Our Biking Adventure down the Pacific Coast – Logistically Speaking

That’s right – we really like our tandem.  Andrew and I make a good team.  He’s better at grinding out miles, and I’m better at short burst of energy. So we can feed off of each other’s strengths.

The tandem makes it way easier for us to talk to each other. Additionally since Andrew is generally faster than me, he doesn’t have to worry about losing me, cause I’ll be right there behind him. (So no, we don’t plan on trading spots, he’s the “captain” and I’m the “stoker” – but either of us can drive the tandem solo in a pinch)

Finally, I love the looks we get and the shouts of  glee from children when people see our goofy double bike.

Read more pros and cons here.

Yes. But the bike makes us.

So most tandem pedals are connected by a timing chain, meaning when the front pedals spin, so do the back.  So yes we have to pedal together, but it’s not like we have to be in perfect synchronization on our own – the bike forces it to happen.

With that being said we can feel when the other person is not putting forth the effort to pedal! I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve heard “she’s not pedaling” as we ride past – so I’m open to any and all witty comebacks if you have any good ones for me to shout back.

So two people on one bike does pose  a little bit of a space constraint. But we’ve managed thus far.  When you start having to carry your own stuff the “less is more” concept always comes into play.  At one point we did entertain the idea of a trailer but opted not to because we’re already long enough!  

We have:

– Two 15L paniers (front)
– Two 35L paniers (back) 
– One 15L tail bag (seat post)
– One handle bar bag that doubles as a fanny pack for around town
– Two smaller frame bags for bike repairs and miscellaneous
– Feed bags for quick access
– And some stuff, like the tent and our water bladder just get strapped on and on top of the paniers

Not really.  So the longest tour we’ve previously done was 4 days on the Katy Trail, a rail trail across Missouri (actually that was our first “tour”).  

Aside from the traffic, one major difference between that tour and this one, was that for the Katy Trail, we had essentially planned out our whole route ahead of time. We had made a meal plan, picked grocery stores, and campsites to stop at etc. Whereas for this trip, aside form our very first night, we don’t know how far and where each day will end. Partly we’re doing that on purpose, because our day 2 on the Katy Trail was fighting a killer head wind which really knocked us out and led to injuries because we had forced ourselves to stick to our planned destinations.  We don’t want that to happen again on this tour.  So instead of planning out the whole trip, each day we’ll more or less play it by ear based on how we’re feeling and how much further until the next camp site.

Four water bottles and a 5L water bladder (although we likely won’t usually fill the bladder completely).

Having been burned by not having enough water in the Missouri heat, I am super paranoid about water quantity, so this should be way more than enough.  It’s nice to have the bladder so we can stop and cook a meal wherever with out worrying about refilling. (Especially since a lot of parks and campgrounds have water shut off for Covid reasons). We will mostly be staying along populated roads, so unlike backpacking it will be relatively easy to stop and refill our water as we need.  

But, because you can never be too prepared, we will also have iodine tablets in our first aid kit as a last resort if we ever need to fill up from a questionable water source.

Yes.

The plan is to camp most nights – we’ll generally aim for ‘hiker/biker’ sites.  But we are not opposed to getting a hotel if the overnight weather looks sour, or if we just want a break and a chance to sleep in a real bed. We’ll also be checking for Warm-Shower hosts along the way as well.

The plan is to cook most of our own meals.  We have a few basic meals – rice and beans, ramen plus protein, noodles, and lots of those “just add boiling water” type meals.  We hope to keep our meals at least a little fancy with fresh veggies etc as we have on our shorter trips, but we’ll see how long that lasts.

We will also occasionally stop at local restaurants to experience the local cuisine (and have a break from cooking – and the chore of CLEANING the cookware.

As mentioned above, we will be following the ACA Pacific Coast route for the most part.  We are planning a couple detours to visit family or see a city. For determining those routes it was/will be mostly google maps – looking at the elevation gains and street views.

Enough?

So this was a question definitely asked pre Covid – because I don’t think showering is on the forefront of anyone’s mind anymore – I mean I barely shower 3 times a week these days.  So I guess it’ll probably be similar while we’re on the road.  Honestly not something I’ve really thought or worried about.  Most campgrounds have shower facilities, so I don’t anticipate it being too big of an issue.  We’ll shower when we feel the need/have access to one, and use baby wipes when we’re lazy/without running water. Hopefully we don’t get too stinky! but that’s part of the experience I suppose.

External Battery.

Phone use will be very minimal.  We’ll keep Andrew’s phone off mostly for emergency use. Mine will likely sit on the highest battery saver mode that still allows easy picture taking access.  But for the most part we don’t really plan to use our phones too much. We will also have an external battery pack with us if we ever stay somewhere where we can’t charge our electronics overnight.  Based on experience, with the battery pack we can last about 3 days with all of our electronics pretty easily. Luckily, a lot of campsites have somewhere to plug in a phone. And, if we ever get desperate it’s not like we can’t stop at a coffee shop or brewpub to recharge both ourselves and our electronics!

In the past we have tried using a portable solar panel + battery pack, but we found that for the level of charge you got from it, it ended up being more hassle than help.  The plugin external battery just works better for our riding style.

No.

So we’ll have our Garmin for tracking our route/miles for ourselves, but that’s about it.  I suppose that will then occasionally update on my Garmin Connect/Strava accounts for anyone who follows me there.  I also plan to post to the blog “regularly” (I’m hoping for almost daily but I won’t really know what “regular” looks like until we’re out there riding).  We also plan to meet up with various people along the way, so there will be some contact in that regard, as we try to coordinate with them, but that’s it really.

We will still have our phones with us, so if friends and family start to get worried they can just shoot us a text and we can hopefully ease their fears – hopefully they don’t expect an immediate response though, who knows how great our cell service will be.

Of course we are! In fact here‘s a whole list of thing’s we’re anxious about.

But we’re also very excited, and if you let fear dictate your lives you’ll miss out on so many fun opportunities!