The time has come...

As I'm typing this it's about 11:00pm on Saturday night. On Monday morning I'll be leaving for Virginia to meet up with Chris and Kiki where we will camp out and leave on our trip Tuesday morning. I haven't updated this blog very much but I assure you I have all of the gear I will need for the 2+ month journey. I will most definitely do a major update once I return from the trip which will include pictures, video, and witty commentary. In the meantime be sure to check out my twitter periodically as I will be using it to update as much as possible.

In the last blog I mentioned knee pain I was having on my 1st fully loaded ride. I have since found out it was due to the muscles on the left side of my leg being stronger / tighter than the muscles on the right side which was causing my knee cap to shift over. I have had 2 weeks of physical therapy and I'm going for it. My hope is that it was enough to get me started on the right track. My physical therapist seems to think that if I continue doing the stretches and loosening my IT band I should be able to prevent the same thing from happening again on the trip. 3,700 miles is a lot of miles and I just hope my knee can hold up. My worst fear is that I'll be somewhere in Virginia at the start of the trip and not able to go any farther. Wish me luck with that.

On an unrelated subject, I graduated on the 12th and my buddy Nash came all the way from Indiana to make it to my graduation party and just catch up since we haven't seen each other in over a year. It was definitely good times. Here is a picture of us doing handstands in Times Square and one of Nash fighting Edward from Twilight.

Test Ride Fully Loaded

So, I have to be honest. I haven't been training for this cross country ride. This is mostly because there just isn't enough time to commit to riding. As it is I'll be riding for 2+ months straight, so it's hard to justify taking off work or slacking on school to get a few miles in beforehand. That's not to say I haven't been riding at all. I've taken a few good rides in the past month, the last of which I finally loaded up my bike with 36lbs of gear to simulate what it will be like carrying everything.

It may seem like common sense but it's not a good idea to go from riding with no extra weight to riding with almost 40lbs of gear and going full throttle on a very demanding and hilly 60 mile ride. Common sense is over-rated :P In retrospect I realize I should have gone easier, and I'll definitely be more cautious from here on out. I had a very bad pain in my left knee that hurt terribly for the last 20 miles home. The next 2 days the knee was very tight and stairs were my worst enemy. It feels fine now, I'll just have to keep an eye on it.

It's all coming together

After talking frequently on facebook, I was finally able to meet Chris and Kiki in NYC. It looks like the three of us are definitely doing this trip together, probably with another guy named Asa. I have a few more details and some changes in plans.

We are starting our trip on May 25th in Yorktown, VA but are going to be ending the trip in San Francisco, CA not Oregon. (see map below) I am most likely not bringing my laptop with me on the trip so I'll probably be doing a massive update when I return home. I have just signed up on twitter so at least my progress can be updated there. www.twitter.com/rage0rge

I'm still working on supplies but everything is moving along smoothly. It looks like the next time I meet up with Chris and Kiki it will be May 25th in VA, at the start of an epic adventure.

Trek 520

Ok, this will be a quick update. I finally got my bicycle ^^ It took a few minutes to get used to the clipless pedals but everything was pretty much smooth sailing. These are a few silly pictures I took the next day.

December Update

Well, I've been quite busy with work and school but the bicycle trip planning is still moving foreword. In this post I'm going to update equipment info as well as information about riding partners. Here we go o_O

I was fortunate enough to meet up with a fellow photo major at school who is interested in joining me on my ride. Laura is a cycling enthusiast and seems pretty gung-ho about doing this, which is great. I've also posted on adventure cyclist's "Companions Wanted" section and gotten a great response from many different people interested in joining me. So far there seem to be 2 or 3 possible additions to the tour, other than Laura and myself. As the time gets closer all that will work itself out.

Next I'd like to do a mini equipment update. First I'll post some pictures of items I've already bought, and after that items I am 99% sure I'll be getting in the next few months. In future posts I'd like to do other equipment updates but items like food and clothes will probably be mentioned if anything, no photos :)

Helmet: Check

Speedometer/Odometer: Check

Bike Tool: Check

Bike Lights: Check

The Bicycle pictured above (Trek 520) won't be available until late January/early February so there is nothing I can do about that. I plan on getting the panniers and sneakers below around Christmas time. There is still a lot to be done, but any progress is good :D

Introduction

The purpose of this blog is to have a place where I can easily update information about an adventure I am planning for next summer. What is this "adventure" you may ask? I will be riding my bicycle across the United States from Virginia to Oregon, Atlantic to Pacific, Coast to Coast. Obviously I've done lots of research before deciding to do this, however this journey is still in the planning stages. There are many supplies I will be getting over the next few months and I intend on updating this blog as I progress through each stage of planning.

Ultimately this blog will allow friends, family, and anyone interested see how my bicycle tour across the country went. I hope to share my experiences with everyone, and maybe even help those interested in a tour of their own learn from the mistakes I will no doubt make.

Well, that will about do it for this introductory post. I will have more details in the coming weeks and months.