Click on the photo to go to the Adventure Cycling Association website.
The Southern Tier is a cross-country route from San Diego, California to Saint Augustine, Florida. It runs 3,060 miles across the great deserts and mountains of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Then, across the famous Hill Country, the swamps of Louisiana, the Gulf Coast and forests of Florida.
We pedaled an average of 52 miles a day for 58 days, starting in San Diego, CA on December 29, 2011. We arrived in Saint Augustine on February 29, 2012. We took five days off. Our shortest day was 18 miles and the longest was 100 miles.
We encountered heat and wind in the desert - wind which was almost always against us - freezing temperatures at night, snow in the mountains of New Mexico, and rain, rain, rain in the Deep South.
The highest point on the trip was 8,230 feet above sea level on Emory Pass in New Mexico; the lowest was in Brawley, CA, at -112 feet below sea level.
Many parts of the route are very desolate, and the longest stretch without a town or store was 90 miles, from Van Horn to Fort Davis, Texas.
We stayed mostly in campgrounds or outside, and sometimes stayed in hotels or were offered a room by generous Warm Showers hosts.
If you're considering cycling the Southern Tier, we recommend bringing with you the desire to pedal many miles in solitude. The moments spent alone with the road and the landscape will surely be the most memorable.