Ride across the country? “You gotta be nuts” is the response Amy and I heard when we told everyone what we were planning for this summer.
Are we nuts? We don't think so. We love our bicycles and the time we get to spend together when we ride. That's the real joy. Riding mile after mile side by side enjoying each other's company and the sights, sounds (other than the 18 wheelers) and smells that one experiences on a bicycle. It's that joy that caused us to think that a ride across the country would be the best of all times.
We'll be riding from San Francisco, CA to Portsmouth, NH with about 30 other riders. For those of you who would like to see the route by looking at where we spend each night, we will post that information in a later note.
After we made the decision to ride we wondered if maybe our friends and family would like to help us out by contributing to two local charities as part of our ride. Our theory is that on those days when we are tired, sore, wet or discouraged, the thought that we are riding not only for ourselves but for two wonderful organization, Nardin Academy and Child and Family Services of Buffalo, Inc, would keep us turning the wheels. If anyone reading our journal would like to help us out, just email Michele at mlind@plllp.com and she will let you know how you can help. Thanks to all of you who have already been so very generous.
Getting ready for the ride has been interesting and fun. We both have nice bikes but they really needed to be “bulletproofed” in order to avoid breakdowns on the road. Tom at Tom's Pro Bike (www.tomsprobike.com)has been a great deal of help in getting our bikes set up to take a beating. Anyone interested in biking around Buffalo really needs to chat with Tom. In addition, Patrick Hall, a personal trainer at Personal Best (www.personalbest.com), has been terrific helping Amy build strength for the ride. If you want a personal trainer you couldn’t do better than Patrick.
Now comes the training. That's not as easy as one might think up here in the frozen north. While we are both incredibly enthusiastic about cycling, it's a bit difficult when the snow is a foot deep and the temperature is in the 20's. So, we pedal indoors as much as we can, but it's not the same. Since the first week of April we've been getting out most days trying for 30 to 50 miles but unfortunately due to the weather it's been a bit of hit and miss. We suspect that the first week or more on the trip will be just a tad painful.
So, we're getting ready to go. As Amy says, we'll probably forget a bunch of things that we should be doing but, like getting lost on a bicycle tour, that's half the fun.
Once we are on the road, it is our hope that we will be able to keep those of you interested up to date on the trip. It will depend on the availability of WiFi, but assuming we're not too exhausted each day, we'll give you a paragraph or two on each day's ride with a picture or two.
As Amy says, “send good vibes”. Thanks for checking in.
John and Amy
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| Bike pre Trip |
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