Originally Posted by CMoss

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum and new to touring so I've spent the last couple of days reading everything I could find. I've been scouring the forum trying to find all the little ins and outs that I could gather from the years of conversation the experienced tourers have had on this forum...

Now, however, I'm asking for some outright help! I'm planning to make a trip next year (probably May of 2013) from my home here in NYC (I'll start at a beach somewhere just so I can say I went coast to coast) all the way out to CA (either San Fran or LA) and I know nothing. Well, that's not completely true but for the sake of argument lets say I know nothing. I've been riding with the local New York Cycling Club and have been getting some nice help from a lot of the people in the group, but they are mostly racers or day riders focused on going fast and now I'm trying to focus on going heavy.

I'm looking for advice on how to prepare for a big ride like this. What do I need? How should I train? What are the good brands for things I need? I need to know everything! I'm a big guy (6'0, 240 and dropping) so that should probably be taken into consideration when it comes to camping gear and weight. I should also mention I'm going on this trip with my friend who is a tiny little punk who runs marathons while I sit on the couch watching baseball...he's 5'5, 145 so we can share the load, tent (if that's reasonable), etc. Any advice would be great.

So far I have:

-A Surly LHT (with 700x28 slick tires...I purchased them so I could take a training course with the NYCC...will definitely need new tires)
-Topeak road morph G pump
-Topeak Alien II multitool
-a couple pairs of wool socks
-1 pair of bike shorts
-1 pair of awful tights
-one short sleeved jersey
-one long sleeve jersey
-PI leg warmers
-PI arm warmers
-helmet
-front light (AAA battery)
-back light (USB charge)
-dry bag saddle bag...medium sized I think

And that's it. I know I put a lot of obvious stuff in there but I figured nothing taken for granted.

Thanks in advance for any help!!!