Riding For A Reason

I am only a couple of days away from starting the trip...it has been challenging preparing and packing and training, while still trying to stay on top of work.  That is on top of the kids staring school next week... I got the GPS files for the rides and had a chance to look at the elevation change...the last two days have about 9000 feet of climbing over 100 miles... I had a similar climb in VT, but it was the first two days, not the last two...I did my last hard climbing day today to prep.  I will just spin down over the last couple of days.  I have tomorrow to get the rest of my ride prep done, and then I get to enjoy my birthday with my family before I leave. I had a few more people make generous donations today...I would never have thought that $15,000 would be a reachable goal, but I’m honored that people got behind me and supported my effort!

A week from today, I will be riding through California on the way to the desert!  It is strange that I feel so lost trying to train without the bike I am going to be riding... I shipped it last week, so I have been on my mountain bike in the interim...The family and I took a nice ride on the bike path along the Delaware River this Saturday.  It was nice to get to share time on the bike with them.  We stopped for lunch at a little store along the path.  I think the boys got an appreciation for how hard cycling can be. I am not in the process of getting ready to pack.  I leave on Friday, and have a busy week at work.  My birthday is on Thursday, so I won't have much time to pack then, so I will have to get my things together early in the week. I have to get all of my stuff in two small duffel bags!  Clothing wise it won't be a problem, but there is so much cycling gear to transport! The fundraising is still going well!  I have started to try...

OK, I know it has been awhile since I have posted on this blog...my bad!  I wasn't sure if anyone was reading it...however, since I am only 9 days away from starting the ride, I will begin to ramp up my communication. So much has happened since my last post...somewhere along the way, I became a legit cyclist!  I have been through more equipment, become an expert on Strava, learned about ride nutrition, and met many amazing people... I am going to focus this post on the last training ride that I went on last week.  I was blessed to have the chance to ride in the Vermont Challenge with 4 of the people who are going across country with me.  Two of the riders actually have multiple myeloma!  It was one of the inspiring 3 days of my life. L We all rode the 70 miles course the first day.  We also climbed around 3000 vertical feet.  I didn't pay attention to my power meter (cyclist lingo) and went out too hard.  By mile 50 I was cramping pretty ...