Level of Preparedness

I'd put our level of preparedness for our bike trip somewhere near that of the Coalition Of The Willing before entering Iraq. Sure, we have lots of high-tech gear, tools, camping equipment. But no, we don't have an exit strategy - it's victory at all costs! Yes, we've trained a lot, but of course, more time and better preparation would have been helpful. You go to war with the army you have, though... and we're ready to go. What ever we lack in preparation we make up for in wishful thinking and optimism. And it's that optimism that will either make our success that much sweeter or our failure that much more bitterer...

For those of you interested in my training strategy, as of four weeks ago, I started biking one long ride every weekend, beginning with 40 miles. The next week followed with a 50 mile ride, then a 60 mile one, and so on... In between, during the work week, I biked to work as often as possible, about 14 miles there and back.

Is there any way you can prepare yourself to ride 65 miles every day? I'm not sure, but I think I'm about as prepared as I can possibly be without having quit my job to train more. And about my job - no, I'm not quitting. My boss was extremely kind and understanding, allowing me to take a two month leave of absence and promising me that I could come back once I return. I owe her a big thank you for enabling me to go!

As far as equipment goes, Eric has everything covered. He owns every tool we could possibly ever need to fix anything that could possibly go wrong with our bikes. We're bringing a three person tent, which should comfortably sleep the two of us. We have a nice compact camping stove and a matroshka-like set of pots and pans. Together with our sleeping bags, a first aid kit, a magnetic Go board, and a couple changes of high-tech clothes, that's about all we're bringing along.

As far as biking equipment goes, I started with my old GT mountain bike that I converted into a touring bike by substituting those bulky, thick mountain bike tires for thin, sleeker road bike tires, and adding handlebar extenders. I happened to find a Bob Yak trailer on craigslist that a friendly guy named Brian in Mississippi was selling. The trailer was nearly new and much cheaper than buying all the racks and bags. The trailer puts less weight and wear and tear on the bike too. I tried it out riding to and from work and I hardly notice that it's there.

You may be wondering how we're getting our bikes and gear out to Seattle. The airline we randomly picked, ATA, happens to have a really great bike policy. All we have to do is turn the handle bars side-ways and remove the pedals. I'm going to rap my bike trailer in bubble rap and toss the rest of my stuff in a dispensable cardboard box with the rest of Eric's stuff. Once we arrive in Seattle, we'll put everything back together and get rolling!

Besides gear and training, we've been working hard to organize some places to stay long the way. You, our friends, have been really helpful in identifying family and other friends who live all along our route, who we can stay with, and my pastor's wife from Trinity Lutheran Church in Willoughby, where my family still worships in Cleveland, and my pastor in DC, Pastor John at Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church, have both been really helpful in helping us find places to stay in Montana and North Dakota.

So, all in all, I think we're pretty well prepared. I'm (pretty) sure will make it!