Timberline Adventures Cycling & Hiking Vacations

Odyssey 2010: Sea-To-Shining-Sea New

Dates:
(58 days, 57 nights)
June 5-Aug 1

Assembly Point: Seattle, WA
(airline service to Seattle; Timberline van shuttle to Neah Bay prior to tour and from Bar Harbor, to Portland, ME, following tour)

Tour Cost: $16,000
(includes all lodging, all breakfasts and dinners, van shuttles from Seattle to Neah Bay prior to tour and from Bar Harbor to Portland, ME, following tour, park entrance fees, support van, leaders tour maps & narrative materials)

Itinerary

In retrospect, when we launched our Odyssey Series 12 years ago with a ride from Missoula, MT, to Jasper, AB, and in subsequent years

— circumnavigated Lake Michigan from Chicago

— toured Atlantic Canada (Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island)
— rode the Pacific Coast from Seattle to San Francisco

— replicated the Lewis & Clark Expedition from Wood River, IL, to Astoria, OR

— chased the Continental Divide from the Mexican Border to Jasper, AB

we knew that at some point, we would be compelled to ride our bikes across the North American Continent. Because that is the dream of every touring cyclist, and the window of opportunity will not be there forever.

And so, in the year ahead, in the context of Odyssey 2010, the time has come to ride from Sea to Shining Sea. From the northwesterly-most point in the lower 48 at Neah Bay, WA, to Bar Harbor, ME, we’ll ride just shy of 4,000 miles across the North American Continent in a 58-day life-defining (forgive a bit of hyperbole?), but, for sure, a never-to-be-forgotten adventure of a lifetime.

We’ve chosen a route that is neither the shortest nor the easiest of the alternatives out there to cross the continent. But the scenic quality, along with the quality of cycling and utter absence of urban chaos from beginning to end of our route, are without equal among those many alternative choices. Grab a map and trace our course through Washington on remarkable State Highway 20, Glacier Park and Montana’s Highline, the wild beauty of northern North Dakota, the lake country of Minnesota and Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Mackinac Island, the rolling rural countryside of Ontario, Stratford’s Shakespearian Festival, a touch of French Quebec and a layover day to cross the St. Lawrence and play tourist in Montreal, New York’s Lake Champlain, northern Vermont and New Hampshire, our lobster feast in Belfast, ME, preceding our heroic ride into beautiful Bar Harbor, and a tour of Acadia National Park on our final day—this is the essence of Odyssey 2010. And, more than anything, we hope that we’ve conveyed our commitment that this is definitely not a “put-your-head-down-and-crank-out-the-miles” experience.

As we’ve done with past odysseys, for those unable to commit to the full 58-day ride, participation in Sea-to-Shining-Sea is possible in three segments of unequal duration (segments have been determined by transportation issues):

Segment 1: (Neah Bay, WA, to Brainerd, MN) June 5-July 1
Segment 2: (Brainerd, MN, to Stratford, ON) July 2-July 16
Segment 3: (Stratford, ON, to Bar Harbor, ME) July 17-Aug 1
Contact us for details relative to participation inselected segments.

Group size will be limited to a maximum of 24 participants, who will be supported by two 15-passenger vans and four Timberline leaders.

As though there remained any doubt, we could ramble on forever as we attempt to detail all of the “nuts and bolts” of Odyssey 2010. The better choice, if we’ve whetted your appetite, would be to contact us by phone or e-mail and we’ll fill in the gaps, including a day-by-day itinerary. Most of all, know that we hope to share with at least some of you still reading this, what we expect will be among the great adventures of our lives.

E-Mail: timber@earthnet.net