Updates probably not that interesting to the general public: (you've been warned!)
A bicycle does get you there and more.... And there is always the thin edge of danger to keep you alert and comfortably apprehensive. Dogs become dogs again and snap at your raincoat; potholes become personal. And getting there is all the fun. ~Bill Emerson, "On Bicycling," Saturday Evening Post, 29 July 1967
January miles: 33.45
February miles: 40.86
March miles: 186.11
April miles: 281.25 (so much for that 125/week I thought I should be doing by now...)
May miles: 1.25 (yes, that is correct...)
2/2/6
Well, my crazyguy journal says it's 100 days until my start. My start date isn't exactly set, so it may only be 98 days. Anyway... I've been on a couple of bike rides the past couple weeks when the crazy Indiana weather has allowed. All the variations in temperatures have given me time to experiment with different layering of different clothing items, so I think I have the clothing list close to completed. I may be taking a layer too many on top, but I HATE being cold and will gladly haul an extra 8 oz. up many hills over many days to stay warm on that one night that gets really cold.
The biking told me something else, too. Like many northerners, I get a little soft around the edges during the winter and lose a little muscle strength. The problem is that I had a pretty bad case of mono in November/December and lost a *significant* amount of strength. I went up a decent hill with an average grade this week (yes, we have hills in Indiana) and realized how much strength I've lost. I've been getting into the gym regularly but had been taking it easy as I got back into my routines. Now the doctors have cleared me for regular activity, so I'll bump it up a notch.
As for other preparation, I've been taking a really good self-defense course, got a pocketmail and some smartwool socks on ebay, and started designing my business cards. I think my friends are ready to send me out on the road so they don't have to listen to me talk about the trip anymore!
Thanks for coming along for the ride :)
2/26/6
Well, I spent all day yesterday working on the trip, packing and weighing gear and experimenting with camp recipes--mostly making a mess of my apartment and making my cat nervous. Right now I have 45.1 pounds of gear, but that includes almost 10 pounds of food for the first week (including a full jar of PB). Except for the beginning, I won't be carrying that much food all at once, but I like the idea of knowing what I'm eating the first few days out. That number also includes shoes, helmet, sunglasses, head and taillights, and all that other stuff that will be on me. My panniers weigh in at 11.56 pounds, for a total weight of 56.67 (I'm usually not this anal ... really). The only things not included are a few little things like extra spokes, screws, and chainlinks, some multi-use soap, and a bit of olive oil for cooking. I don't know how much my bike weighs. Yes, it's a regular road bike and not a touring bike, but I'm figuring it was meant to handle a 200 lb. guy, so it should be ok for me plus everything else, which will be right around that number (assuming I get in a little better shape before I go). The gear list currently on the site isn't comprehensive, so I'll update it at some point.
Ah, yes. Training. Well, that has been on hold due to school and work commitments this past couple of weeks, although I have gotten out for a couple of short rides. I went to the Pizza Hut buffet the other day--does that count as carbo-loading practice? I think it should. That's the extent of my training.
In other news, I'd heard rumors that a professor in my department (but not in my area of specialization) had done some biking last summer in Montana. I ran into his wife this week, asked her about it, and gave her one of my crazyguy contact cards. Turns out he did the Lewis and Clark from Montana to Oregon last year and (better yet) was an original 1976 TransAm-er! We haven't met yet, but I hope we can get together and talk bikes soon. What are the chances of that happening--with someone whose office is 30 yards from mine? Anyway, it will be nice to have someone who doesn't look at me with that funny look of mixed shock, disbelief and admiration when I talk about my summer plans. It's been so encouraging to see people signing the guestbook already and sending me emails off the phred list. Can I go now? Puuhhleeese? I even practiced putting everything into an airport-ready suitcase to see if it would fit. Should probably buy that ticket pretty soon ...
3/14/06
OMG. Less than two months to go. However, a couple of days ago I did see something I haven't seen for quite some time-my shadow!!! It was so nice to have the sun out. That motivates me to get out there more. And with spring break, I've been out on the bike 3 days in a row. I did about 25 miles w/ 25 pounds of gear on Sunday (including a couple of mid-sized hills). Monday, I went straight into a 25 mph wind (40mph gusts) at about 6 mph for some sadistic reason. I didn't take any bags since I thought I was going to get blown into the ditch anyway. Did a long but not steep hill twice. My legs didn't hurt, but my arms did from trying to steer straight. Today was my 3H day: Happy Hollow Hill. I know it sounds like a pleasant place, but it's about 3/4 mile long at maybe 7% grade. I made it up it twice today with a gear to spare. So there's hope. There's some steeper hills on the other side of town coming out of the river valley, so I'll have to start working on those, too. Including one that I've never made it up in one shot (it's 18% at the top-no kidding). I'll feel good if I can beat that one in the next month with a naked bike (the new gears should help, too!).
And . . . I BOUGHT MY TICKET! So either I'm committed to the trip or I'm out 80 bucks. I figured out how to change a spoke. I rigged up a map holder for my aero bars. I'm feeling good and wishing I didn't have so much of the semester left. And I'm wishing Indiana would decide what season it wants to be in. 70 yesterday, 40 today, snow by Friday . . . oh well.
4/2/6
I kinda freaked when I saw it was less than 40 days until my trip. Doesn't seem like summer is even close when there's still no leaves on the trees or anything. I rode quite a bit more last week since it was FINALLY nice. Today was supposed to be 68 and partly sunny with storms moving in in the afternoon. Well, it's 48 and pouring rain, so no long ride for me today. I don't mind riding in rain if it's 75, but it's not even 50 and I just cleaned my bike. I feel like I'm still tweaking things on the bike. Added a Brooks, but I'm pretty sure it won't be broken in before I leave. I did back to back 25 and 35 mile days on it without a problem, though (besides being generally out of practice sitting on any bike seat), so I think it will be ok. When I was stopped to adjust my saddle at one back-country intersection, a nice farmer guy in a giant pickup asked if I had any trouble. I told him I was just making some adjustments, but it's nice to know that people are willing to help.
My triumph of last week was defeating Elvernan Drive without stopping on the way up. It's a 10% grade that suddenly becomes 18% just as you round a corner thinking you're at the top. It's not a long hill, but it's a nasty one. Some landscapers I know won't take any of their equipment up there (it's some residential area driveway) because the hill is too steep coming down. I did two and a half other big hills that day and did my Happy Hollow Hill a couple of times the next day. I gotta say, touring gears are great! I haven't taken my gear with me on the steeper climbs yet, though.
Other than that, I've been working A LOT to pay for this expedition--editing dissertations, articles, and grant proposals for people. Three different Purdue departments have hired me to work on a contract basis in the past couple of weeks, and the people who approve contract jobs don't care how much it costs, so I charge them a bunch of money for my time. Students get a special rate, though, and that's where I get most of my referals. Set up autopay on some of my bills, prepaid rent and car payments through August, got a babysitter for my laptop for the summer, arranged for my mom to take my cat, have a plant-sitter, and am systematically eating everything out of my freezer. Still trying to figure out what to do with my mail all summer, though. If only my actual training was going as well.
Yes, my "training" mileage is pitiful. Uncooperative weather, extra work, and general lack of motivation haven't helped. At least I've been doing hills almost every time I go out in an attempt to make the short mileage count for something. Westward Ho!
April 6
I went for a local club ride yesterday, so that made me go a little faster than normal and stay on the bike without really stopping. Today was the first day with the whole kit on the bike. Made it up Happy Hollow with a gear to spare and Soldier's Home Hill with 9 left, but that's not saying much compared to mountains. Time to start sorting gear more...
This weekend the club out of Indy is sponsoring a camping ride to a nearby state park. It's supposed to get down to 28 degrees on Saturday night, so that will be good practice for my colder weather gear. I don't think many people will be there. I went for one overnighter with them last summer (when it was actually warm) and we had 9 people or so then. Unless people are really excited about sleeping in the cold, I don't think we'll have a big group. The next two weeks are crazy--every weekend from here until I leave is booked with something (actually, every weekend from now until August, I guess!) and one of my jobs has a LOT of work coming up. Oh well. One good thing about Indiana's switch to daylight savings time is that there's more evening light. Guess I'll have to take advantage of that...
April 15
Driving the tank...Last weekend was a one-night shakedown with the Indiana bike club. The forecast was for a chilly, sub-freezing night, but I thought that might be a good way to try out the gear I have planned for the Rockies. We had 7 people on the ride from Ladoga to Turkey Run State Park, and I schlepped everything even though it was just an overnight trip. I was the only girl and the youngest person on the ride, but I had a bunch of experienced tour-ers to draw ideas from. We did just under 30 miles each day, but I had done hills for two days in a row before that so my legs didn't have much pep. Which is a nice way of saying that I was a slow-poke. Oh well.
I've decided I'm not going to beat myself up too much about not getting enough training in. I'm doing what I can, but I'm not going to be in shape by the time I leave. I'm doing another shakedown before I leave, so I'm busy routing that. And grading. And doing/avoiding homework.
April 26
Two weeks from today -- that's when I fly out to VA to start the trip. My apartment is a mess, my final paper isn't writing itself, and I haven't biked as much as I'd like. So what's new?
Actually, my new sandals came today, replacing the ones I blew out on my shakedown ride. I used the old ones on the club ride today since I didn't have the cleats in the new ones yet. 30 miles with the club today in 2 hours. The same route would have taken me 3 if I'd been touring alone. Today was the first day in a while I've had problems with foot numbing, too. It's a problem I've had for a couple of years, but not so much while touring. I think it's because I stop pretty often and take pictures while touring and don't pound on the pedals so much as I do when riding with a group.
I'm traveling a lot before I leave--back to visit family for a few days and drop off my cat with my mom. Back home for a couple of days before heading off to a conference for a few more days--still feels like lots to do and not much time to do everything. Oh well. And in other news, I'm going to have a companion to start the trip! Cristey contacted me and it looks like our schedules are going to work out, so we're making our plans.
Enough procrastinating...and off to bed (you thought I was going to do something productive, didn't you...)
May 1 omg, it's already May. I remember the long winter evenings of languidly planning this trip, luxurious hours wasted online looking at and buying gear, gleaning tidbits of travel wisdom and inspiration from journal after journal after journal, and thinking about how far away my own trip still was. Now here I am, 10 days to go (oops, only 9 now since it's after midnight!) and a case of mild anxiety settling in. Not about the trip, but about getting the details done before I leave. Minor details like a big 'ol final paper, wrapping up administrative duties, delegating the various parts of my life to wonderful friends who've been so supportive of this trip. The goal is to get all non-trip obligations (school/work) done by Wednesday morning. I have conference obligations Wed thru Sat but hope to get some final trip planning/online stuff done during that time. Then back for a couple of days of packing, goodbye-ing, and delegating. Gosh I hope everthing comes together.
My poor bike is being neglected--maybe had time for a short trip today, but working on work ended up as a priority, so no bike. I just want to put it in the box and head out on the trip, leaving my dirty dishes and unfinished book behind. But I'm too responsible for that...
Back to work--yes, it's almost 1 a.m. but I'm going to try to make it a couple more hours. That's a couple hours less to do tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 9
Where did those hundred days go? Journal now says 2 (two?!?), but I fly out tomorrow really early, so this is the last update before I hit the road. Almost no miles in May--I've been traveling and trying to finish final papers. The bike was going to come with my to my 4 day conference, but I didn't have my final papers finished and knew I couldn't do both. As it was, I spent most normal sleeping hours in the hotel business-working area writing a paper. Oh well. I also met a 1976 rider that did the first 1/3 of the TransAm then--that was pretty cool.
The bike is in the box, despite Micetrow's best efforts to rip a hole in it to show her displeasure with me, and will hopefully make it all the way to VA at the same time I do. I put 3 of the panniers in another box and will carry on the 4th. I don't know how much it all weighs, but it's probably more than it should (but less than it did before). I keep feeling like I'm doing the last of everything--last time at work, last time wearing jeans, doing laundry, eating at favorite restaurants, wearing underwear, ignoring the weather report ... that sort of stuff. I know it's only three months, but it IS three months.
Cristey, my new riding partner, and I have talked a few times and actually ended up on the same flight into VA. What a contrast--I've been planning and preparing for a year and she hasn't put up her tent or changed a tire yet! She's determined to make it work, so we'll see how it goes. And she did get a good bike, so that will help.
I guess that's about it for now. It doesn't seem like this is real yet. Everyone has been so generous with their well-wishes and unsolicited contributions to the "Joy stinks and needs a hotel and shower" fund. I'm starting this trip tired and out of shape, so we'll see how that goes. I'll update you from the road!
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