WHAT'S THE PLAN?   ...

 

A lot of people have asked what my plan is for getting from Topeka, KS to Davidsonville, MD. I'm happy to report that about 75% of the trip is completely planned and I am ready to go. Details below.

 

After going into temporary retirement (hate the R word), I decided that now is the time to check this trip off of my bucket list. My first thoughts were to buy all of the baggage and equipment and camp by the side of the road every night and be a full blown, 'home on my bike' tourist.

 

See picture below for a view of what being a bike tourist looked liked 23 years ago (gotta love those slick early aqua blue Lycra shorts with the red bandanna!).

 

But then I got hold of my senses and started to realize that this was not realistic. The road is already very long. But carrying all of my own gear (60+ pounds), makes the road get a heck of a lot longer. And hitting headwinds with all that gear is a painful job. You become a sail and speeds slow to a crawl. On bad days, you can make better time running your bike, rather than pedaling. Knowing that carrying my own gear and being completely unsupported, the trip would be at least a 30 days. I realized that there is no way I could be away that long from home and my family

 

Looking ahead... 

 

I started researching other alternatives that involved having SAG (support and gear) help and a company that could lay my route out for me. I had heard of companies that did this, but had never looked into them. After talking with several companies, I decided to use Crossroad Cycling to help me in my journey. I spoke with the owner of the company and it was obvious that she was a tested veteran of cross country cycling. She had completed many trips across country herself, and her and her team have shuttled many riders across the country over the years. If you want to learn more, take a look at  http://www.crossroadscycling.com.  Crossroads will reserve my hotel rooms, give me support on the road (food, drink, mechanical) and carry 50 pounds worth of luggage for me from town to town. Having some company on the road is not a bad thing either!

 

 

Play by Play .... 

 

Crossroads will have a tour leaving in May from Los Angeles, CA. The group will be made up of about 25 different bikers from the US, Canada, and the UK. I know none of the riders, but am very much looking forward to meeting them. By the time I connect with them in Topeka, KS, they will have crossed half the country (the harder half). I will ride with them for 14 days through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and finally landing in Erie, PA. After a rest day, Crossroads will hand me my bags, bid me farewell, and then my new friends will head north to Boston, MA. I will then begin solo heading southeast to Davidsonville, MD. I expect that it will take me 4 days to get home from Erie. I have not figured out how I will get support from Erie to Davidsonville (SAG, hotel, etc), but several have volunteered to help out, so I am not very worried.

 

I fly to Topeka, KS on June 5th, and if all goes well, I will arrive in Davidsonville, MD on June 24 (possibly June 25th).

 

 

I'm looking forward to the open road without all the gear on my bike. The feeling of flying down an unknown stretch that I have never seen and will likely never see again, and knowing that every rotation of the crank is one push closer to home, is invigorating and stands the hair up on my neck. The thought of nothing but rubber to blacktop and the wind in my face makes me more determined than ever to complete this personal mission that is less than 6 weeks away.

 

Can't wait to get back on the road. (The picture below is somewhere in Idaho I think).

Thanks to all for your words of support and encouragement. They are much appreciated.

TOUGH MUDDER YOU TUBE VIDEO LINKS.. WATCH AS I JUMP INTO ICE WATER, JUMP 30 FEET INTO A DARK PIT, and CLIMB THROUGH LIGHTLESS TUNNELS..

WHAT WAS I THINKING? JUST GOOD CLEAN AMERICAN FUN



CLIFF JUMP:

http://youtu.be/z5OBo9eS33Q

100%

TAKING AN ICY BATH:

 

http://youtu.be/HSuGPs5TKU8

 

EXPLORING UNDERGROUND TUNNELS:

 

http://youtu.be/sS_Bstxf34U

100%

DIFFERENT TUNNELS, EXCEPT WITH WATER THIS TIME

 

http://youtu.be/w815-HHzIRk

A SHOCKING FINISH .... LITERALLY.

http://youtu.be/opXN-aifJQ8

Tough Mudder ....  Check that off the bucket list!

I completed the Tough Mudder race with my team, Team Ocelot 1, in a little over four hours. The race lived up to its reputation. It was a grueling difficult course and there were points that I questioned my decision to get out of bed that morning. To make things a bit more challenging (to say the least), was the cold weather (about 60 degrees), mixed with high winds at times, which made it feel like freezing. Being wet and muddy for the entire course had most of us fairly close to hypothermia by the end. Of course, once the gun went off, there was no looking back. Everyone gave it their all. 10-12 miles running and 22 obstacles and all arrived to the finish line in one piece. Aside from one broken nose, and lots of uncontrollable shivering, none of us were worse for the wear.

I give all the credit to my team. We stayed together through the entire course and regrouped at every obstacle to support each other. We were very fortunate to have a Seal Team Commander on our team. He very quietly and humbly led the way and with one arm always out to pull you over the next obstacle. Without a word, he established who was in charge and all of us were happy to follow his lead. He was exactly the guy you wanted to be on the course with. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have ifnished the course in half the time without us.

I carried a camera on the course and got some decent video and pictures. Some of the footage is underwater as I would struggle to swim up from the bottom of a big drop... doing my best to not run out of air and/or drop the camera. 


Some pictures: (not sure who the guy is in his underwear... but he ran the entire race that way!)

WARNING: Some profanity.. sorry in advance.

See if you can guess who the Seal is!

 

 

ALMOST WIMPED OUT ....   PICKED UP NEW BIKE! TOUGH MUDDER TOMORROW!

Weather man said it was going to be raining, thunder, heavy winds and lightning today. We had some light rain in the morning, but then nothing. I almost bagged it, but then it struck me that I'm not going to have a perfect day every day on the road. With heavy head winds expected in Kansas and Missouri, I realized that I was being a total wimp. So I jumped on my bike and headed out! The heavy clouds threatened rain the entire way, but I never felt a drop. I think I would have gladly taken some rain over the 20+ miles of headwinds that I dealt with on the way to the 30+ mile marker. They were so strong that I actually had to shift down to bike down hill. This is a big bummer when you're trying to get a little momentum on the back of a climb. What kept me going was knowing that those same winds would be at my back on the way home. I hit mile 31 and ran out of bike friendly road, which was a clear signal that it was time to come home. I loaded up on the some GU (a sports gel that comes highly recommended but tastes like s--t! ... mental note, find another brand). The winds didn't let me down on my return and I got a nice push on the back 20. Despite some right knee issues and feeling a bit gassed, I was flying and loved it.

My longest ride in 23 years. 62.50 miles, in 3hrs 38 mins. Average speed 17.2 mph.

Worst Part: Head winds downhill... stink!

Best Part: Return trip tail winds.  (Unfortunately, I won't get the benefit of return tail winds on my trip because I am only going one way.)


NEW BIKE IN HAND!

I picked up my new bike from the folks at Parvilla Cycle in Edgewater... It is so light, I felt like it would break. I didn't use it today, but looking forward to trying it out next week.

(That's me with the cheesy smile... it looks like I need a little 1980's style dirty mustache to complete the look).

TOUGH MUDDER RACE TOMORROW !

Check this link out and you'll be just as pumped up as me! This is the Miami Tough Mudder held earlier this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmV-FTlBqTs

Why Tough Mudder? I need something to really kick my a-s! ... and shock my system. If I'm going to ride 85 - 100 miles a day, then why not see how my body reacts to 62 miles on a bike, and then next day, an insane obstacle course with 12 miles of running. ... mud, flames, swimming in ice water and don't forget electrically charged gauntlets! (yes, the little white wires have a serious electric charge that shock if you touch them, and of course there are way too many too avoid).

Our group is being lead by a Navy Seal Commander ... I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing. I have been given assurances that he does not expect us to win! Wish me luck!

Stay tuned ... 

Longest Ride today .... but a long way to go. ..

Did 42 miles in 2hrs 37 mins. Not breaking any speed records, but felt good. Will go for 50 tomorrow... working my way up to my long ride of 80+ next week.

Great news, my new bike just came in and I should be able to get it tomorrow afternoon... there will be about a 13 pound difference in weight and I'm thinking I should feel that. If I can drop another 15 pounds  off of my caboose before game day (June 4th), that will make a big difference too... if not, I might have to get the supersized seat!

Worst part of my ride ... following behind a raw sewage pump truck for a mile or so. Nothing like the smell of diesel mixed with human waste filling my lungs as I'm cranking up a hill.

Best Part of my ride ... still having plenty of juice left in me for the last 20 miles.

Inspiration: Took this shot with the sun coming up, burning off the morning mist, and the cows chomping away at the grass. A lot better than riding the train from New Carrollton Metro!

(BIG thank you to Stu and and his team at Parvilla Bicycle in Edgewater, Maryland. Really great bike shop and these guys know their stuff!)

Finishing the Journey ...

2 Wheels 7 States 1500 Miles…

 

This blog is about my mission to finish a bicycle trip that I started in July of 1990.

 

A bit of background …

I bicycled by myself from Oregon to Kansas over about a five-week period in July of 1990. My intention was to finish crossing the entire United States, but I ran out of money and was forced to come home. I promised myself that I would finish the trip one day. Now, 23 years later and temporarily retired, I cannot think of a better opportunity to finish the journey.

Going back to 1990 …

In 1990, The Simpsons made their debut on Fox TV, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, and the Berlin Wall came crashing down. Houses cost on average $123,000, a gallon of gas cost $1.34 and the Dow Jones averaged just over 2600. In the same year, a good friend of mine and I made the crazy decision to bicycle across the United States.

I’m not sure why my friend wanted to do this. For me, it would be the adventure of a lifetime. Also, I knew that I would graduate from college in May of 91’ and that looking for a job and starting the grind of a career would be a priority. Looking back, I should have taken more time to enjoy more adventures and worked less. Hindsight right?

In late 1989, the engine of my 71 VW bug seized up and I couldn’t afford to replace or fix it. With no other options at the time, I took the license plates off, cleaned out the glove compartment and left it where it sat on the curb. I never saw that car again. For that reason alone, I became an avid biker. Obviously, this was due more to necessity than to choice. Overnight, my bicycle became my primary transportation. Fortunately, it was much more reliable than my VW ever was.

My friend and I bought touring bikes and all the gear necessary to make the trek. By the beginning of June, we believed that we were as ready as we could possibly be. I gave two weeks notice to my boss at the Calvert House Restaurant in College Park, MD and set my last day as just a day or two before my flight was due to leave. Surprisingly, I was more nervous about quitting my job waiting tables, the job that put me through college and kept me financially afloat, than I was about the idea of cycling across the country. My credit cards were near their limits and I knew that the mountain of debt would be waiting for me when I returned. Despite the bleak financial outlook, I decided for the first time in my life, to be purposely irresponsible and focus on the positives of the adventure that lie ahead. It was a real rush for me and I could feel the adrenaline flowing …

No great idea comes without obstacles ... A few days before our scheduled departure, my friend told me that he was backing out. I don’t remember what his reason was, but I do remember that there was no talking him out of it. My energy and enthusiasm were strained a bit but it did not change my mind. Even though I think he expected me to quit along with him and seemed surprised when I didn’t, I had come too far. And the idea of going back and begging for my job and giving up on what had become a dream was not an option. On July 15^th, 1990, I boarded a plane for Eugene, Oregon and never looked back. Upon landing, I assembled my bike in the airport, caught a ride to the nearest bicycle friendly road and started biking back home.

I bicycled across Oregon, down through Idaho, vertically through Utah, across the Rockies in Colorado and slid down the back of those amazing mountains into the plains of Kansas. You don’t make a lot of friends when you’re only in town for a night at a time and camping on the side of the road, but I saw beautiful things that made me realize how much this country has to offer. I was much stronger for the experience and it forced me to see life a lot differently. It was only just over a month on the road, but I had never felt so free in all of my life.

Unfortunately, the dream of finishing the trip was cut short. Very low on money, I was forced to borrow $500 from my father. The lethal blow that followed came when I lost virtually the entire amount after leaving my wallet at a country market somewhere in Kansas. With debt piling up and no chance of financing the remainder of the trip, I borrowed money for one more plane ticket and flew home. Having biked over 1600 miles, I had made it roughly half way across the country. After taking off, I looked out the window of the plane and made a promise to myself to finish what I had started one day,

 

Today …

I haven’t ridden a bike for any serious distance since that trip 23 years ago. My life changed once I started my career and family. These were good reasons to delay the finish, but the dream stilled nagged at me. The voice grew softer and the reminders less frequent over the decades, but the idea never completely quieted in the back of my mind. After 12 years of building a company from the ground up and selling it, I knew it was time to start the planning for the finish of my trip. 

Along with completing the journey, I thought that it would be a great way to raise money for an important cause. For that reason, I have partnered with the DeCesaris/Prout Cancer Foundation, a locally based foundation committed to finding the cure for lung and ovarian cancer.

 

Tomorrow …

Stay tuned for more on how you can donate to this great cause while tracking my journey from Topeka, KS to Davidsonville, MD.  Thank you advance for all of your encouragement and support. I know that it will be a big part of helping me get back home.

 

 

 

 

(Me in 1990, somewhere on top of the Cascade mountains .... with the Three Sisters Mountains in the background...)


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