotel	May 30
Poughkeepsee	East Canaan	CT	62	533	Camp	May 31
East Canaan	West Hartford	CT	63	596	Lily’s	June 1
West Hartford	West Hartford	CT	0	596	Lily’s	June 2
West Hartford	Staffordville	CT	47	643	Bike only Camping	June 3
Staffordville	Westborough	MA	65	708	Hotel	June 4
Westborough	East Derry	NH	65	773	Camp	June 5
East Derry	York Beach	ME	55	828	Camp	June 6
York Beach	Portland	ME	65	893	Hotel	June 7
Portland	Newcastle	ME	63	956	Hotel	June 8
Newcastle	Belfast	ME	64	1020	Bike only Camping	June 9
Belfast	Bar Harbor	ME	60	1080	Camp	June 10
Bar Harbor	Bar Harbor	ME	0	1080	Hotel	June 11
Bar Harbor	Belfast	ME	60	1140	BIke only Camping	June 12
Belfast	Newcastle	ME	64	1204	Hotel	June 13
Newcastle	Lewiston	ME	60	1264	Hotel	June 14
Lewiston	West Fryeburg	ME	60	1324	Camp	June 15
West Fryeburg	Notth Woodstock	NH	53	1377	Camp or Hotel	June 16
Notth Woodstock	Sharon	VT	60	1437	Hotel	June 17
Sharon	East Middlebury	VT	52	1489	Camp or Hotel	June 18
East Middlebury	East Middlebury	VT	0	1489	Camp or Hotel	June 19
East Middlebury	North Hudson	NY	48	1537	Camp	June 20
North Hudson	Blue Mountain Lake	NY	35	1572	Camp or Hotel	June 21
Blue Mountain Lake	Boonville	NY	62	1634	Camp or Hotel	June 22
Boonville	Port Ontario	NY	52	1686	Camp or Hotel	June 23
Port Ontario	Sodus Point	NY	62	1748	Camp or Hotel	June 24
Sodus Point	Brockport	NY	70	1818	Bike only Camping	June 25
Brockport	Lewiston	NY	60	1878	Hotel	June 26
Lewiston	Hamburg	NY	50	1928	Hotel	June 27
Hamburg	Barcelona	NY	54	1982	Camp	June 28
Barcelona	Presque Isle SP	PA	45	2027	Camp	June 29
Presque Isle SP	Presque Isle SP	PA	0	2027	Camp	June 30
Presque Isle SP	Meadville	PA	39	2066	Camp or Hotel	July 1
Meadville	Ellwood City	PA	76	2142	Hotel	July 2
Ellwood City	Pittsburgh	PA	45	2187	Hostel	July 3
Pittsburgh	Connellsville	PA	60	2247	Camp	July 4
Connellsville	Frostburg	MD	75	2322	Bunkhouse or Camp	July 5
Frostburg	Hancock	MD	76	2398	Camp or Hotel	July 6
Hancock	Harpers Ferry	MD	63	2461	Camp or Hostel	July 7
Harpers Ferry	Home	VA	76	2537	Home	July 8

Worries

This routing is contingent on my son not coming home from overseas until August. If he changes his plans and comes home earlier, the itinerary goes in the trash. (I have contingency plans so this is not a big deal.)

Last month I was diagnosed with hemorrhaging in my left eye, the one that has had two retinal detachments. I swear that Roseanne Rosannadana is my medical muse because with my body it’s always something. I go back to the eye doctor next week to see if it has resolved. (It doesn’t affect my vision in any way so it goes on my list of latent medical concerns with funny looking moles on my back.)

My age is always a concern. It wasn’t an issue last year when I was riding all over the Rockies and the Northwest.Then again, I was a chipper 66 year old. I am well aware that I am beyond the age when most people throw in the camp towel on unsupported bicycle touring. Last year as with most of my tours I grew stronger and stronger with each passing day. I climbed out of Ennis, Montana like a champ. There were two climbs in Idaho (near Grangeville) that put hair on my chest but the rest were surprisingly doable. Alas, I won’t have a month of riding at altitude on my side this year.

Weather may pose some challenges. Rain and the combination of heat and humidity will play a much bigger factor than my 2018 and 2022 tours. I managed to make it through non-stop rain, massive floods, and two tornado warnings in Illinois, Missouri and Kansas during the first month of my 2019 tour so I doubt the Northeast will dish out anything worse. Riding down steep hills in the rain with rim brakes will require some caution.

Speaking of hills, there are several whoppers on this tour. The eastern US features short and steep climbs as opposed to the long, gradual uphill slogs of the western states. It’s hard to imaging that the climbs will be any worse than those in Utah, Nevada, and California during my 2019 tour. I managed them, albeit with some walking, on a bum knee and a very painful hip so I suppose I can take on the Berkshires, White, Green, and Adirondack Mountains with some persistence and shattered pride.

Narrow roads, traffic, and crumbling pavement are additional concerns. Bombing downhill will require heightened attention to things like potholes and nptoriously wikkid Massachusetts drivahs, known throughout northern New England as Massholes.

Another challenge will be language. Depending on where I am I’ll be calling a sandwich a hoagie, hero (gyro), sub, or grinder. Milk shakes are called frappes and cabinets in eastern New England. Places to buying alcohol (not that I intend to) will vary from state stores to supermarkets to package stores to liquor stores. Accents will be changing by the week.

Physical Preparation

I’ve ridden over 3,000 miles already this year. I recently have started dialing in longer rides as my departure date approaches. I did 63 flat miles on Little Nellie last week, Yesterday I rode 52 on The Mule, after which I mowed the lawn. I was trashed but I’m still standing.

Thankfully, today is a rainy day. Rest is important. The couch awaits…