My first real bike tour. Starting in 5 weeks 0 days

I’ve decided that starting on May 22nd I’m going on an 10 day bike tour. With this decision I’ve also decided to take my blog in a slightly different direction. I’ll still be filling the pages with pictures of San Francisco, but I’m also going to use it to document the preparations for my trip.

The main preparations I need to take are~

1) Getting myself ready mentally and physically.
2) Getting my bike and gear ready.
3) Getting my camera ready.
4) Planning the trip.

Here is what I have so far~~

As for my mind and body, I’m going to stop eating out as much (for health and money) and eat lots of unprocessed food. On the way to work this morning I got; dried fruit, oranges, bananas, carrots, milk, high fiber cereal, yogurt, almonds, raisins, string cheese, whole grain bread, turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. This should be enough for breakfast, morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack for about a week.

I’ve decided that I’m going to stop drinking for the next 5 weeks (I'll let myself go out once somewhere in the middle to reward myself and keep up steam). To be completely honest, I think this is the #1 thing I can do to save money and improve my health (mental and physical). I’m going to try and ride at least 100 miles a week including overnight trips with all my gear as much as possible. I plan on doing a lot of riding on the weekends (I’ll have to do something with all the time I won’t waste drinking/hungover).

Bike and gear. This will depend on how much money I can pony up. A new bike would be nice, but I definitely need camping equipment; tent, sleeping bag, mat, cooking gear. I will probably need a front rack and front panniers too. I will probably purchase some clip pedals too.

Camera. This also depends on how much money I can find. I’d like a couple new pieces of glass and a new lightweight tripod. I will also keep working on my landscape and urban photography.

Planning. I have no clue where I’m going yet. I’m thinking coastal, but that could change.

I have exactly 5 weeks to figure everything out and get my self ready. I’ll keep a daily log (or almost daily) here on my blog.