I have an idea of moving from OK to CA where I grew up. Then once I get out there instead of working right away I would like to ride from northern CA to southern CA border to border which I guess is about 1500 miles. In fact I may just do the whole west coast from CA to WA and back and I will tell you why...

I am 30 years old, just got divorced, starting a new life, see some pretty scenery, getting back into dating, 300lbs and want to get down to 200-240lbs. I want to be like a forrest gump on wheels! I imagine that this type of deal would take some money which I will have none. It will take all that I have just to get to CA. I would think it would cost money for food, water, shelter, bike maint/repairs etc.

So how would I be able to afford to do this? Could I solicit donations for a good cause like "divorce recovery", or "being healthy", "cyclist safety" etc? Could I blog daily with pics and maybe solicit $1/day or something like that for 30 days or whatever? Give me some ideas! I thought it was crazy at first, but I see all of you guys in this forum so I may just be the wuss here. I just have my wheels turning...

Asking for donation so you can have a vacation is not really a great way to go about touring.

On the plus side..... If your frugal you can tour for less than $25 a day. Camping, cooking your own food and such. It would cost you this much to stay home at least.

Tons of people tour and raise money for stuff.... I really only feel respect for those that donate all money received towards the charity that they are riding for. Sorry but that is how I feel.

Better idea would be to round up as much funds as you can and tour until it runs out. Even $500 can make for a really nice tour.

Best,

kyakdiver

Nice Idea but I think that your distances are wrong, it is about 850 miles to ride the length of CA. Instead of asking for money for your tour, have a fire sale of all of your belongings, the move costs nothing with no possessions , there is no storage fees or rent for no possessions. except maybe parking your car. And with the proceeds of the fire sale you can get a shiny new bike and when you are done you can start out with a clean slate. Since the distance is only 850 miles, that is a two week vacation before job hunting. What about unemployment? you could network when riding, visiting business along the route, green is really popular so hit up companies that are trying to promote how green they are and collect unemployment the entire time.

I agree with cyclist 2000, the CA coast is not nearly 1500. It's a fairly easy ride save for big sur and parts like Laguna and Malibu where the traffic is hectic. You can get away with spending next to nothing for a tour, especially if you have the gear. If you don't there are ways to make panniers, cook stoves, tent ect. for zero dollars or mere pennies. As far as money on the road you can busk (I play the harmonica.) or pan-handle. Or you can schedule your ride around harvest season, which I've seen many fellas do. As far as sleeping I stayed free pretty much all along the coast from Vancouver to San Diego. You can use Warmshowers.com to stay on couches, our just sleep in groves and under bridges like many trans-folks do along the coast. Sleeping outside is pleasant and easy on the west coast compared to just about anywhere else in the country.

Anyway, good luck.

Hmm...this post made me think of the Grapes of Wrath, Okie to Ca on a shoe string.

Nothing wrong with begging for money to finance a cycle tour. But please don't attach a 'charity' to it. Just plain dishonest and gives cycle touring a bad rep. Many churches will help travelers out with funds or places to stay overnight. I've been hit up several times by guys on bicycles riding through, and usually help a little. They're usually a little mentally wacky.

Frankly, sounds to me like your first concern should be to find some gainful employment, seeing as how you are nearly broke. Then, with your earnings, consider touring during your time off work.

Having found myself overweight by a larger amount than had registered, I found cycle touring did help, but I gained the weight back. What did work for me was simply to cut out all the bad food I knew I was eating, like butter, pizza, any restaurant meals etc... At some level there is a diet that is healthier than the one you are on and naturally will allow you to loose weight. I also cut out all salt (which is pretty much impossible), but I tried. In fact going radically low salt will probably still see one at an unhealthy level, the stuff is so pervasive. Cutting out salt seems to promote weight loss, which was my experience, and I later read an article that stated the same thing.

There are two kinds of bicycle touring. One, most often described here, consists of buying as many touring branded items as it is possible to drag down the highway. The other involves going on a tour, using a bicycle. My wife does the later, and she can drop into a community and find a thrift shop, and outfit herself with cheap gear, hit the road, and have a fabulous experience without hardly lightening her wallet. She makes her way through life naturally without spending a dime. Reducing your expenses to near zero is possible. Bike touring itself isn't climbing mount Everest. In fact climbing Mount Everest really isn't climbing Mount Everest any more. Your chance of finding people who will pay you to do it is pretty low. But you can lower your expectation to the point where it is pretty cheap to tour. I once found a site on people that for sorta political reasons tour without spending money. I cna't find a search term for it. Anyway, have fun.

That is the most quote worthy comment I have read here in a long time