The last piece of the puzzle

When I tell people about my upcoming bike trip, there are a handful of questions that everyone tends to ask first*: “How long will you be gone for?” “Are you riding by yourself / with a group?” “How far?” and more often than not, “What are you doing about work!?” with the implication of ‘how the hell can you take 3 months off??’

Well, dealing with work was one of my biggest things to figure out, and one that I left for near last. I needed to see if a few things came through before I could tell the various necessary people about the trip, and after that passed I finally told them.

I do software consulting, so I work for a ‘parent company’ as a full time employee, and they farm me out to clients. Currently I’ve been working ‘on client site’ for a year, so I effectively have 2 bosses – my actual boss at the parent company, and my acting manager at the client site.

I finally told both of them last week that I am taking 3 months off over the summer. I didn’t ask for the time, I stated that I was taking it. Then we can work out what that means for each of the parties.

I was prepared to do any of the following: take a sabbatical and come back to my company when I get back, providing they’d have me. I was prepared to quit, if that was necessary, and I was prepared for them to just let me go. My line of work is in pretty high demand and I’m not overly worried about finding work when I get back.

Much to my surprise, my boss seemed very inclined to keep me on, and work with me to take this sabbatical. There’s still a lot of details to be worked out, but if it means I don’t have to send out resumes and take phone interviews in my tent while traveling, that’s pretty awesome.

One comment I got at work when I told someone I was leaving to ride my bike cross country, he said “That’s such an Aaron thing to do!”  This person doesn’t know me all that well, and I can’t tell if this is said with a positive or sarcastic connotation. But then again, I suppose it kind of is a very ‘me’ thing to do, even though I’ve never done anything even remotely like this before. This is consummately ‘me.’

The workplace announcement also marked the last major hurtle (ie: bit of stress) I had to take care of for the trip. I’ve bought the bike, all the gear, paid the fee, told my friends, and now settled up things with work. From here on out, all I have to do is basic preparations: train, figure out my packing list, and lots of little planning details that are somewhat small in comparison to everything I’ve already done.

With this last major bit covered, the trip seems to be approaching faster and faster, and I think it will be upon me before I realize it.
In one hand, it can’t get here soon enough, I’m so eager for this. On the other hand, there are a billion little things I need to do, and the 2 ½ months I have left seems barely enough to get it all covered!

I suppose, only time will tell if I’m really ready when May 3^rd arrives. 

*Questions:

“How long will you be gone for?”

Almost 4 months. The bike trip itself is 93 days, plus a little time at each end to settle in.

“Are you riding by yourself / with a group?”

With a group. 14 riders plus 1 tour guide. I don’t know any of the other people.

“How far?”

4305 miles total.

Then, there are many common secondary questions:

“How far each day?”

Average of 55-60 miles a day.

“Where are you staying?”
We are camping most nights, with a ‘rest day’ once a week at a more established place like a hotel or hostel.

“What is the route?”
From Virginia to Oregon. Ocean to ocean.

“Is there a van carrying your stuff?”

Nope, everything I need for 3 months of living I will be carrying on my bike. (or maybe, buying some stuff along the way as needed.)

“You’re crazy.”
Is there a question in there? ;)

"No, there's no question you're crazy."

Shit just got real!

Shit just got real!

Or, put your money where your mouth is.

On Monday the Adventure Cycling Association billed my credit card for the remainder of the cross country bike trip.

Although I’ve been anticipating this trip for months, and paid the deposit back in October, this is the final and biggest milestone that makes this feel real.

And dropping a load of (non-refundable) money is certainly about as real as it gets.

The bill coming due also marks another point, 3 months until the ride start!!

Damn, 3 months!? That’s right around the corner!

Am I ready? Do I feel ready?
Yes and no, to both.

I’ve finally gotten most of my gear. I just bought the last 2 big(ish) items I needed; panniers (bike luggage) and a solar panel to try and keep my electronics charged on the road.

There are a handful of things I still need to buy, but they’re mostly trivial at this point. (spare spokes and tires, a pump, a camping pillow, and some other odds and ends. I’m still debating getting a new saddle.)

I also need to step up my training; I need a lot more “time in the saddle” to get used to the riding position, the feel of the bike, and of course strength/endurance training for the long haul. I need the ability to be on the bike multiple days in a row without getting weird minor aches (that will compound over days.) I need to install my panniers and load them up, then go on a few rides. That’s going to be interesting.

Ugh, and I could go on and on about all the million details still left to sort out!

And yet, despite all of that, I do actually feel very ready. Mentally, logistically, gear-wise, I’ve got all the big things pretty much sorted out. I know what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. I have most contingencies planned for. And I'm mentally preparing for just how hard this is going to be, on several levels.

Sure, I still need to ride a lot to train, but even that I’m ready for (now if only the weather would cooperate!)

Suffice to say, I am EXCITED, and although I know I’m doing this trip, shit just got real.

A cold ride in. (aka: crazy is as crazy does)

A cold ride in.

aka: Crazy is as crazy does.

In the time I’ve been doing triathlon, marathon, century bike rides, mud runs, etc, one constant through it all was always people calling me ‘crazy’ for my endeavors.
Lately, I feel like I’ve been earning that descriptor a little more than usual.

In order to train for my upcoming cross country trip, I’ve been riding in to work. 20 miles each way, in the dark, in the cold (no, not uphill both ways, although it does feel like it sometimes.)

Every week I watch the weather forecast closely for a day that I can ride in, because I can’t ride if it’s too cold. When it’s below about 25 or 30 degrees I can’t keep my hands and feet warm.

Today (Friday, January 31, 2014) was the first day in a couple weeks where the temp was over 20 (let alone, out of the single digits!) And although the starting temp of 25 is lower than I prefer, I was eager enough to get my ride on that I decided to brave it.

Normally I’m very fortunate because I live exactly one mile from the Schuylkill River Trail. I can just coast downhill to the trail and ride that all the way to the Philly Art Museum (about 17 miles), mostly traffic free on the trail. Unfortunately, there’s a bit of the trail under reconstruction, so now I have to take a detour. This was my first time doing this detour, so I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find the path. It turned out not to be too hard, but I did have to walk over some dirt, around a tree, and squeeze through a barricade. But I’m committed to my endeavor!

However, despite all my planning, it didn’t occur to me that the trail would still be snowed over from last week’s blizzard. I got about 500 feet down the trail and decided this wasn’t tenable, I was slipping and sliding all over, and going <10 mph. At that rate it would take me all morning. So turned around to come back to the road, at which point the bike slipped and I fell over – still clipped in to my pedals. I went down in the snow, but still pretty hard on my left knee.

At this point I was seriously contemplating just turning around, going home and driving in. But as my friend Spring H once pointed out to me, I’m really not one to give up when the going gets tough, so I went back out to the road and just kept pedaling. I stuck to side roads and didn’t get on the trail at all. It was a little nerve wracking, but I know the back roads a little and was able to keep mostly to lightly traveled streets.

One slight drawback (besides the traffic) is that while the SR Trail is completely flat, the surface roads are hilly as hell through Conshohocken, roxbourough and manayunk! And on a 31 lb bike plus saddle bags, it was the definition of a ‘schlep’! Still, I just kept telling myself, ‘it’s good hill training’, knowing the actual bike ride cross country is going to make this ride seem flat, and I’ll be doing it with +40 lbs of gear! (On the up side though, it will be warm and there won’t be ice on the ground!)

Once I got through Manayunk, I was on the Kelly Drive path and it was a bit easier. I opted to take the West River side path because I wanted to get some cool pictures of the frozen river and Boat House Row.  You can tell me if the pictures are any good. I was glad to do it, but taking the lesser traveled side of the path meant there was more snow and ice on the path and it was a little more treacherous.

Finally, just shy of 2 hours later, I pulled into the parking garage at work and locked up my bike. Mysteriously, there were only 3 other bikes on the rack (and one of them looked abandoned). I wonder why more people didn’t ride in today?

Oh, right, because they’re not crazy.


ps,
In all, it was a good ride in. Every time I do this I learn something new. This time it was about ice on the path. Last time it was to wear warmer gloves. And even despite the cold and difficulty, I do enjoy the ride, the physical effort, and just the learning experience of what it takes to ride this new bike with new gear. Every ride gets me more prepared for the trip, which in turn gets me more excited.