I’ve already received a few questions about how I will go about planning a trip as big as CyclingAbout The Americas. Luckily, this is not the first time I’ve gone through the process of planning a multi-year adventure. That’s why I’m hoping I can plan everything within the next 60 days! 😮
Let’s take a close look at the things I will plan, and the things I will improvise.
Hanging out with some friendly children in Manila, the Philippines.
The Things I Will Plan A Lot (Before Departing)
What I Want To See. I’m currently creating a map with dropped pins showing the national parks, mountain passes, towns, landscapes, monuments and people that I want to see in the Americas. These locations essentially dictate my route as I attempt to link everything up.
Climates. Weather planning is pretty important for most bike trips because there’s always an ideal temperature range and rainfall period. I try to link suitable climates together, avoiding weather extremes where possible. Head HERE for my detailed weather planning information and tools.
Rough Dates. Sometimes visas will lock-in some dates for you, but I find that having target dates along the way, as well as a rough finish date will help me determine the pace of my journey.
Cycle Routes with Limited Services. In remote areas I try to research what services are likely to be available. When I have an idea for the temperature ranges, water and food sources, elevation profiles, and general road quality it helps me to mentally prepare for that section.
Flights. If I need to take flights during my trips, I try to organise them a few months in advance while they’re cheap (I’m not planning on taking any flights for the Americas, however).
My Gear. I’m a gear freak, so most of my trip planning is thinking about what to take (jokes… but serious). The reality is that you can’t really know what you’ll want (or use) until you’re actually out there and using it. If you’re unprepared with your gear, it’s really not a problem; I’ve purchased gear along the way and even had packages delivered to me from all over the world.
When I was wild camping in a park in Japan, I was greeted by this local who invited me into his house.
The Things I Will Plan A Lot (On the Road)
Bike-Friendly Routes Into Cities. I normally spend a lot of time looking at Google Maps and Komoot to find a bike-friendly route into busy cities. Sometimes it doesn’t quite work out, but good preparation will often get me into a city centre completely stress-free.
Breakfasts. The most important meal for me is breakfast. I eat rolled oats almost every morning, no matter where I am. To make it as nutritious as possible I try to mix through all kinds of nuts, seeds and dried fruit. The issue is that these ingredients are sometimes not available, so I therefore carry large supplies until I know I can restock! Head HERE for some of my porridge tips.
Money. ATMs are not always commonplace, so do some research on where you can get your money out. Some banks will favour Mastercard over Visa (or vice versa) and sometimes they will have a cash limit. You’ll of course need to do some budgeting to work out how long your money will last until the next ATM.
Visas. Sometimes it’s important to know where you can apply for visas, and how long the visa application process will take.
Cycling the super dusty roads of Cambodia.
The Things I Will Plan A Little
Distances. I normally plan 120-150km per day based on the terrain and services available (I’m rather fit/experienced). I then add in a handful of days just in case I meet someone, or want to explore somewhere further. For example, when covering 1000km between point A and B, I would allocate eight days for the riding and perhaps 2-3 days just in case I feel the need to stop.
Riding Hours. When the temperature is too hot during the middle of the day, I plan to get up around sunrise and finish before lunch. Conversely, when the temperature is cold overnight, I tend to be up later when the sun can keep me warm.
Budget. I try to save more money than I think I will need so that I don’t have to ever stress about it. You’ll need to factor in a bit extra for additional purchases along the way (heck, I bought a tandem on my last RTW trip). Budget planning is important mostly so that you know how much cash to carry between ATMs.
Route. Sometimes I go for minor roads, other times I go the most direct route if I’m short on time. I normally check my route on MapOut or RideWithGPS to investigate whether the elevation profile will be suitable given my time constraints. I then note down towns or landmarks along the way which help me plan for food, water and accommodation.
Sleeping in Cities. I book rooms (or organise a CouchSurfing/WarmShower host) in big cities to avoid riding in circles looking for a place to stay. Searching for a hotel can be a big waste of time if you are a price sensitive long-term traveller.
A crazy, colourful bus in Thailand.
The Things I Will Mostly Improvise
Sleeping. When I wake up in the morning, I almost never know where I’m going to sleep. This method is easy in some places and harder in others. If it’s a region where I know I can probably afford a hotel room, I either arrive without having a hotel in mind, or do a Google Map search for ‘hotel’ or ‘guesthouse’ and drop a few pins in my mapping apps. When hotels are out of my budget, I’ll wild camp by scouring my smartphone maps for large green areas. In many developed countries you will find really handy smartphone apps that list paid and unpaid campsites. And finally, in some countries with ultra-friendly locals I even ask if I can stay with them. Believe it or not, I rarely get turned down!
Eating. In areas where restaurants are cheap, I tend to carry very little food. Otherwise, I like to stock up in supermarkets with 1-2 days worth of food at a time.
Water. I generally ride until I’ve got 25-50% of our water left, then look out for a water source. Taps are found almost anywhere you find people.
Do You Plan Your Trips In A Similar Way? Have You Got Any Other Trip Planning Tips?
Sick of your job? Looking for a huge challenge? Why not take a year off, pack everything into some panniers and complete this year-long, USA bike tour with perfect cycling temperatures every day?
I recently set myself the challenge to create a year-long bike tour around the USA that is optimised around the perfect cycling temperatures. I ended up spending way too much time geeking out on all of the details here, but what I’ve managed to create is pretty bloody cool (or rather, mild).
My ‘perfect’ cycling temperature is around 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees C). This is a temperature that allows me to wear light clothing while I ride with zero risk of overheating. I can also typically pack a bit lighter, and get comfortable overnight sleeps in my tent too.
It’s worth noting that this map is designed around the average maximum temperature per day, so you’ll find the overnight temperatures will still drop below 30 degrees F (-1 C) in many of the mountain and desert regions.
The 12,679mi (20,286km) USA Bike Tour With Perfect Weather
This USA bike tour route is 100% weather-optimised provided you hit the right places at the right times.
This route traverses 27 different states and averages: – 72 degrees F / 22 degrees C with minimal fluctuation
– 244mi (390km) per week
– 49mi (78km) per day over 5 days of cycling
– 61mi (98km) per day over 4 days of cycling
The 27 states that you will tick off:
California-Arizona-New Mexico-Texas-Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama-Florida-Georgia-South Carolina-North Carolina-Virginia-Maryland-Pennsylvania-Ohio-Indiana-Michigan-Wisconsin-Minnesota-North Dakota-Montana-Washington-Oregon-Idaho-Wyoming-Colorado-Utah
How Did I Create The Perfect Weather Cycling Route?
I used as much of the Adventure Cycling Association bicycle touring network as possible.
We have so many amazing tools at our fingertips which help us determine everything from road surfaces to average weather conditions. The aim of this exercise was to show you what kind of travel planning is possible with the resources we have on hand.
I started by analysing the Adventure Cycling Association Interactive Network Map. For the last 40 years, ACA has been inspiring and empowering people to travel by bicycle. They now have dozens of long-distance bike routes, complete with detailed bike touring maps that you can purchase which cover every mile. That takes the majority of the guesswork out of your trip planning.
I then used Holiday Weather to get a general idea of the monthly average high temperatures in multiple locations on one map. You can select any month of the year and it will show you the average temperatures for multiple locations across a continent.
To check the average high temperatures at really specific locations, I used US Climate Data. This website has the resources available to get weather data for most cities and towns along the way. You can read my guide on weather planning HERE.
There were two or three very short sections on this route that I mapped on Google Maps using bicycle routeing. This is because there wasn’t an ACA route for all of the places I required this map to go.
Monthly Itinerary
January
The Superstition Mountains near Phoenix, Arizona. Image: iwantabiggerview
Southern Tier Route
San Diego, California (18C/64F) – Tempe, Arizona (27C/81F) – Fort Davis, Texas (23C/73F) Total: ~1160mi / ~1856km
The year-long USA bike tour route has you heading out of San Diego at the start of January. You will be travelling east along the Southern Tier Route up into the mountains topping 3800ft (1158m), before dropping into desert country. The route takes you below-sea-level through the Imperial Valley, then you’ll split the dry Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area in half. This sparsely-populated region of the USA will make every town a welcome sight – don’t forget to top up your water supplies while you’re there. Stop in Silver City for a nice coffee, and at the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument to appreciate some of the best-preserved Mogollon cliff dwellings around.
Southern Tier Route Fort Davis, Texas (24C/75F) – Navasota, Texas (24C/75F) – New Roads, Louisiana (24C/75F) Total: ~1045mi / ~1672km
Texas takes up one-third of the Southern Tier Route, and luckily for us, this section is best tackled in February. You’ll head through the Davis Mountains where some of the friendliest folk on the route reside. At the McDonald Observatory on Mt Locke, you can observe the night sky on one of their evening tours. Texas gets a little more desolate after this, with sagebrush and tumbleweeds rolling about all the way to the ‘hill country’ region of the state. In Austin, spend a bit of time listening to the diverse live music that the city is famous for.
March
The white sand beaches of Orange Beach, Alabama. Image: RocketJunkie
Southern Tier Route New Roads, Louisiana (24C/75F) – Mobile, Alabama (24C/75F) – St Augustine, Florida (25C/77F) Total: ~853mi / ~1365km
The history, culture and food in Louisiana are different from all other states. You’ll be heading right through Cajun country where English is spoken, but you’ll need to focus as it’ll be a little harder to understand the words. Also, try to catch some lively Cajun music if you can. It’s rural riding all the way into Alabama where the route crosses to Dauphin Island. A ferry ride across Mobile Bay will take you to some of the whitest beaches in the world. The scenery is rather varied all the way across Florida to St Augustine.
April
Watch out for the alligators at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Image: Gainesville365
Atlantic Coast Route St Augustine, Florida (25C/77F) – Wilmington, North Carolina (21C/70F) – Washington DC (19C/66F) Total: ~1184mi / ~1895km
Welcome to the Atlantic Ocean! It’s beach riding all the way up Florida from the oldest European settlement in the United States (St Augustine) right up to Jacksonville. In Georgia, it’s farm and swamp country; the best swamp of them all is at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. It’s one of the largest swamps remaining in the nation where you can go on boat rides and boardwalks over the marshes where you’ll see alligators of all sizes. The winds can be strong through Virginia which may be the reason the Wright Brothers flew their first plane there. You’ll soon pass Mount Vernon, George Washington’s residence from 1754 until his death, before riding a series of beautiful bike paths towards Washington DC.
May
Borden Tunnel, one of the many tunnels along the Mason-Dixon Line. Image: CoCanal
Custom + Chicago to NY + UGRR Pittsburgh Spur + Northern Tier + Northern Lakes Route Washington DC (19C/66F) – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (22C/72F) – Ludington, Michigan (25C/77F) Total: ~1144mi / ~1830km
It’s a short section away from the ACA touring network from Washington DC, but you’ll soon hit the Chicago to NY Route. Heading into the Eastern Continental Divide you’ll need some lights as there are a series of unlit tunnels ranging from 849 to 3294 feet (1000m) in length, as the trail utilises much of the existing rail infrastructure. You’ll travel along the historic Mason-Dixon Line on the Pennsylvania and Maryland border which was known as the symbolic divide between the Northern and Southern states during the Civil War. Near Ohiopyle State Park you can expect significant bicycle and pedestrian traffic. This is a popular white water rafting and outdoor recreation destination, especially approaching summer.
The Underground Railroad Bicycle Route (UGRR) from Pittsburgh memorialises the secret network of routes that African freedom seekers used to escape slavery before and during the Civil War. The UGRR finishes at Lake Erie where you’ll head west on the Northern Tier Route, passing the prairie farms of Ohio and Indiana. You’ll soon be at the Lake Michigan where you can follow small rural roads along the lakeshore.
June
The Mississippi Headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minnesota.
You’ll cross Lake Michigan by ferry from Ludington to Manitowoc. Wisconsin and Minnesota stand out as some of the greenest and lushest states along this northern sector. You’ll pass through hardwood forests and dairy farmland before connecting back up to the Northern Tier Route which is all hills, forests, lakes and rivers. The birthplace of the Mississippi River is at Lake Itasca State Park on the way to North Dakota. The river flows for 2552 miles (4107km) into the Gulf of Mexico! The route follows the I-94 corridor, alternating between the freeway and parallel county roads all the way to Montana.
The Great Plains of Montana are soon met with the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains at Cut Bank. The Northern Tier Route will take you into the mountains, where you’ll find the valleys run in a north-south direction, and because the route travels east-west, you’ll be working your way up and over the ponderosa pine passes. There are endless towns, rivers, lakes, mountains and forests towards the Cascade Mountains where you’ll need to tackle two more passes: Rainy Pass and Washington Pass. You’ll finally hit the Pacific Ocean at Anacortes, seven months since you last saw it.
August
The Pacific Ocean at Whidbey Island, Washington. Image: ObsessedbyPortia
Pacific Coast + Lewis and Clark Trail + Trans Am Route Anacortes, Washington (23C/73F) – Lewiston, Idaho (31C/88F) – Missoula, Montana (26C/79F) Total: ~910mi / ~1456km
The Pacific Coast Route takes you from Anacortes over to Whidbey Island and down the Olympic Peninsula. You can actually catch a ferry all the way into Seattle from here. At Castle Rock, a five-mile side trip leads to the Mount St. Helens Visitor Centre, which tells the tale of the volcano’s eruption in 1981. It’s logging country down towards Portland where you’ll now join the Lewis and Clark Trail. There are a few closed-to-cars sections of the Historic Columbia River Highway which lead you to some small, serene communities that barely earn a dot on the map. From Lewiston, you’ll head into the Nez Perce Indian Reservation and onto Highway 12 and the Trans Am Route. The route follows the Lochsa River for the longest gradual ascent of the Trans Am of 70 miles (112km) up to Lolo Pass and down to Missoula. You’ll be able to visit the Adventure Cycling headquarters and their “cyclist’s lounge” in Missoula! Beautiful panoramas, wide valleys and mountain passes await you in this part of Montana.
September
The wild colours of Yellowstone National Park.
Trans Am + Great Parks South Route Missoula, Montana (26C/79F) – Lander, Wyoming (23C/73F) – Ridgway, Colorado (18C/64F) Total: ~1105mi / ~1768km
The Trans Am Route leads you to the amazing views of Yellowstone National Park and of the Grand Teton Range. Make sure to spend a few days exploring what these two national parks have to offer. The towns of Dubois and Lander present historic architecture and western-style cooking. In the Great Divide Basin, you’ll find Lamont which can serve up a great bowl of chilli. The scenery then changes from dry desert to the alpine region as you cross into Colorado. You’ll begin the long climb to crest Hoosier Pass at 11,542ft (3518m) before taking the Great Parks South Route through old mining country across to Ridgway, Colorado.
October
Grand Canyon National Park. Image: Getty Images
Great Parks South + Western Express + Grand Canyon Connector + Bicycle Route 66 Ridgway, Colorado (18C/64F) – Kanab, Utah (22C/72F) – Amboy, California (21C/70F) Total: ~1177mi / ~1883km
The Great Parks South Route takes you on smooth tourist roads out of the Rockies and into some of the USA’s most spectacular scenic wonders. Along the Western Express Route, you’ll explore many national parks that feature all kinds of natural sculptures, spires, buttes and canyons. You’ll then travel through Zion National Park and across to the north rim of the mind-blowingly large World Heritage Site that is the Grand Canyon. These national parks are bicycle-friendly, meaning you’ll get to ride along popular sections where visitors in cars must use shuttle buses. Given the time of year, there should be less tourist traffic and milder weather conditions than peak season. The Bicycle Route 66 will take you across Arizona to California, but be warned this is a long desert stretch with very limited services.
November
Trail of a Hundred Giants in Sequoia National Forest.
Bicycle Route 66 + Sierra Cascades Route Amboy, California (21C/70F) – Lemon Cove, California (20C/68F) – Sorensens, California (9C/48F) Total: ~800mi / ~1280km
Heading west along Bicycle Route 66 you’ll be heading for the Pacific Ocean, but it will still be a month before you actually see waves. This route takes you up the Sierra Cascades from the San Gabriel Mountains just outside Los Angeles, all the way up to Lake Tahoe which is east of San Francisco. Along the way, you’ll discover the Trail of a Hundred Giants at Sequoia National Forest, as well as the lakes and mountains of Kings Canyon NP. There’s a chance that Tioga Pass just out of Yosemite NP will close mid-November if it’s a heavy snow year, so make sure to keep up to date with the conditions. Alternatively, you might need to follow the western Sierra Nevada foothills towards Sacramento.
December
Rocky Creek Bridge in California. Image: Brad Butler
Western Express + Pacific Coast Route Sorensens, California (9C/48F) – San Francisco, California (16C/61F) – Imperial Beach, California (20C/68F) Total: ~833mi / ~1333km
It’s now time to depart the Sierra Nevada by jumping on the Western Express Route that cuts through the agricultural valleys down to San Francisco. You’ll get the opportunity to ride over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco, then you’ll follow the western edge of the city to the numerous state beaches. It’s almost elephant seal mating season at Ano Nuevo State Reserve; it’s a sight not to be missed. The Pacific Coast south of Carmel is the most spectacular sector for many cyclists. The winding road high above the ocean offers incredible views, and because you’re heading south you’ll be on the right side of the road! It’s fertile farming land as you approach Santa Barbara, and seaside trophy homes as you approach the Los Angeles megapolis. Bike paths will take you through LA before rejoining the Pacific Coast Highway south of the city. There’s a mix of highways, bike paths and shore roads to the Coronado ferry in San Diego where you will finish your year-long USA tour at the Mexican border.
Is There A Way To Make This USA Bike Tour Even Better? I’d Love To Hear.
With only one week left, we are frantically building up our Alleykat World Trip Maps! We currently have no particular route or plan, other than a few key targets to hit along the way. The first: to be in Turkey by 2013.
The world trip maps were made to locate points of interest in countries we’re thinking of cycling through. Yes… this simple map… this simple geographical information… it will somewhat dictate where our wheels will turn over the next few years! These maps make it much easier to determine distances and gain a spacial awareness of where key attractions lie.
So far we’ve been creating our points of interest through information from travel books, friends, family, bike touring websites and more. The latest information resource we’d like to share with you is Atlas Obscura!
Atlas Obscura
From the words of Atlas Obscura himself (or herself), the site is a guide book to “the world’s most wondrous places”.
“User-generated and editor curated, the Atlas is a collaborative compendium of amazing places that aren’t found in your average guidebook.
If you’re looking for miniature cities, glass flowers, books bound in human skin, gigantic flaming holes in the ground, bone churches, balancing pagodas, or homes built entirely out of paper, the Atlas Obscura is where you’ll find them.”
Finding Destinations
We were essentially able to sort, by country, through regions we have planned to see. Some countries only have a few destinations, others have many. Germany had a lot of points of interest relating to disused electrical infrastructure; an Obscura member clearly has some kind of weird fetish. Many of the places of interest were not actually interesting to us, but hidden in the thousands of entries were quite a few bits of gold. Defs worth digging for.
Most entries have a Google map associated with them, which made it easy enough for us to plot our data points. We were then able to load everything up for you to see!
Give it a go!
Open up Atlas Obscura and check out its goods. You might even learn something you’ve never known about the very town or city that you live in…
Bike touring is a full-on experience for a couple. It can be stressful and frustrating. You have to make hundreds of decisions together per week. You have to compromise… a lot.
You’re also spending 24/7 in each other’s company!
Kat and I have a great relationship and we’ve done bike touring before. But by discussing our limitations before we leave, we hope to have a better understanding of how to work through any problems that might arise.
Here is our list of agreements that will hopefully get us through the next few years of bike travel.
Riding
We take 2-3 days off the bike per week (when it permits).
We need to speak loudly while we’re riding so we can properly hear each other.
If one of us has a cycling injury, we stop to see if it can be treated immediately and take as many rest days as necessary.
Accommodation & Food
The Rolex Hotel. Does it get any better?
Two nights per week must be spent sleeping somewhere other than in the tent (when it permits).
We eat at restaurants once or twice per week (minimum).
Decision Making
Our tent is a conflict-free zone (no fighting).
We both have to have an opinion when we’re deciding where we go (“I don’t care” is not an option).
When we’re both indecisive, one person has to give three good options, and the other person chooses one.
When cooking, setting up camp or packing up, we need to make it clear what jobs we’d like to do.
We must talk about whatever is bothering us (about each other) on the day it occurs.
If we break up, we must help each other arrange the logistics over a generous period of time.
Daily Tasks
We have the option to spend a few hours by ourselves one day per week.
We must have a good idea of what food we’re buying prior to shopping for ingredients (so we don’t wander about the supermarket tired and hungry).
We share the asking of directions, checking into hotels, asking for drinking water etc.
One person looks after our bike whilst the other person shops (to prevent theft).
No more than one hour of wasting time on our iPads per day (to be present in our relationship).
We’ve temporarily moved from using the internet as our form of research, to a method observed far less than in the past; using a book!
The Lonely Planet Blue List is a fantastic way to discover interesting places to see.
The book, well actually a whole series of books which have been assisting us with our places-to-see research has been the Lonely Planet Blue List guides. Before I discuss them in more detail, it is worth mentioning that these guides were only produced in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Since 2009, the equivalent book in the range has been the Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 20XX.
This is a sample page for Jirisan, South Korea in October.
The reason these books are prime for our trip planning is in the way that topics are put together. In most cases, the topics discussed are not by country or city, but rather by interesting topics such as “Best Ways to Give Back”, “Extraordinary Markets” or “Paranormal Travel”. By linking up topics of interest, it is a fun way to discover things we can do on our trip. The books are also easy to read, where if a topic is not interesting, or the topic is about a place that we’re not considering travelling to – we are able to skip past it.
This is a sample page for culture in Australia.
We have been jotting down places, events and activities of interest and are adding them to our maps produced through our Creative Route Planning idea.
Over the past few weeks we have been using StumbleUpon to assist with our research on where we will be travelling. It has been great for us as we don’t really have a set itinerary or timeframe, so we are ‘stumbling‘ upon places we wouldn’t automatically think to go to!
This is what you should expect to see when you first enter StumbleUpon!
How it works
It’s kind of like fishing… you have to pick the right search terms, and have a bit of luck on your side.
1. You will need to create a login. You are able to sign up via email or use a Facebook account to expedite the process.
2. You can select what your interests are. In our instance, we used the topic ‘travel’ to find websites and photos at random which are related to travel.
3. Press ‘STUMBLE”.
If you get something interesting, you may have to research the photos or location a bit to find out what you’re looking at. But for the most part, it is as simple as that!
Everyday I struggle with the realisation that I will simply not be able to see and experience everything in the world. I love reading about places and experiences that other people have had and noting down their ideas for the day I get my go. I love photography, short creative youtube clips, nature magazines, nature documentaries and documentaries about people. I love having inspiration and thinking often.
I would like to be able to see and experience everything because I believe that I will become a more worldly and well rounded individual that can pass on my knowledge for others to experience. Everything from the judgements and decisions that I make in life to the lessons that I learn, will be considered within a world context. I’d like to be able to take my experiences around the globe into my professional workspace to make the most considered planning decisions and create the best planning opportunities.
Enough with the small talk, how will you determine your route and the places that you’ll stay?
Kat and I have thought up a creative way to plan our trip…
This is what the floor of one of the rooms in Kat's house looks like… maps, notes, laptop…
Step 1:
We have printed black and white outlines of the countries we are thinking about travelling to.
Step 2:
We are reading as much information as we can about the countries of interest. We are using travel websites, blogs, youtube clips, photographs, travel lists, books and travel guides to gather this knowledge.
Step 3:
From our researched information, we are plotting a number on a map for each point of interest so that we can be spatially aware of the places we’d like to see. An explanation for the number will be written down. We will be trying to do a few countries at a time, spending a few solid hours on each.
Step 4:
Once our maps are complete with numbers and dot points, we will have to prioritise the places that we would like to see. This will eliminate countries and areas that we will have to miss due to time constrictions.
Step 5:
The maps should also give us a visual display of where the most places we’d like to see are located. Linking these areas will indicate a suitable route for our trip.
Step 6:
Lock a series of countries into our proposed route. We will set approximate dates for certain cities along the way. During our actual trip we will be somewhat flexible with our route so that we can spend more or less time here and there depending on who we meet and what we see!
Step 7:
We would like to digitise this information by scanning and using the documents as PDFs on our iPads.
Important:
Many of our friends are well travelled and hail from a variety of different countries, SO: we would also like to invite you all as friends of Alleykat, to share with us any recommendations, information or stories you have. Because although we are consulting many travel blogs (including, of course, bike touring blogs) suggestions with a personal touch are insurmountably valuable and would be much appreciated!
We will report back here each time we make some progress!
Alleykat
