Pre Ride Report #2

May 11, 2008

Dear Friends and Family,

We thought we'd send an update.

The fund raising is going very well. We have pledges of more than $11,000 to be divided between Nardin and Child and Family Services. We are humbled by your generosity. On those tough days and there will be many, we will do our very best to keep moving the peddles round and round.

The training is progressing since the weather has improved. John is able to get out some mornings when the temperature is above 40 degrees at 5:45 for a 21 mile ride that gets him back to the house by 7:00 or so in order that he can get to the office by 7:45 or so. Amy tries to get out a couple of times a week and gets about 20 miles in during the early afternoon. In the evening if John get home in time and if the weather cooperates, we try to ride various routes together averaging about 23 or 25 miles. Then on Saturday and Sunday we try for a 50 to 75 mile ride if the weather and time permit. Even with this effort (which we recognize isn't anywhere near enough) we know that the first week or so of the trip is going to be tough with daily miles in the 75 to 95 mile range. We'll hopefully have enough miles in our legs that after a week or so we'll be in less discomfort. We're also hoping that seeing the country and meeting the people along the way will make the miles seem just a bit of a bother.

Packing for the trip has been interesting. We're only allowed one suitcase each and most of it will be filled with riding clothing and bicycle stuff (spare tires, tubes, inflators, tools etc). As a result it's getting a bit difficult to figure out what we can take for the few hours a day we're off the bikes. Once we figure it out we find that there simply isn't enough room so we recalculate. Eventually we'll get it straight but we figure that by the time the ride is over we'll never want to see the same T shirts and shorts again.

That's it for now. We'll try and keep you posted.

As Amy says, keep the good vibes coming.
Amy and John

Bike pre Trip 2

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