I have just returned from my first (and only) sixty-mile training ride. Considering that on Friday morning I begin a journey spanning thousands of miles I feel good. Especially when one takes into account the fact that I have not ridden my bicycle any notable distance since last November. One may figure me a bet dense, but I have found that doing something even more ridiculous next is one way to dispel that notion. Running a half-marathon with only one training run; sounds painfully ridiculous! Sure, but not when one rides a bike for the first time in almost a year and then plans to ride the equivalent of halfway across America.
Truth is I never planned to complete a circumnavigation of the United States. Back in 2001 I simply wanted to visit the Cascade Mountains in Washington State. Being lazy and not wanting to plan flights and ground transit I figured that biking from my home in Michigan would be a viable option. That first journey I made it almost through North Dakota before winter caught me out (I did prolong the trip by riding from Seattle to San Francisco). With a few tours in between I started a cycling trip in San Francisco in 2009 with my brothers, headed for Baja, Mexico. Afterwards with time on my hands I continued cycling onto Texas and then Florida. I was enjoying myself so on up to Washington D.C. I road.
Well, that was a long ride. I still hadn’t ridden to the Cascades so after a week-long break, during which time I ran the above mentioned half-marathon, I began anew in North Dakota and eventually ended my extended tour in Seattle, Washington.
So now, over ten years later I am planning to complete a bicycle tour that I never planned in the first place. The last piece of the puzzle is Washington D.C-Maine-Michigan. So with one good training ride under my belt it’s onwards….
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