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60 miles a day, 6 day a week is a good rule of thumb for working out time frames/distances but it really depends what kind of shape you're in and what you'll enjoy (suffering vs fun). I wasn't doing that much at the start of the trip but was doing a lot more than that later on. I did stretches in Mexico where I rode over (sometimes way over) 100miles a day for a week or more straight and thoroughly enjoyed it but met other touring cyclist (in good shape) who wouldn't ride more than 50 miles per day because that's not what it was about for them.

I think the most important thing with touring is not to set (unrealistic) goals for yourself and just to go with the flow.

My staple foods were porridge, green tea and later in the trip (wish I'd done it from the start) eggs for breakfast, sandwiches during the day and quinoa with some kind of campfire curry or chilli for dinner. Supplemented by Cliff bars and Arizona ice teas, don't really know how to express my passion for those two products but trust me they're awesome! Both are sold in every grocery store, supermarket and gas station in America, both cost a buck and both come in loads of different flavours so you don't get bored. The coast route isn't so desolate that you have to stock up too much on food, there's a few bits in Oregon that feel pretty out there and Big Sur, south of SF, ain't exactly populous but I doubt you'll get your self into trouble.

While I'm here, I would highly recommend AAA (an American insurance company, there's branches in every decent sized town) maps if you can get your hands on some. They're free (to customers) but you might have to sweet-talk (in your finest British accent) the employees into giving you some. They'll let you know where the state parks are and if they have camping facilities, and, in the sparse stretches, where gas stations are.

3 fixie skidders, 2 boys 1 girl, new oxford street about 3:30. Gotta be on here. Would have shouted but you were hiding behind a bus and I only saw you at the last second. Holla!

Some beautiful sights you're likely to see along the way:

As you saw from the map and brief description on my Orlowski thread I've done the exact route (plus some extra ;) ) I'll try to answer some of your questions but tbh could talk for hours about every aspect of the trip.

Firstly Canada to Mexico is indeed an epic route and I wouldn't say it's logistically any more difficult than Portland to San Diego would be (possibly even easier)… I flew to Vancouver from London (A. I had friends there, B. It was cheaper, C. Epic) (check out http://canadianaffair.com for cheap fares - I paid £160 plus £35 for the bike).

If you're arriving in America by plane or boat you need to have an ESTA which cost $15 and must be done in advance, however if you arrive at a land border (i.e. from Canada) you just fill out the forms upon arrival and pay $6 (must be in cash) for your 90 day tourist visa. All you have to do is convince the border agent that you plan to leave the country (much easier if you have already booked your return flight i.e. San Diego to London, but not impossible if you haven't, like me)

Tijuana and San Diego sit up against each other with the USA-Mexico border in-between. You can walk (or cycle, but head for the walking entrance rather than queuing with the cars, it's way quicker) into Mexico without any kind of visa (if you want to stay longer than seven days then you need a tourist visa, obtained from the consulate in Tijuana or Ensenada, which is valid for six months. That said I was never asked for my passport or visa in two months of cycling around Mexico.) So long as your 90 day American visa hasn't expired you can re-enter America, though this will take a lot longer than entering Mexico. Mexico don't enforce their border (you just walk through a gate) but America (obv) take it pretty seriously. If you do plan to go to Mexico (further than just visiting Tijuana) let me know and I'll give you some more tips.

You're bike looks pretty perfect for that kind of trip. It looks more than capable of handling a few trails whilst still being fine on the road (which is where you'll be spending the vast majority of your time). I'd much rather have a road-orientated bike than an MTB for a trip that'll be 90%+ on the road….but I did it on a track bike and still had a blast so whatever you'll have fun riding really. For me in was no stress taking my bike there and back. I took it on both flights with me (just in a cardboard bike-box) for a small surcharge.

4) Any advice whatsoever regarding camping / hostels / equipment / fighting off Bears
It's much harder to wild camp in America than in Europe, everywhere is fenced off and people are much less forgiving about trespassing. There are state-parks all along the cost which usually have camping/showering facilities though. There's less up north (Washington State) and they charge more but in Cali they're pretty regular and give a discount if you've arrived by bike. It's usually less than $10 ($5 in Cali). Depending on your ethics/financial necessity you can often get away without paying (more details on request). I would chose State Parks over KOA (Kampgrounds of America) as they're cheaper and usually super nice locations (hence why they're state parks). I didn't stay in any (or even see many) hostels but there's motels a-plenty which are usually under $40 per night if you feel the need for a night of luxury. Most big cities will have a city mission where you can stay for free but you have to queue for a few hours and share a dorm with the down and outs who: A. don't make for the best roommates and B. probably need it more than you.

As for fighting off bears… you're more likely (don't read as unlikely) to encounter Mountain Lions and much more troublesome Racoons (little fuckers!) but basically if you don't keep your food in your tent and you're unlikely to be disturbed by anything. Campgrounds will have bear-proof lockers to keep your food in. I had bears, lions and racoons all coming to visit me in the nights and only the racoons caused me any bother as they come in groups and work together to distract you while others nick your chilli con carne and Haribo! Be warned! ha

Anything else you wanna know, just ask

Bit late to the party but just read through this thread. So inspiring, such a great story.

Did you sell the Dolan?

No I'll be keeping it. They're so cheap anyway, it fits me well and we have such a history that it doesn't seem worth selling it.

What frame is this please?

Fxe?

Yep, Dolan FXE, my recently retired frame

Based on the Orlowski frame and fluoro bar tape I think I may have just seen Skant eating a sandwich next to the London Assembly building
Aye that was me, where were you? didn't see any forum types, not that I was paying attention to much other than the sandwich. Say hello next time you see me

any better pictures coming of this skant??
Yes, I'll try and get some this weekend.

I think I just spotted this (see spotted thread). Very nice build if so.
Thanks, yep that was me

I saw this behind Guys Hospital last week(end). It looked very nice!
Must have been Friday early eve, aye? Say hi next time

is the paint powder btw?

Yeah, it's not something I specified but very happy with the finish and how well it's standing up to abuse.

^So much rep. Would love to do something like this at some point. Loving the new frame too. I could well be tempted to go a similar route in the near future.

Thanks for writing this down and sharing it. It's very inspiring as I'm currently thinking about how I manage to prepare my current bike for a big ride.

Glad you guys were able to take something from it. I had the time of my life on that trip, if you have any questions feel free to drop me a line.

Added a bit more story up top

It's a bit retrospective now, but still was part of the "Current Project" and felt it may (or not) be of interest.

The braking surface on my old front wheel (Navigator clincher x Formula) wore out and so I had to rebuild it to a new rim. Wanted to make the switch to a wider rim and also wanted a silver hub to match the rear Phil. Considered buying a new Hub but at the time had minimal available funds and this one's done me well for thousands of miles so it felt kind of sad to retire it.

I bought an Archetype rim and Sapim stainless spokes from Kinoko and had myself a crafty afternoon.

The old wheel and new bits.

Removed the axel and bearings then started cutting the spokes (nipples were old and knackered so this was the only option really)

Popped the hub into an old (not be used for cooking again) pan filled with a fairly strong sodium hydroxide solution.

After about 30mins (checking and turning regularly) the anodising was removed.

This leaves a pretty ugly aluminium oxide finish.

I sanded back the tarnished layer with 400 grit (the finest grade available in walking distance from my house) wet and dry paper. Then I hand polished it with Brasso for as long as I felt it was worth doing and reassembled the axel and bearings.

I gave the spokes a quick polish then began lacing the wheel up. It all went pretty smoothly considering I hadn't built a wheel in about 8 years and even then I'd only done a few BMX wheels way back when they were so over-built and had so many spokes that it didn't really matter how well they were built.

There's an engineering solution for that, and it's right here.
I can understand why it hasn't become popular amongst people under the age of 80 though.

Ha! that's not what I was expecting to see

The rack in the Dolan is a Tubus Fly?

No, it isn't, it's a Tortec Ultralight:

I kind of wanted the Fly (as it looks nicer) when I bought this one but the Tortec wins on all other criteria. I think it costs about a third of the price of the Fly, is easy to fit and will solidly carry 25kg (which tbh is way more than you'd want strapped to the back of your bike).

No specific reason really but nor did I specify a skinny down tube. I told Jacek what I wanted from the bike (and that I thought Zona might work) and let him decide exactly what to use, no regrets at all on that front

That's even better than I expected, very nice! How is the stiffness of the frame compared to the Dolan?

Funny you should ask as this was something I was worried about. I said to Jacek when we were discussing what I wanted that I was worried a big steel frame would feel noodly compared to the Alu Dolan, to which he basically replied "it won't be a problem, don't worry"

...and he was right!

It feels a hell of a lot stiffer in the BB than the Dolan, which had a springy feeling when sprinting that translated to a rather unnerving sway at high speeds. The Orlowski however feels rock solid in the BB, like I've got a proper platform to push against and when I'm spinning fast it feels super stable. That said the frame as a whole is far from being bone-shaking, it soaks road vibrations up wonderfully, I think Jacek got it spot on with tube choice.

2nd dibs Canyon Frameset

relace the phil to an archetype? shouldnt cost too much!

Oh yeah that'd be the action plan for sure, it's just the idea of ripping apart something that works admirably and spending £70 just so that I have a nice matching wheelset that grates on me a bit

Probably come summer when I'll be touring again, I'll make the decision on performance grounds (need a rear brake for mountain descents) rather than aesthetic, which should be much easier to justify to myself

And that brings me to.....changes:

• silver chainring (when this one wears out)
  
• a new saddle (I've ridden literally thousands of miles on this one and never really gotten on with it, need to get measured up / try and few out and find one that really works)
  
• bar tape (I originally built it up with Fizik soft touch but was not at all impressed, it was ripped up and uncomfortable within a few days. Had this in the parts box so threw it on and although the colour doesn't match the decals I quite like it)
  
• new rear rim (maybe...one day...I've had this Phil to H+Son for about three years and it's never missed a beat, absolutely bomb-proof wheel and I'm loathe to make amendments to something that works so well, but...I would like a matching wheelset and have been impressed by the handling improvements offered by the wider profile Archetype)
  
  

Needed:

• bars (for the velodrome) Ideally another set of 3T Ergonovas, but really anything 31.8 clamp and reasonably slim (40 or 42 wide) I cannot be untaping bars, removing brake levers, retaping bars, going to HH, untaping bars......ect every week.

• stem - 120 or 130, 31.8 clamps, +/- 6

if anyone has either going for cheapz let me know

Have put in 400miles this week, and it's been beautiful! I can definitely feel it but just in tired legs rather than aching wrists, ass and back.

Apologies for the awful photos, I'll take some nice ones and soon, promise

Above, is the day-to-day set up, it will be this way (give or take future changes) for 99% of the miles I do.

Please excuse the mess, here we have it minus brake, levers and bottle cage ready for last weeks velodrome session.

pics please (:

Haha aye, getting to it. Been too busy riding :)

I'll take some pictures tomorrow, sadly iphone only for now but I'l get some nice ones done before it gets too battered

Nice story about your dolan. Looking forward to see pics of the Orlowski. Did you buy a steel fork as well?

£438?! Jeez that's such a good price! Assume this did not include fork?!

Nah no steel fork, I'm using the carbon Alpina road fork from the Dolan. Still a very good price I think for a beautiful frame. Have put in about 300 miles and got everything dialed in just about, thoroughly enjoying riding it, how it feels planted yet fast.

Walked past the Dolan and you yesterday back of St. Pauls I was on the phone otherwise I would have said HAI!!!

Next time eh, won't be on the Dolan though...

Without being rude would you mind sharing the cost of the build? Just intrigued as i'm weighing up a few options myself for a steel road frame.

Not rude at all, I paid what amounts to £438 for Zona smooth welded frame, paint and shipping included.

Got it up and running yesterday, not the smoothest build process, had some tense moments involving Omniums and an angle grinder and second hand ebay headset is far from perfect.

However went on the first ride yesterday afternoon and had an absolute blast, expectations completely surpassed for ride quality. There's no sway in the BB at high speeds (which was something of a problem before) positioning feels perfect and road buzz is greatly reduced compared to the Dolan. It's also quite a bit lighter than I was expecting for such a big frame too, I've very pleased with every aspect of it.

Pics etc to follow

There's three I think but they are all different, check the soldiers pose

Not absent from streetview.

Wrong one

Absent from streetview, but:

working tomorrow though.. : /

Right one