Coast to Coast

Leaving San Diego

Over the mountains, rode past the Trump wall & ended up in unusual hotel.

Lovely downhill & tailwind, no shops or restaurants in 80km‚ thankfully some amazing person had stashed buckets filled with jugs of water along the route.

Over sand dunes, met some Mad Max style sand-buggy racers & first night camping in the wilderness.

First night camping and realised I accidentally brought a 1 man tent… Mostly uneventful day riding & first day off tomorrow

Survived riding on a primitive road‚ to then get 3 punctures between us on the highway.

Riding along the old main route (Route 66 of the South). Nice flat day, spotted a mini twister & the biggest dead snake so far.

Left a small, modest Wild West town & arrived in huge city with robots driving themselves around delivering food & packages. Longest day so far, looking forward to beer tonight & rest day tomorrow.

Leaving Phoenix and into Tonto National Forest. Staying in an old copper mining town for the evening.

Nice short day with some climbs, an off-road section & lots of cool scenery. Spending the evening in an Apache Casino.

Looong day riding continuously into nasty headwind. Dodgy surface & busy road all day. Not my fav day on a bike, but another one ticked off.

Beautiful day & scenery. Not much shade so found a storm drain under the road to shelter from the sun at lunch.

Nice easy day, spending the afternoon visiting an old abandoned Wild West town (Shakespeare).

Met a couple of solo cyclists (Gil & Chris) doing the route in the opposite direction. Tour of Gila bike race happening in Silver City this weekend so the city is full of pros.

Fav day so far. Rode alongside the UCI women and watched the mens race in the final stage of the Tour of Gila. Spectacular route, climbs & wildlife. Plus an unexpected winner of the KOM jersey.

Leaving the mountains, lots of downhill & the occasional tailwind. Lovely easy day on the bike.

Stayed at a pecan farm & spent the morning riding through acres of orchards. Nearly picked up a hitchhiker.

First few miles in Texas.

Hannah’s longest ride to date. Nice to be back on some roads from the 18 tour.

Nice easy day, into new timezone. Highlight of day using my new car tyre inflater adapter.

Fake Prada shop in the middle of desert. Another lunch sheltering in a storm drain. Plus enormous blimp in the sky scanning for Mexicans. Day off in hipster town of Marfa, so time to drink some craft beers & hit up some art galleries.

Headwind made day harder than needed to be. Wild boars, deer & antelopes along the route.

Climbing trains not hills.

Really remote area, only one tiny shop in 150km stretch. Luckily it was open!

50% of the days done!

Heat wave in Texas & hottest May on record! Had a swim in river to cool down.

Met another couple riding the other way who have offered us a place to stay in Austin when we pass through. Really lucky to meet some amazingly generous people this trip!

Nice short, chilled day!

Mid ride wine tasting in the heart of Texas wine country. Passed through German town of Fredericksburg & staying in LBJ‚ home town – Johnson City.

Back at it after first time having 2 consecutive days off. Spent them drinking with the famous Party Panda & attending the Regional Air Guitar Championship. Austin lived up to its motto of “Austin weird”.

Planned an extra 40km however were approached by a friendly lady at lunch offering us a place to stay. Spent the afternoon chilling by her pool instead! They’re a 70yo couple who will be spending next summer tandeming.

Spent the morning grooming & riding our hosts horses. Yeehaw!!!

Nice route through Sam Houston National Forest.

Tomorrow is our last day in Texas. It’s been a great few weeks & we’ve met some incredible people whilst riding through this monster state. Locals accents have started to turn very Forrest Gumpy.

Into Louisiana. 4/8 States completed!

Cajun county & cycling through endless crawfish farms.

Climate noticeably changed – very humid & lots of swamps. Relatively uninspiring day, looking forward to New Orleans!

Only 10 days left!

Nice 100km bike path with a few small alligators for company. For the second time this trip we’ve got 2 consecutive days off – happy bank holiday all!

Welcome to Florida!

Dodging thunderstorms with help from a lovely tailwind!

Pedalling along the Panhandle!

4th and final timezone of the ride. Detour into Georgia as a bonus 9th State. First road-sign to Jacksonville!

Penultimate day & Hannah’s longest ever ride.

2 months after leaving San Diego we’ve arrived at Jacksonville Beach! We did it!