Lessons learned, and changes

First, there was last year's pre-trip trip. You can read about it here. Not a good experience, but one loaded with valuable lessons.

Looking back over my planned route for this trip, it looks like I should cover those first 160 miles as 4 40-mile days, instead of as 3 days of 50+. That would eliminate the awkward off day in Burlington, make Day 5 the day off in the islands, and split my riding into 4 days ahead and 3 days at the end. I needed to get this down in writing while I'm thinking about it, but can't devote the detailed planning time to it just yet. Need to see where those distances would put me, camping availability, lodging, etc. Makes a lot more sense that way in terms of shorter days, especially as a first attempt.

Will I do it this year? That depends. Can I get into good enough shape to do it? Long rides and lots of hill work will be needed. I think I have the packing list and loading pretty well set, based on going through last year's planning drill. I'm going to start planning AS IF I'll be doing the trip late this summer, and let the conditioning be the deciding factor as the year progresses. Stay tuned as I continue to work this out.