Good luck buddy. I always known you were crazy but had no idea you are that crazy. Be safe my friend we'll be praying for you and Ed.

Hi Kelly….
First, I’m going to steal your idea about the bottles. I have 4 stainless steel but they are heavy so I will bring 2 and supplement with 2 purchased bottles and replace every few days.

Second, earing is tough. The word diet word is really a misnomer as I am not using it to lose weight. It is more akin to a way of eating similar to the Standard American diet most people eat.

That is one reason I may carry more food. For example, all stores sell canned beans and canned tomatoes which are staples for me. I am bringing quinoa with me as it is a whole grain and can cook throughout the day in my small thermos (again a necessary weight). John will eat couscous and bagged dehydrated mashed potatoes but to me they are either over processed or have too many additives. Breakfast is whole grain oats; cooking in thermos for about 5 minutes, and bananas if available. I don’t do instant or quick oats. Peanut butter is good but am picky in what I buy as there is added oil in a lot of them. There are some compromises I make when buying food, however, and will accept a little oil especially in the bags of brown rice and/or rice & grain mix that all you need to do is heat up.

Eating out I look for Mexican; Thai; will eat pizza without cheese. I’ve found all the calories in veggie sub sandwich are in the bread. Also look for places that have some type of bean burger (hold the cheese).
I do get some calories from beer (probably not the best type) but we do look for a brewery daily. A cold beer is good at the end of the day.

On our circle upper Lake Michigan last year that is pretty much how I ate and did not lose any weight. I will weigh myself at the start and when we get back home so we will see.

Good luck in Spain and Portugal and good luck with your eating.

I am nine years into gluten free. At first I was very strict, the past few years, not as much. It's a choice, not a need. When traveling I find it very difficult to follow my dietary preference. We are going to Spain/Portugal this summer. I don't know how I will manage, it seems all meals focus on great, even breakfast! That's all a backdrop to asking how you did following your preferred diet last summer during your Wisconsin tour. Traveling makes food tricky. Cooking for yourself as you do would be the way to go.

I like stainless steel bottles for their insulating qualities because I like COLD water. I carry two. One for electrolytes and the other for water. As needed, I buy supplemental bottles of water along the way. I will fill them up as needed a few times, then discard for new bottles.

I can't wait to ride along with you. Tell us all of the details!

Curtis, thanks for watching! Yes, Sarah has told me about your AT plans. She's probably told you about her older sister's fiancé's AT plans for next year. I don't need a SPOT. The farthest I plan to go off the beaten path is the nearest breweries, from which I hope to find my way back to the road or trail. My Wahoo Elemnt Roam should do that nicely. And my wife has had me activate the Find My app on my iPhone so she can see where I am. No more sneaking to Home Depot, I guess. I look forward to hearing more from you once I get started on this tour.

Hey John,
Enjoying the heck out of this journal. I work with your daughter at EP.
I am in planning stages of my Appalachian Thru Hike for 2024 and replaced my Garmin SPOT with the Mini Inreach 2. If you need a personal location device you are more than welcome to borrow (or i will sell cheap) the Garmin SPOT. Let Sarah know and we can Fed-Ex out to you.

You know what they say. It's like riding a bike, once you know how you never forget. Your legs and rear end may complain, but your muscle memory is always there.

We're staying with a WarmShowers host in Bethesda the night of May 3. She offered to ride with us to the C&O towpath the next morning. I'm guessing we'll reach the towpath via the Union Arch Trail at Cedar Island, but won't know that and the time until the day of. Keep in touch.

I bought a set of offset hex wrenches and cut an inch or two off the 4mm wrench. It fits in there pretty easily.

https://www.amazon.com/Anex-6103F-Ultra-Profile-Handle/dp/B0028DGIEY?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A3COOWBBD514NL

Excellent analysis! Given that you're undertaking a journey likely to cover 4,000 miles or so, and that it's *YOUR* journey and nobody else's, how could it possibly matter any less whether you start on the traditionally-accepted briny or at a place more convenient to you?

I live in the DC suburbs of Maryland. If you'd like an escort to see you on your way let me know and I'll gladly join you for a day or two, assuming I'm around and available.

Last fall, Dave Henderson was completing a shakedown tour and I was able to surprise him along his transit of the C&O Canal and we rode together for an enjoyable afternoon. It may be that I see him off on his (deferred) transcontinental journey as well.

A chance encounter with another cyclist while we were each out for a day ride about a month ago led to his telling me about the "blue zone" phenomenon. As I have no desire to outlive my resources I'm unlikely to adopt the diet prevalent in those areas, but it was an interesting conversation.

That's a tight fit between the bolt heads on the rack. Tough to work efficiently is such a small space- lots of patience required. It'll be a deterrent to routinely unmounting the rack, I suspect.

That was the first thing I noticed!

I have done the general delivery thing. A package of my very favorite protein powder. It chased me across much of Oregon before we finally met up. Third class mail isn't forwarded. First class mail is.

A comment on your previous page and preparedness/boredom. I once took a pretor photo of me tightening my mirrors. That was a new low!

I'm a recumbent rider. I'd like to suggest you consider riding 'alone together' - for me that definition is within eyesight. Good touring friend Oren and I practice alone together riding. Unless there is something concerning during the day. Then he will wait up for me more often. Riding directly together is a real challenge. The chances of two riders being so exactly paced is small. It's difficult to either ride a little bit slowly, or a little bit faster than your natural pace. Either one is difficult to maintain over time.

Your tour sounds like great fun. I can't wait to read along with you!

Hi Jim and Ed, I am planning to ride the TransAm Eastern Express route as well, starting in DC and ending probably in Oregon unless I decide to ride to the Washington coast from Missoula. Unfortunately I had a painful interaction with 2 aggressive dogs while riding recently and ended up with 7 stitches. I hope to start May 15th if possible. I’m also thinking of joining the regular TransAm in Eureka Kansas instead of Walden CO as I think I’ll be pretty lonely on the road by then.

I hope I get to meet you two but probably won’t be able to catch up.

Tailwinds,

Sandy Earle

p.s. my husband is insisting on sagging for me especially since the dog attack. Oh well, at least he’s a good cook (and good company).