The title of this journal was provided by my friend Ryan Smith. In a conversation about one of the Wyoming portions of the route that's known as "rattler country," Ryan first advised me to "bunny hop" over any snake I saw. After I told him my bike weighs 85 pounds, and bunny hopping was probably not an option, he provided the advice in the title.

I've done a couple of long, multi-month tours by myself in the past. Last summer my wife Joy and I attempted a tour of the Midwest together, but the horrible heat eventually sapped our strength and we gave up after 1100 miles.

This time I have about a month to get from Joy's mom's house in Iowa to San Francisco. Joy will fly out to San Francisco to meet me, and we will fly from there to Hawaii. I apparently promised Joy a "normal vacation" on a heat-addled, 107 degrees afternoon on the side of some road in Missouri last summer. At least that's what I'm told.

I will be making my own route in Iowa and Nebraska, mostly based on the advice of John Egan, who has apparently ridden his bike everywhere. Despite John's ample warnings about the potential for headwinds in Nebraska and Wyoming, I reserve the right to complain bitterly about the winds later.

After Wyoming I will use Adventure Cycling Association's routes: Great Parks South and Western Express.

I have never been this unprepared. A busy work schedule and a back injury led to few miles of riding so far this year. I didn't have time to do a shakedown ride. I didn't weigh all my stuff with a kitchen scale, and I don't have a carefully organized computer-generated gear list. For the first 1,000 miles I don't have turn-by-turn directions printed out - just Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming maps.

I need to cover about 2,700 miles in 33 days, which will be - if I can actually do it - my fastest pace ever on a bike tour.

Heart

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