The Route

When I first started thinking about this, I knew one of the keys to success would be a favorable elevation profile. I know there's plenty of people out there who could do this in the Rockies, but I'm not one.

I knew I wanted to leave from Auburn, not drive somewhere else to start. I've always enjoyed leaving on bike tours from my own driveway. So a decent amount of climbing in the beginning has been expected no matter what. Here in east Alabama, if I were doing a big loop century with Auburn in the center, I'd expect to have an average of about 40-50 feet of climbing per mile, so roughly 4,000 to 5,000 feet for the century. That's not a horrible amount for a single century. It's not easy -- it's a challenge -- but not horrible. Two or three of those in a row, though, can wipe out anyone not thoroughly prepared.

So I very quickly started thinking I've got to head toward Florida. I've successfully ridden from Auburn to Gulf Shores on two out of three attempts in the past, and I know it starts to flatten out in south Alabama. And I've heard that most all of Florida is flat as a pancake.

I spent a good bit of time pondering routes.

The first plan I developed had me going east across Georgia on State Bicycle Route 40 which runs 270 miles from Columbus to Savannah, then turned south to ride down the East Coast Greenway, which is a 3,000 mile bike friendly route from the Canadian border to Key West, about 30% of which is off-road on dedicated multi-use paths. Yeah, Key West automatically seemed like the perfect destination.

The entire Auburn to Key West route on that first draft had me camping 5 nights, and staying in hotels the other nights. One of the camping nights would have been stealth, or just finding a spot in the woods or preferably behind a firehouse or police station or town park or similar.

The reason I finally ditched that first draft is because of what I knew would be one of the other keys to success: riding with as little weight as possible. Between my body, bike and gear weights, I'm basically trying to drop 70 lbs compared to one of the fully loaded 4-pannier bike/camping trips I've done in the past on my Surly Long Haul Trucker. I figure even the most scaled down camping set-up would be about 6 lbs and take up an area of about 16"x11"x4"

2 lbs 12 oz   4" x 16.5"   Copper Spur UL1 tent

1 lb 9 oz       4" x 8.5"    Air Core Ultra pad

1 lb               5" x 12"    Kings Canyon UL Quilt

8.5 oz           3" x 7.5"   Sleeping Giant pillow

Not bad if you're on a trip where camping is almost always required, but in this case I decided if there's an option available for saving that weight and space, I'm taking it. I feel like I'll need every advantage I can get if I'm gonna make it.

IMO, half the fun of planning a bike tour is spending the long hours studying maps. I decided I needed to figure a route that'd put me at a hotel everyday after 95 to 105 miles. On the low end, it's no problem to ride around town to make it up to 100. There's dinner to be had and supplies to be acquired... maybe a laundrymat to visit. On the high end, a stretch to 105 is doable, but I don't want to have to stretch to 120.

I tried lots of angles across Georgia to various points on the east coast and couldn't get anything to work. What finally worked was avoiding Georgia altogether.

My final route goes south through Alabama into Florida, curves around Lake Seminole and heads east across the panhandle just above Tallahassee to Jacksonville and the East Coast Greenway, then south along the Atlantic coast to the Keys. Total from Auburn to Key West will be approximately 1,017 miles and 14,500 feet of elevation.

Sometimes I Fail - Sometimes I Don't

Since I was feeling bloggy and started this blog, I figured I'd go ahead and write up my cycling history up to this point, or I may never do it. So here it is.

I first started biking as an adult in 2011. The bike was some type of Dick's Sporting Goods bike, and I was badly needing to lose weight. I couldn't ride more than 5-7 miles without being on the verge of death. I only road about 100 miles that year. The bike was pathetic. Probably the wrong size. I lost interest.

I started going to a gym spin class in 2012, and the instructor kept telling us about how awesome the mountain biking trails were at our local state park. Eventually, I was persuaded, and I bought a better bike. An entry level Trek Wahoo 29'r mountain bike. Much better. I went for a ride on the beginner trail at Chewacla and was immediately hooked. Why sit and spin on a stationary bike in a stinky, sweaty gym room when you can be getting the same workout in fresh air and beautiful scenery? There were weeks I'd go down to the park 6 or 7 days in a row.

I also started riding around town here and there. To the post office. Through campus. To the store. Riding on the road with cars never really bothered me like it does some. I figure if I get hit and killed it'll be quick... probably painful... but quick. And that'll be much better than a slow death by obesity. Just don't leave me a vegetable. Back up and finish the job. Probably a sick perspective, I know. But it's how I think about it when I do.

I was just enjoying being outdoors and getting the exercise. I figured out pretty quick that I needed a decent road bike for road rides. The more I looked around, the more I liked the idea of getting a bike that could carry groceries, my laptop and some files or maybe even gear for a camping trip... or all of the above. The long distance multi-day trips I read about on crazyguyonabike.com really got me excited. I wanted to do something like that.

I settled on a Surly Long Haul Trucker, one of the most popular long-distance touring bikes in the world. You can load them up with, for example, everything an Appalachian Trail hiker would carry for an entire AT hike, and then some. Works great for commuting around town with lighter loads too.

2012-2014

Between the Trek mountain bike and the Surly LHT, which I got late in the year, my total mileage was about 1,000 for 2012. Not much, but more than I'd ever done before Once I accumulated a good set of panniers and ultralight camping gear in 2013, my mileage started going up. 4,400 miles in 2013-2014, including

* my first multi-day bike tour - an attempt to ride from Auburn to Huntsville. I only made it 4 out of the 5 days planned (200 out of 250 miles) due to a mishap on day 3, but I loved every bit of it

* a couple of 2-day rail trail rides

* a failed attempt at an Auburn to Gulf Shores beach ride - heat exhaustion and dehydration on day #2 of 5 - this was a big learning experience for hot weather riding

* a personal high-mileage ride record of 76 miles

* the first annual Skyway Beer Run in 2014, a difficult 50 mile and 6,000 feet elevation dirt/gravel/service road ride in the Talladega National Forest. I bonked and had to call for a rescue at mile #38. I was the only one out of a dozen that failed to make it.

2015

2015 was a big year for me. There was the awesome Skyway Beer Run #2 in February, which I completed, but couldn't have made it another mile. Then, in early March, I challenged myself to bike commute to work every day for an entire workweek, rain or shine. It took me until the end of March to have success, and then I started looking for another challenge. I noticed the hashtag #30daysofbiking starting to show up on social media, so I decided to keep going and ride every day of the month in April. Needing a new goal after that, I discovered the National Bike Challenge, a May through September competition where riders accumulate points throughout the Challenge (20 points per day of riding at least 1 mile, plus 1 point per mile ridden). Once I got going with that, things got a little bit obsessive-compulsive insane.

In addition to a couple of fairly short and easy 2-day rail trail rides, I completed a number of bigger multi-day rides:

* 3-day bike tour in rural Alabama (Auburn-Ashland-Piedmont-Fruithurst)

* 3-day bike tour in rural Alabama (Jennings Ferry-Eutaw-Reform)

* 4-day bike tour in rural Alabama (Auburn-Clio-Dozier-Andalusia-Troy)

* 5-day, 250-mile Auburn to Gulf Shores beach ride

* 7-day RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) - 536 miles and 13,500 feet elevation - including my first century

* 3 centuries back-to-back-to-back in August (Auburn-Anniston-Atlanta-Anniston)

* 16-day circumnavigation of Alabama (including all border counties) - 1,030 miles and 37,000 feet elevation - including 2 centuries

* back-to-back 140 mile days on the Chief Ladiga rail trail in September

For the year, I had a total of 6,225 miles, including 8 century rides, and I managed to get 2nd place National Bike Challenge for state of Alabama.

2016

2016 was my biggest year yet, and I'm kindof still recovering from it. After taking it easy from October to December following 2015's intense National Bike Challenge competition, I decided on a goal of riding every day of 2016 - #366dayofbiking.

After completing a custom build of a Salsa Deadwood dropbar bikepacking bike, I started doing more dirt and gravel road rides.

* 2-day, 100-mile Chambers County dirt road bikepacking trip

* 2-day Talladega Traverse bikepacking trip

* Skyway Beer Run #3

* 2-day Bull's Gap to Cheaha ride

* Standard Deluxe Dirt Road metric century

On pavement, there were numerous single day and 2-day rail trail rides, and several multi-day rides:

* 4-day Auburn to Gulf Shores beach bike tour

* 5-day Anniston-Atlanta-Anniston trip in September

* 5-day Anniston-Atlanta-Anniston ride in December

* 7-day RAGBRAI (492 miles and 21,750 feet of elevation)

While I only made it 310 of the #366daysofbiking, I managed to ride approx 7,000 miles in 2016, including 11 centuries, with 1,000+ mile months in May, July and August, and scored 1st place in the National Bike Challenge for state of Alabama (My buddy Bob came in 2nd place. Auburn cyclists had 4 spots out of the top 10 in the state).

10 centuries in 10 days

I always need a challenge. A goal to pursue. But this challenge seems a little extreme.

It's not so much the riding 10 days in a row part. I've done a few big bike tours, including an 1100 mile circumnavigation of Alabama over 16 days, a couple of 7 day 500 mile RAGBRAIs, and a bunch of smaller 2 and 3 day bike tours. A long multiple day ride is not what worries me.

It's the consecutive centuries. My century count is currently at 20 spread over the course of about 20 months. Some were ridden during bike tours and others part of some organized event or just a personal challenge. They're always difficult. The pain factor, for me anyway, seems to start increasing exponentially at around the 80 mile mark. I'm not fast at all, so for me a century involves a whole lot more seat time than it does for others.

Riding consecutive centuries is an even greater challenge. I've managed to do a couple of big consecutive day rides -- one consisted of back-to-back 140 mile days on easy rail trail -- and the other was 3 centuries in 3 days on a combination of road and rail trail. I was completely wiped out at the end of each.

But I'm fond of saying there's a certain kind of fun that can only be had by suffering.

For me to have a chance of success at 10 centuries in a row is gonna require several things, all critical.

I'll have to lose weight. Probably 25 or 30 lbs. Down to what I was when I left college.

I'll need a new lightweight bike. Total weight of around 20 lbs.

I'll have to travel with a minimum amount of gear and supplies. I'm thinking max of 25 lbs.

I'll need to increase my average speed.

I'll need a very favorable route and elevation profile.

I'll need to do some serious training. Likely 6 to 9 months worth.

And it'll still be one of the hardest things I've ever tried to do.

I've got this idea for a ride

"I've got this idea for a ride."

My buddy Hank and I were slowly making our way north in his truck on Forest Service Road 500 in the Talladega National Forest just east of Anniston, Alabama. It was February. Cold. Our mountain bikes were on the back of the truck. There was beer in the cooler. We were heading to the Warden Horse Camp to park and ride some horse trails and gravel roads.

Hank just stared ahead with a grin on his face, looking out the window. It was the kind of perma-grin he gets when there's nothing to think about except the woods, and trails, and riding bikes, and beer.

No rush for me to complete my thought. We were up here camping a couple of days early before the Skyway Beer Run, then in its 3rd year. Mostly just sitting around poking the camp fire at Cheaha State Park, talking about anything that came to mind, dozing off in our camp chairs, riding our bikes here and there, and drinking beer. No cell phone reception. At some point, you get so zoned out by the peace and beauty of it all that you can go awhile between thoughts and the articulating of thoughts, and that's ok.

So Hank just sat there with his perma-grin, crushing gravel under his wheels, surrounded by the forest, knowing at some point I'd tell him all about my idea for a ride.

"I think I wanna do a 9 day ride so that I only have to take off a week from work, and with the weekend before and the weekend after, it would be 9 days total. And I think I wanna try to do a century each day. 9 centuries in a row."

"Dude," Hank turned and grinned wider. He got a little animated and hit the steering wheel for emphasis. "You can't just do 9. You have to do 10."