In an effort to acclimate to the Eastern time zone, the 49ers will stay in Youngstown, Ohio, in between Sunday's game in Cincinnati and their meeting at Philadelphia on Oct. 2.

On Wednesday, coach Jim Harbaugh said the move is being made, in part, in response to the Niners' lack of success on the East Coast in recent years: San Francisco is 3-19 in the Eastern time zone since 2003.

Then again, the 49ers aren't so hot in the Central time zone (4-20) over their past eight non-winning seasons.

And they've gone 2-7 away from home in the Pacific time zone since 2003 - proving they can get their clocks cleaned without moving their clocks forward.

Obviously, San Francisco's road woes can't be pinned solely on jet lag.

In fact, their ineptitude on the road has been a constant during their near-decade-long playoff drought. Since 2003, the 49ers have been break-even at home (33-33) and beyond embarrassing (14-50) away from Candlestick Park.

But as the Niners say goodbye to the Bay Area this week for their first two road games of the 2011 season, their two captains said they're also bidding farewell to those memories.

"I just feel like it's a new year," linebacker Patrick Willis said. "We're not the same team we were last year, or the year before. We are this year's team so we have the opportunity to start something new."

Asked how the 49ers could become more respectable on the road, running back Frank Gore echoed Willis, "The past is the past, man. We have a different mind-set here. A different coaching staff."

The next two games - both against non-NFC West opponents - will provide the Niners with the perfect platform to prove the Harbaugh era won't include the same road errors.

San Francisco has a 4-36 road record against non-division opponents since 2003, losing by an average of 15.3 points. The 49ers have lost 11 straight non-division games away from home and 19 of their past 20.

How to stop the skid? Harbaugh, who played with the Chargers in 1999-2000, doesn't have a secret formula to offer from his playing days. In his two seasons in San Diego, he went 1-2 as a starter in the Eastern time zone.

"Kind of try to do what you can, sleep and get plenty of rest," Harbaugh said of readying for those games. "And when it's time to play the game, go play the game."

His strategy as a coach involves spending next week in Youngstown - a city of about 80,000 roughly 70 miles from Pittsburgh. The city is the hometown of the York family, the owners of the 49ers, and Harbaugh said the family's connections will result in "first-class treatment" during their stay.

The Niners, who will practice at Youngstown State University, also acclimated before a game last year, spending a week in London prior to their meeting against the Broncos at Wembley Stadium. The result was a 24-16 "home" victory, a game which marked the only time in 2010 that they didn't allow a sack or commit a turnover.

This year, they hope for a similar result, but the lead-up to next week's game will be a bit different.

Youngstown? Gore said he's never heard of it. For his part, wide receiver Joshua Morgan is also clueless about the city, but said he doesn't require much.

"As long as you feed us and let us play football," Morgan said, "we're good."

Tight end Delanie Walker said the extended stay in Ohio will mean the Niners won't have any excuses for a poor performance in Philadelphia.

"We're going to be adjusted," Walker said. "We should be able to play fast, have our legs under us and do what we do."

Do what they do? The Niners hope this year is different. And they will stop doing what they've done so frequently when playing on the road in recent years.

Rare road wins The 49ers have a 4-36 road record against non-NFC West opponents since 2003. The wins: 11/30/08: 49ers 10, Bills 3 12/31/06: 49ers 26, Broncos 23, OT 11/12/06: 49ers 19, Lions 13 12/21/03: 49ers 31, Eagles 28, OT