Prologue
By Gary Gilbert
Monday, August 15, 2005
I've been looking forward to this cycling adventure,for well over a year. I will be riding much of the East Coast of the United States, starting in Portsmouth New Hampshire and ending in St. Augustine Florida. I've done many rides lasting from 5 to 9 days but this is my first truely extended trip and I'm wondering how it will be. I've been riding since 1994 and did my first weeklong ride the following year (Ragbrai).
This ride is an organized ride run by America By Bicycle. You can check out their web site at www.abbike.com
The ride leaders are Mike and Barbara Munk. They were the leaders of the ride I took along the Mississippi River, doing portions of that ride over three separate trips. See Great Mississippi River Ride for my record of that ride. Mike will also keep a journal and you can find it here http://www.bamacyclist.com/whereismikie.htm That ride took me from Minneapolis to New Orleans. I didn't do the Mississippi River Ride in one long ride but rather in 3 segments, 1 each in 3 consecutive years. Mike and Barbara are terriffic ride leaders. They keep riders safe and focused and make sure we are well fed. Sometimes being on the road for a long time makes one forget about the rest of the world.
There will be about 40 cyclists on this tour. A small enough group that you can still know everyone; large enough to find a rider of comparable ability; and not so large to be overwhelming. I know of at least one other rider that will be on this tour, having ridden with Frank Chavez two years on the Mississippi River Ride.
My bike is ready. I've replaced several components to make sure that the bike is mechanically ready. My body is another story. I had hoped to have 3000 miles of training before the tour but have only been able to put in slightly more than half that many miles. As one friend said: "The first week will be training". I llive in flatland where the biggest hill around is a former landfill rising about 90 feet. I have no idea what to expect in terms of terrain for this tour. Will it be hilly or flat. Will the hills be short and steep or long and gradual or somewhere in between? I'll know all the answers starting in just about one week. Long rides have a sense of adventure associated with them but they can also be work. I think the sense of accomplishment only comes out after one finishes a ride. In the middle, many riders have times to wonder "What am I doing here?". Given past experiences, I expect to rise around 5:30AM, have breakfast around 6AM and be on the road by 6:30AM. After a few days I will begin to wonder why I didn't choose a hobby that expects one to arise around 11AM!!
Being able to take four weeks off of work at one time is a tremendous advantage to me. I'm very fortunate that I am able to take four weeks away from my job. There is a lot to think about being gone from home that long. I've pre-paid most of my bills so I don't come home to any problems. I'm bringing a laptop along with me so I can record my thoughts and edit any photographs I take along the way.
