musts for cross-country

Seven days stand between today and Friday, 07 May, the day we'll head west. As I prepare for the ride I am working on an incredibly long To Do List that certainly will not get done. At any rate, I will get some of those things out of the way before we depart. 

A few weeks ago, I started a list of Musts for Cross-Country on my phone. The list is on my phone so I can remember them. If I didn't put something like this on my phone, it all would be gone like a leaf in a hurricane. One of my life mottos has been, I can read but I can't remember so write it down. So I made this list of Musts so I'll remember the things I must do on the ride. I thought, maybe, you'd like to take a look at what I wrote:.

MUSTS FOR CROSS-SOUNTRY

EAT RIGHT. Bad eating equals bad riding. I want to watch the right amounts of carbs, fats, and proteins> I certainly don't want to get out on the road and bonk. (Run out of fuel.) I know I'll eat plenty and probably lose 15 to 20 pounds. I like that. I'll show you plenty of photos. Last time, someone thought I worked for the Food Network. I didn't. I just ate like I did.

HYDRATE. Water and electrolytes. I don't usually drink much but I'll make myself do it.

STRETCH. It's another one of those things I have to make myself do because I just want to hop on my bike and get going! (Impatience is one of my spiritual gifts!)

PRACTICE SHIFTING. Shifting with the chain in tension can cause big problems and crashes. So I like to find hills, go and pedal, and shift several times going up. Practice, practice, practice.

RIDE IN DEFENSE MODE. We will have every right to the road as any other vehicle out there. However, all three of us weigh a very small fraction of any vehicle on the road. We would lose in any and every confrontation. 

FOCUS. Watch the road. Stop to sightsee and take your pictures.

JOURNAL. 'nuff said.

FIND LICENSE PLATES & BUY TRAVEL STICKERS! The license plates look good hanging above my garage doors and the stickers cover my storage cabinets in my shop. Both are great opportunities to tell my story. And . . . I have a license plate from each state through which we pedaled! Found 'em along the way.

I do have a license plate story, however. In Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, I met a local gentleman in town. He inquired about our ride and I told him the license plate story about wanting one from each state we crossed. I told him that, at that point in the ride, we had not yet found a Minnesota license plate. He said, "You have a screw driver, don'tcha?"

RIDE SMARTER NOT HARDER. Pacing is very important. I sing to myself, especially, The Joy of the Lord is My Strength! On rainy days, I'll sing I Know The Master of the Wind and if I get lost, I'll probably go with Waymaker. No matter what, songs will be in my head and won't be bothering anybody. It's also a good time to be quiet!

REST. Get plenty of sleep and naps are good, too. They're especially good in the car, after lunch!

IT'S A RIDE NOT A RACE! Just remember that, OK?

ATTITUDE. Mind over matter. We're going to Maine is the battle cry of the ride.

MAINTAIN YOUR BIKE. Keep it clean. Keep it lubed. Check your tires every morning before riding. A quick tune up at  local bike shop does wonders. You need to stop at all the local bike shops anyway. The smell is good for the cycling soul.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TAILWINDS. I'm talking 24-26 mph with easy pedaling! You don't get them often. But when you do, go for the mileage. Go big! Go Century! (100 miles.) Remember: Any wind that's not a tailwind is a headwind!

BE AWARE OF MAILBOXES . . . especially if a door is open! Don't be funny and try to close an open mailbox! That could cost you a finger. Don't do it! Some of those mailboxes are pretty close to the road, ya know.

DOGGONE DOGS! On the 2009 ride, I remember only five dog encounters and most of them were friendly. A dog that gets close to you will usually back off with a spray from your water bottle. I've used dog spray before but that stuff can come back to haunt you. Experience has taught me, it does burn. Another way to avoid dogs is to ride a little faster than someone else!

RUMBLE STRIPS. When you lest expect it, rumble strips can take the handlebars right out of your hands. I guess rumble strips could be listed under focus, as well.

ENJOY THE RIDE. Between Washington and Maine there is an incredible variety of beauty, an abundance of wildlife, incredible and real people, snow, rain, sleet, sunshine, little mom and pop restaurants, specialty foods from Grandma's Cook Book, ranches, farms and barns, and hours of simply pedaling in silence, taking in an abundant load of God's Creation. It's an American Revival.

DON'T OVERPACK! Just take what you need. I figure I'm not going to be in the same place two nights in a row so who cares if I wear the same t-shirt and shorts two or three days in a row? Right Margaret?

TAKE PICTURES. You know the family is looking for them. It's helps meet ego needs. (You can even Photoshop mountain elevation signs from, like, 5,667 to 15,667! And you can Photoshop Mt Everest in the background, too! Or Tour-de-France action!) Keep the family happy.

BUY LEMONADE. When riding through small towns, stop at lemonade stands. The kids love it. Sometimes the lemonade's pretty good and it's always cold.

BE ALERT, PAY ATTENTION, LISTEN. Cell-phones are hazardous to your life, especially when someone in an SUV behind you is texting and driving.

PEDAL PHILIPPIANS 2. I know it's tough and we sometimes think only about ourselves (No, not me!) but when it comes right down to life in general, Philippians 2 is literally a God-send, Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

I know this isn't everything but hopefully you'll get an idea of what's going through my head as I prepare to pedal America.

The mountains are calling and I must go.

in the beginning . . .

When we get older, journals, notes, blogs, real letters, and anything permanent help us remember. These things also help us inform. So for me, this is a blog of remembrance. For others, it will be a blog of information which some will follow and some will choose not..

As I begin, my first blogs will be all about preparing for and experiencing a cross-country bike ride from Anacortes, Washington to Old Orchard Beach, Maine. I've done this trip before and came away saying, "This is too good to do only one time." A friend of mine, who you'll meet later in this blog, mentioned that he would like to do a ride across America as well. This prompted me to quickly volunteer for my second trip. Therefore, these blogs will hopefully take you from sea to shining sea with a motley crew of cyclists headed to Maine!

My blog from the 2009 ride was 4295miles.blogspot.com. It became a book, not a real book but an online book, which can be found on Amazon if you ever happen to be interested. One of my favorite parts of the blog were the comments I received from day to day. I also received reviews and comments on Amazon. I only received one negative comment on Amazon from Bookworm. You can read it for yourself:

Total waste of money. Very little substance - book is full blog entries, bicycling quotes, and worst of all, religious sermons, bible quotes, etc. on every page. Why not just buy a bible instead of this trash. Author sums up his bicycling day with one to two sentences of actual biking - the rest is garbage. Wouldn't recommend this book if it was free. If you're born again and want a sermon, give it a try.

It was, in all fairness, one of the best reviews I received. Why was that? Because every reason Bookworm had for disliking the book is a reason I had for writing it. It was a confirmation that I had accomplished part of my reason for publishing 4295 Miles. With that said, I will give a disclaimer to anyone who is thinking about going with us via the blog:

This site, its blogs, and doodles will contain the following: bicycle quotes, spiritual wisdom from Scriptures, Bible verses, the Gospel, portions of praise and worship music, and stories from along the way. Therefore, if you don't care to read anything about Jesus, God's Word, parables, Bible history, Proverbs, personal testimonies, and quotes, you may want to stop reading here.

Sure, I'd like to have you follow along but I won't be offended if you don't. It's going to be a great adventure and I'd like for you to go with us. It's going to be a great experience! Hope you'll ride with us all the way to Maine . . . let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith...

Thanks, Bookworm (I really mean that.)

ya gotta start somewhere

 If you're reading this, I've successfully navigated the WIX Website Tutorial / WIX Tutorial for Beginners (2021) that I fortunately discovered on YouTube. Really, if you are reading this, WIX has nothing to do with it. In fact, after hours of trying to figure out WIX and after hours of watching videos, I decided to go with Blogger again. However, I'm not much better at Blogger either, but I did survive one cross-country bike ride using it so it's gonna be my traveling buddy for another ride. So . . . compliments of Blogger, let's ride.

The pedaling and packing are not yet complete, neither is the preparation. This website with a blog is a major part of the preparation. In fact, I have a long B4TheBikeRide To Do List and WIX, website, and blog are at the top of the list. As I've said, if you're reading this, I've successfully navigated the website thing. Well, that's not totally true but I do have something you can read and a few pictures you can look at. So, let's take a look at those three things:

Pedaling

I have been pedaling. It's been a lot more than my 2009 preparation. Before I pedaled America in 2009, I only did 93 miles of pedaling between 01 January and 03 May when we pedaled out of Anacortes, Washington.. I'm not sure why I did so few miles but I think it's because I was still working. This year, I have been on my bike a bit more. Right now I'm just putting time on the saddle at the top of the list. Pedal, pedal, pedal. If it rains, I'll pedal. If it's a beautiful day, I'll pedal. If it's windy, I'll pedal. If I don't want to pedal, I'll pedal. (Sometimes!) If it's lightning, I'll stay home but, maybe, I'll pedal when the storm stops. To make it across America, I'll pedal. There's no Plan B.

I have run into a bit of a problem, however, and it's killing my pedaling time. My problem is my To Do List. It's a bunch of things I need to do before I leave. It seems, ironically, that the more I do, the longer the list gets. I don't know how that happens but, the way things are going, I may not get to pedal until I get to Washington!

I need to do a bit more pedaling.

Packing

There's lots of stuff to take on a cross-country bike ride. The short list includes: bikes, bike covers, bike racks, extra tubes and tires, tools, power bars and energy drinks, gels, jerseys, shorts, rain gear, helmets, sunglasses, batteries, lights, Garmin, cell phones, t-shirts, shoes, pump, maps, Rice Krispy Treats, water bottles, chain lube, bike parts, first-aid kit, gloves, leg warmers, arm warmers, helmet liner, fluorescent yellow wind jacket and vest, socks, GoPro, camera, computer, books, markers, Moleskin sketch books, Levis, chapstick, dog spray, locks, etc.

I'm putting a lot of my things in Ziplock bags so I can have some kind of organization that will make things easier to find. I'm not taking as much stuff as I did in 2009. I learned, quickly, that we overpacked for that trip. In fact, as we traveled east, we mailed a lot of things home.

Yes, I've started packing already and hope to have things well under control days before we leave.

I have borrowed a Thule Evolution roof luggage carrier from Billy Ricketts. I used it before and it sure does give us much more space in our Explorer as we travel.

Preparation/Planning

Preparation is a combination of pedaling and packing with some odds and ends thrown in to keep things fun. I still have things on the list like this blog, looking at maps, trying to eat right, deciding what goes and what doesn't, bike transportation, car routes, motel reservations, someone to feed the chickens, cut the grass, and check the mail while we're gone, etc. I will admit the secret to success in planning is to have a wife who will do ninety-nine percent of it and actually enjoy it. I do.

A huge part of my planning is this website where I can put a voice to our travels. My goal is a blog each day from now until we return. I hope to let you know where we are, what kind of a day we had, what we ate, what we saw, and how we and our bikes are holding up. Some blogs may be short, some long, but all blogs are intended to keep you pedaling with us. One of the most-used comments on the 2009 blog, was, "Your blog makes me feel like I'm riding with you." And, I'll enjoy having you along. The comments were a wealth of encouragement.

With all that in mind, let me close with a bit of wisdom from a parable of Jesus found in Luke 14. Jesus was talking to a great multitude and the subject of his talk was following him. Here's what he said:

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it . . ."

Counting the cost is the focus here, whether it's following Jesus, choosing a mate, planning a career, or pedaling America. 

Fail to plan, plan to fail.