Step 3: The Itinerary

We had what is probably our last official planning meeting last night at Airwell Farm, Alice Noland's home. She is coordinating our part of the TransAmerica tour along with neighbor Howard Smith who did the whole darn country last year!

Here is our itinerary...

The "A Team" of Howard Smith, John and Rose LaVoie, Will Brown and Casey Smith will start at the Kansas/Missouri state line on Bicycle Route 76. They will cover ~300 miles from July 14th to July 19th and will meet up with the "B Team" in Farmington, MO on July 19th. The teams will ride together to Chester, IL on July 20th. This is supposed to be a short (48 miles) and beautiful ride from the Ozarks down to the Mississippi River valley. And Chester is the home of Popeye, the Sailor Man. I'd play it on my harmonica but the dog would howl :).

The "B Team" of Alice Noland, Deb and Howard Anderson, and Kent Howard will start in Farmington, MO on July 20th and will cover ~620 miles in 10 days ending in Hazard, KY on July 29th. Howard Smith will also continue on with us. "Why???!!!" do you ask? Because he can. I guess when you do the whole country in one summer, 1000 miles in two weeks seems pretty darn tame.

It looks great on the maps. We "newbies" are excited and nervous at the same time. Four of us got new touring bikes with 11/32s. There was lots of discussion about hill climbing technique. Howard Smith and Alice are very confident. And Howard said he would get us back to VA. He didn't say if we'd be dead or alive :)...

No More Excuses

Look closely at this picture. Do you know what it is?

It is my brand spankin' new rear cassette and chain on the Redline Conquest touring bike. This is so beautiful to me! And it will never look this good again.

Check out the largest rear cog. Can you see the 32T? That is my "no more excuses" cog. With its help I will be spankin' the hills when this bike is fully loaded instead of the other way around. I can't tell you how relieved I was to change out my 12/25T cassette for the 11/32T cassette! [I know, what a gear head :) ]

Many thanks to Greg Doggett at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, Glenn Pawlak at Big Bang Bicycles and Dave Murphy at Olde Towne Bicycles for their advice yesterday!

Half Loaded

It seemed like a fun idea to ride our touring bikes from home to the Beaverdam Fourth of July parade. My enthusiasm waned about 6 miles into the 36 mile ride. I swear that bike half loaded with my camping gear weighed as much as I do :(. Fortunately, I changed my mental attitude at mile 18 when we stopped to watch the parade. This picture was taken at Squashapenny, in Doswell, VA, about 4 miles from home. That's why I'm celebrating!

Camping on the Sunset Strip

The First Night in My New Bed

Ahhhhhhh...my sleeping bag and pillow on my 20" wide mattress pad in my new tent. Yes, believe it or not, I DID sleep! Better yet, I got the tent set up without any help from the men folk. However, did you notice how light it is inside the tent? It is 5:10 am. I didn't use a flash on the camera. It wasn't daybreak. We thought we were smart setting up our tents where no one else from Bike VA was. It turns out they were the smart ones. We camped right underneath the parking lot lights at Pulaski High School. When I get home I am purchasing eye shades...and not the green accountant ones.

Step 2: The Camping

One of my biggest concerns has been my ability to ride self-supported. That means camping...and not in a cheap motel. Beins as I'm a planner I talked Howard into camping at Bike Virginia. Bike VA is a supported tour meaning that I could camp but wouldn't have to carry my gear on the bike. Doing a supported tour would let me see how I would handle cycling and then sleeping in a tent.

We were allowed to bring two suitcases. The blue one has my tent and camping gear in it; the black one has my clothes, toiletries and chromatic harmonicas. Please note which suitcase is bigger. See, I did pack light! I didn't even pack the flat iron :(. Life is tough. How will I sleep without my two pillows and my bubba???

Big Dad on Father's Day

My dad's devoted wife, Kathy, drove him down from PA to spend Father's Day with me. This is a picture of my dad Jim, my daughter Erin and my step-mom Kathy after we ate lunch at the Iron Horse Restaurant in Ashland, VA, the center of the (biking) universe.  (Ashland is where TransAmerica Bicycle Route 76 from the East/West intersects with TransAmerica Bicycle Route 1 from the North/South.)