I'm in the early stages of planning an east-west CC50, (and another one back) not sure if I can still get it in November or if it's too late and I will do it in the spring, and I am looking for a bit of advice on a few points that I have found doing research.
1) Are there are weather concerns in November on the route from Jacksonville to San Diego? Specifically going through the mountains of California which areas should I check for snow/ Ice? I'm more or less assuming that if I can ride from home ( Pennsylvania) to Jacksonville for the start that the rest of the route being so far south will be fine (I ride all winter unless we have snow covered roads) but I've never ridden south of Georgia so I really don't know.
2) Are there areas with problems finding all night gas stations? I keep hearing to be careful in the western part of Texas, gas is hard to find. Is it really that bad? I'm not normally a meticulous planner, I get the basic route down, jump on the bike, ride, stop for gas every 200 miles ( range is 240) , and just go with it, that has worked for me in the areas I've ridden in but the Southwest is new territory for me, I don't want to get into big trouble for lack of planning.
3) Any other concerns I may not know about? I know there are many deer in Texas, we have more than our share in PA too, I can deal with them. Any other special hazards? I do better in cold than heat so I'm trying to avoid doing this in a month when I will be frying in the desert, I have heated gear to handle pretty low temperatures.
1) Are there are weather concerns in November on the route from Jacksonville to San Diego? Specifically going through the mountains of California which areas should I check for snow/ Ice? I'm more or less assuming that if I can ride from home ( Pennsylvania) to Jacksonville for the start that the rest of the route being so far south will be fine (I ride all winter unless we have snow covered roads) but I've never ridden south of Georgia so I really don't know.
2) Are there areas with problems finding all night gas stations? I keep hearing to be careful in the western part of Texas, gas is hard to find. Is it really that bad? I'm not normally a meticulous planner, I get the basic route down, jump on the bike, ride, stop for gas every 200 miles ( range is 240) , and just go with it, that has worked for me in the areas I've ridden in but the Southwest is new territory for me, I don't want to get into big trouble for lack of planning.
3) Any other concerns I may not know about? I know there are many deer in Texas, we have more than our share in PA too, I can deal with them. Any other special hazards? I do better in cold than heat so I'm trying to avoid doing this in a month when I will be frying in the desert, I have heated gear to handle pretty low temperatures.