The details......

Cross country road cycle trip starting July 11, 2010 from Everett, WA....ending August 9, 2010 in Williamsburg, VA...covering 3,467 miles in 30 consecutive days of cycling.

This is a supported ride (meaning we're paying for the "privilege" of doing this) by PAC Tour, who specializes in cross country cycling trips.  Thus their name....Pacific Atlantic Crossing.

PAC Tour provides motel lodging, baggage transfer between motels, breakfast in the "parking lot", lunch on the road, various water/food stops along the daily route, (dinners are on our own) as well as bike mechanics and much needed masseuses.  PAC Tour has about 12 support staff and 3 Vans to accompany us.

The route is what's called the Northern Transcontinental....taking us to such places as Spokane, WA; Bozeman, MT; Sheridan, WY; Custer, SD; Colfax, IA; Danville, IL; Troy, OH; and Elkins, VA.  Who knew that Montana and South Dakota are such vast States as we spend 5 nights in each State on this trip.

There approximately 33 riders signed up to start the ride.  A few are only going part way....may be completing the journey at another time or not have adequate time-off from work.  From the pre-ride correspondence, it looks like there are at least 6 women and 5 people from overseas in the bunch.  Ages are not given but I would assume that most are 50+ yo.....who has the time to train and do this?

Why do this?  Those who know me better....know that I love to road bike.  And if it wasn't for cycling, I'd be back to work!  Cycling provides so much enjoyment and fulfillment (and pain/adversity) at this point in my life that I can't see not doing it!  Going across the country wasn't my idea initially (it was a "great" idea in 1976 for me, but that's another story).  Michael R. (the "other" guy) was the very first person to sign up for this Tour last Fall.  I'll let him explain his reasoning for doing so on his posts to this blog.  Anyway, Michael/Mike tried to talk me into joining him as we've been on numerous cycling adventures in Europe over the past 6 years.  For months, I told him he was crazy for entertaining the notion of cycling an average of 115 miles (about 7 hours on the bike) everyday for 30 straight days!  But the more I thought of it, the more appealing the trip became.

One has to understand that long distance riding is more mentally than physically challenging.  Getting up everyday to ride no matter the weather conditions or the difficulty of the terrain is not easy.  And sharing a double occupancy room with a snoring incompatible roommate does not make it any easier.  Fortunately Mike is one of the more "up" people around...especially when it comes to cycling.  He just doesn't get down on himself or others.  Plus he's a very compatible rider and it doesn't hurt that he provides a great draft when behind his 6'4" frame....and he doesn't snore!  So if I were to ever go across the country...why not now and with Mike!

2guyscactus....what's the story with that?  My wife and I love to travel to Australia as many of you know. And on our trips we have heard the slang term "cactus"....which refers to one's physical/mental state when one is so tired, exhausted...yes, even hung-over, that they are "cactus".  Laurie came up with the acronym "cycling and crossing the U.S."  That's the goal and not the "state" we want to be in!

The blog picture is about as far from the U.S. as you can get.  It's of Mike & I in Sydney, Australia when Mike came to visit us on a business trip in April 2008.  I showed him around one of the great cities in the world via bike over the course of 2 fantastic days.  We've had a lot of memorable cycling experiences in the past and this upcoming one will be shared with all readers of this blog.  Enjoy the ride!