The Route and Schedule
Under normal circumstances, a bicycle tourist has a large degree of flexibility in the route that he takes as well as the schedule that is adhered to. Because I intend to give public lectures, however, I will need to establish a pre-planned route and stick to a schedule that is set in stone at least one month in advance. Here is an overview of the route I plan to take and the approximate dates of travel:
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
| Stage | Start Point | End Point | Start Date | End Date | Miles |
| 1 | Boulder, CO, USA | Deadhorse, AK, USA | 1-Apr-16 | 20-Jun-16 | 3608 |
| 2 | Lisbon, Portugal | Baku, Azerbaijan | 7-Jul-16 | 9-Oct-16 | 4216 |
| 3 | Perth, Australia | Cape Reinga, New Zealand | 16-Oct-16 | 24-Jan-17 | 4511 |
| 4 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | Boulder, CO USA | 1-Feb-17 | 16-Apr-17 | 3383 |
The Guinness World Record organization defines an “around the world bicycle ride” as being 18,000 miles, proceeding in the same general direction, with at least two points on the route being on opposite sides of the globe. Although Australia and Spain contain antipodal points, my route fails to continue in the same direction and is about 2500 miles short. This was a necessary compromise in order to fit the ride into 1 year and to visit the places I wanted to see without cycling during a local winter. I have identified an additional section that I may choose to take in a future ride (Mongolia).