{"id":3425,"date":"2010-08-20T23:54:20","date_gmt":"2010-08-21T05:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.8stars.org\/sputnik\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2010-08-20T23:54:20","modified_gmt":"2010-08-21T05:54:20","slug":"st2010-about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/8stars.org\/a\/rides\/st2010-about\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern Tier 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a record of my crossing of the Southern Tier, a transcontinental route plotted by the Adventure Cycling Association that runs from San Diego CA to Saint Augustine FL.<\/p>\n

I had 35 days of riding, with a 4-day layover in Austin. I covered a little over 2900 miles, averaging about 83 miles per day, with a total of 13 century+ days along the way. You can view my postings day-by-day below.<\/p>\n

Why did you do this?<\/h2>\n

I wanted to do this for a long time. When I was a teenager, my father told me about a friend of his who had done a transcontinental ride, and I think that planted the seed. I’ve always been fascinated by the Race Across America. But at some level, the question is unanswerable\u2014either you get it or you don’t.<\/p>\n

About ten years ago, I resolved to do the ride. Then a lot of stuff in my life changed, and I forgot about that goal. Around the beginning of the year, something reminded me of it, and I realized I still wanted to do it. I mentioned it to Gwen\u2014she just said “you’re not getting any younger.” That did it. I’ve been working my way towards doing this since that day.<\/p>\n

Where did you ride?<\/h2>\n

The route runs roughly parallel to I-10, but stays off major highways for the most part.<\/p>\n

How long? How high? How much? How hot?<\/h2>\n

I’ve created an infographic<\/a> (pdf) showing my route along with some other other metrics.<\/p>\n

\"Southern<\/a>
Thumbnail of infographic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Daily ride reports<\/h2>\n

Following is a list of the ride reports that I posted at the end of each day, but there are a bunch of short posts and photos I posted along the way if you navigate around.<\/p>\n