An Update from Jesse

I forwarded to Ron and asked him what
he'd prefer on bikes. Ideal is that riders would volunteer at Sharing
Wheels both building their bike and building/repairing bikes for
others.

Second-most preferable is you can just purchase the bike you like
that's available there.

The Bike Shack also has that option but it's not nearly as formalized
and the selection is much smaller. It is, however, much closer and
manned more days of the week. Same thing applies there, you could
build your own bike or you can buy a ready made one there (also
uber-cheap) and Erica and I (or other Bike Shack volunteers) can teach
you lots of simple things that you'll need to know on the road at an
organized workshop or something if you like.

There are also other places like the Bikery who do training and class
things as well. http://www.thebikery.org/news.html (a drivetrain class
this Saturday!)

So there are lots of options and some might prefer to do one or another.
I'd also like to amend the statement of what type of bike you'll have
at the end. Quality can vary depending on what's available and what
you like. I certainly wouldn't promise a "high-end road bike" to
anyone, let alone everyone. Ron (and myself) favor 80s mountain bike
frames and touring frames for long-distance rides. They're very
sturdy and hold up under many many road conditions. Lots of people
really prefer a touring or road bike with very skinny tires, but won't
necessarily handle the weight or adverse road conditions as well or,
possibly, last as long.

Ron should get back with me in the next few days on if he has bikes
available in those sizes that are really good matches in the next
coupla days.

I revisited my map that you included. I had it as 14 days from
Seattle to San Fran, that just glancing at the distances I would
revise to about 17 or so. Currently the average ride length per day
is 83 miles, with 3 century+ days. Many riders wouldn't appreciate
that.

Here's my recommendation locales to see if there are nearby
projects/green buildings/hosts:
1 Seattle-Oly
2 Oly-Centralia
3 Centralia-Longview/Kelso
4 Longview/Kelso-Portland
5 Portland-Salem
6 Salem-Eugene
7 Eugene-Roseburg
8 Roseburg-Grants Pass
9 Grants Pass-Crescent City
10 Crescent City-Eureka
11 Eureka-Big Bar
12 Big Bar-Redding
13 Redding-Chico
14 Chico-Sacramento
15 Sacramento-Fairfield
16 Fairfield-San Francisco

Which only knocks it down to estimated average of 71 miles/day (1149
with highway avoid on), but shows you how much leeway we can make.
That's 6 days of 80+ miles, one above 90. These are all doable miles
and allows us to make more project and/or rest days, but you'll
definitely feel it some of those days.