The route went through south central California skirting Bakersfield, over Tehachapi pass, Barstow, Boron, Needles, up to Flagstaff, north through Four Corners into the Rockies in New Mexico, Taos, through NM via Clayton, northern Oklahoma, Southern Missouri, Southern Kentucky, and Southern Virginia. Seven states, not counting a tiptoe in Illinois between Missouri and Kentucky.

Trip Stats:
Number of Days	41 days	984 hours
Total Distance	3,294 miles	5,301 kilometers
Average Daily Distance	80.3 miles	129 kilometers
Rest Days*	0
Number of States	8
Number of Motels	17
Pounds of Gear on Bike	67 lb.	30.4 kilograms
Number of Flats	5
* No "true" rest days, rest days consisted of shorter mileage/hours, anywhere from 2-3 hours to 4-5, or 29-50 miles.

It might be fun to follow the traced route on the map or state maps as the details are revealed below, for reference.

Some general points about the trip:

I traveled with a partner, Tom. We didn't usually ride together, and out of the 41 nights, we were separated for 15, as he often rode ahead, and we'd rendezvous a few days, or in one case 11 days, later. We stayed in touch via cell phone during the trip. Tom and I are both basically solo tourists, so this situation suited both of us. We had wonderful experiences together, as the photos attest. Some of the most memorable experiences were when I was alone, sometimes for several days.

I began the trip with about 12 pounds of extra gear, which I shed gradually (ah, the wonders of the US Postal Service and Priority Mail!) throughout the first three weeks. By the end of the trip, my gear had been whittled down to a mere 55 pounds or so. Try as I might, I couldn't find anything that I had by then that wasn't justified. In order to carry this much gear, I used fat road tires (Avocet Cross-K 38's), beefy racks (Bruce Gordon, of course!) and heavy duty bags (Robert Beckman). The bike's a very tough BG touring bike, and the wheels, though nine years old with lots of miles on them, made the trip, with one broken spoke, and, in the last three days, a cracked rear rim. The tires, which had about 900 miles on them when I started, finished the trip with lots of tread left.

Camping and Motels. Much of the weighty gear is camping stuff (stove/pots, tent, bag, pad, utensils, food, extra clothing). This is a personal choice, and lots of weight could have been left off if I'd spent more time in motels or "camping" a-la "stop and crash in the bushes". I chose to concentrate on more relaxed and comfortable camping, which saved some expenses. Also, though, created some tension with my partner, who prefers motels and crashing to actual camping. Of the entire trip, I spent 17 nights in motels (4 nights by myself, the rest with my partner).

The route was a do-it-yourself project, mainly conceived by my partner, then embellished and edited through joint planning. The emphasis was to avoid highways and large cities/towns, concentrating on back roads and smaller towns. I was under a time constraint, as time off from my job is limited, and I had previously scheduled a vacation a few days following the trip. I had about 4 days to "play with", allowing a total of 46 days for the trip should I have needed them. This created some interesting challenges, which will become clear as more details about the trip are told.

(trip report to be continued, in more detail, at a later time...)