Day 1 - Farmersville TX

We are on the road at last!

Our daughter Katie drove us to the RV park in Denton a little before 8:00. Shortly after we arrived Tom and Ann, friends and business partners showed up to see us off. By about 9:00 my father and I were dressed, the bikes were loaded, and we were on our way.

Of course not everything ever goes according to plan;) The carefully created day 1 route was not on my GPS and the Denton RV park didn't have internet access so we set out without maps or directions.

I packed what my parents thought was everything except the kitchen sink, but forgot to pack my water bottles for the bike.

And did I mention that it is really hot.

Despite the less than perfect start we managed to find a set of roads through Denton that put us on route 380 near the original plan. Route 380 proved to be a fairly flat road with mostly wide shoulders ideal for riding. We quickly found a pace that worked for both of us and also learned to take advantage of every shady spot we could find.

Today's trip ended up being about 56.5 miles with 1607 feet of climbing and 1724 feet of coasting. Total riding time was just under 4.5 hours but with lunch and breaks we took the better part of 7 hours.

As dad pointed out when we finally arrived, we found a couple of really nice shady spots that were hard to leave.

Lunch today was at a Chik-fil-a where dad had never eaten before. Of course the air conditioning was great, but so was the service. When dad asked for ice for his Camelbak the cashier filed it for him. While we were eating the manager brought us new drinks and each table got samples of a new desert. Like the shady spots, it was hard to leave and we joked as we entered the double doors we were in the decompression chamber.

One big change since dad did this 25 years ago are cell phones. We called several times to see how my wife Vicki and mom were doing with the motorhome (great as it turns out), and they were able to determine we were still alive amd making progress.

The RV campsite we are staying at is really small and many of the campers seem to live here year-round. The owner is great and when she learned of our ride brought pictures of when she and her son biked from Plano to the Gulf of Mexico.

Turns out she also has a pet camel that we all enjoyed feeding and who was only to happy to pose for pictures.

Hopefully tomorrow goes as well!

Bike Trip Pictures

Training route pictures

Today's post is an experiment to see if I can embed pictures into these posts. If all goes well you should be able to view a collection of shots I took this morning along one of my favorite training routes. As always, your comments are welcome and may influence what gets posted in future updates!

Bike Trip Pictures

last training ride?

Today was a beautiful day in the DFW area with temperatures in the 80s rather than the 100+ degree days we have been having. It was also likely the only day I will be able to get out for a "long" ride due to work, so I took advantage of it.

Our first day out is planned to be about 55 miles so that was my goal for today. When the ride started my plan was to take it easy. While I certainly didn't push myself it was a day when everything just felt good so my time for today's ride was my best so far.

The route took me north through Denton near where Dad and I will ride next Monday but just to the west of where we will be riding. From there I headed west to Krum, a town of about 2000 in the middle of nowhere. The roads were mostly empty, and I was surprised there weren't more bikers out taking advantage of the great weather.

I completed just over 55 miles in just over 4 hours and still felt strong at the end of the ride. Today's training route is fairly flat, about 2,000 feet of climbing, but makes me feel I'm ready.

Looking forward to Mom & Dad getting here on Friday and getting at least a few miles on the "new" bike before Monday. Otherwise I expect the rest of this week to be a little crazy getting everything done at work and home before I leave.

raining inside out

After many days of 100+ degree temperatures this morning a steady rain pulled the temperature down at least 10 degrees.

While riding in the rain is never my first choice it would be silly to think I can ride cross country without at least a few days of wet weather so this morning seemed like as good a time as any to go get wet.

My father had suggested using a poncho because it lets air flow near your body. Since I didn't plan to go far this morning I decided to try a rain suite I've had sitting in the closet for years.

The rain suite did a great job of keeping the rain from getting in! Just as dad predicted, it also did a great job of causing a downpour inside the suite. By the end of the first 30 minutes the suite was sticking to my skin leaving me at least as wet as if I hadn't used anything at all.

I relearned a couple of other lessons riding in the rain today. One, fenders really are worth the extra weight - between to stripe up my back and the steady flow of water to my face I would have gladly traded the extra pound for a little protection.

I also relearned how wonderful our body is at adapting versus most of the accessories we use. Clearly sunglasses were out of the question this morning so I tried using clear safety glasses for the ride. While they did a nice job of blocking the spray coming off my front tire, and the water drops did create a really interesting visual show, the lack of visibility relegated them to my pocket after about 10 minutes.

good things come to those who wait

I've commented in prior blogs about my frustration that with all the training my weight has failed to budge.

With today's blog I'm happy to say my scale reported this morning that I've now lost 10 pounds since starting training.

Early on my family was very supportive...you are building muscle and muscle is heavier than fat. While I'd like to think I have built muscle with all this training, my guess is it took my body a while to speed up my metabolism based on my new activity level.

Whatever the reason, the last week or so the weight has started to finally come off, which is good with the start of the trip about a week away. Just as you notice hills and wind more when on the bike I also certainly notice the weight every time I climb a hill.

On a completely different note, Mom made me laugh with an email she sent late last night. It seems one of her neighbors follows this blog more closely than she does, so she was caught off guard when the neighbor commented on my "sore bottom".

My thanks to all of you who have been following the training and have sent your well wishes and comments. I'm looking forward to getting started and hopefully experiencing some interesting stories to share!

plans coming into focus

With a little over a week until our trip begins everything seems to be coming together.

I've only managed to get in about 75 miles this week but the rides felt really good so at the risk of being over confident I think my body is ready for the real thing.

Talking with my parents last week my Mom asked why I was driving to Santa Fe to ride back past Dallas. Since neither my Dad or I had a good answer the new plan is for them to come to the Dallas area and we will start from here.

I suppose we are not doing a half-cross-country trip...but it sure makes the planning easier and will get me back to work sooner which (I think) will make my partners happy.

Mom & Dad will hit the road next Wednesday and take a couple of days before getting to the campground near Denton on Friday. Vicki (my wife) will meet them at the part to learn about hooking up the motorhome.

The weekend will hopefully be enough time for her to get comfortable driving the motorhome and for me to get a few miles on the "new" bike.

Plan is to start the trip on the 13th (our anniversary) with a relatively short 60 mile first day.

hot, hot, hot...

I live in Texas, of course it is going to be hot, but there is nothing like finishing a 45 mile ride in mid-day sun to help remind me.

Didn't ride the last couple of days in hopes my bottom would respond to the latest magic potions Vicki picked up. Turns out the generic diaper rash lotion seems to work the best on that very special "road rash" sitting in the saddle for several hours gives me;)

Rode the loop around Grapevine lake again today. The first 20 miles felt great, the next 10, not bad, the last 15 not so good. Despite drinking lots of water and stopping a couple of times to snack the heat seemed to really drain me today.

Relatively uneventful ride other than a stretch of road under construction. Rather than detour I took advantage of the hybrid bike to ride the stretch they were working on. Fortunately most of the workers were on break sitting in one of the huge pipes they were laying to keep out of the sun.

Only two weeks of training left and my work schedule is likely to be crazy between now and then. I'm going to try and get out for at least 100 miles each of the next two weeks but clearly there will be some on-the-trip "training".