Prep and Training

Wow, the past three weeks have flown by! I quit my part-time job to focus on preparation for the trip and I'm amazed at how busy I still am.

I've been doing lots of research online for good riding routes; it takes time and isn't as easy as you'd expect. For those of you who have expressed concern about where we'll ride, please be assured that we stay off the interstate highways as much as possible! Though they usually have a great, wide shoulder, they're not much fun because of the amount of traffic and noise. Most states have bicycle maps and we're using them to find the least traveled roads on our general route.

We also correspond with highway departments, bicycle clubs and individual bicyclists to get their take on certain roads. It's been fun to 'chat' with a gentleman from Coeur 'd Alene; he's given us great help and encouragement, along with his good humor. His research for us has kept us from taking a road that would not have been tandem-friendly. He and his wife would like to ride with us for a day or two when we pass through that area.

We haven't mentioned yet that our friends, Kevin and Laura, are planning to ride with us from Seattle back to Missoula. It will be good to have someone with us the first week as we get going and get into the swing of it all. Then, hopefully, our friends, Chuck and Susan, will pick up Kevin and Laura's place and ride with us to Bozeman. From Bozeman to the Atlantic, we're on our own (unless we make some new friends along the way!).

It's been difficult to get consistent training in with the snow and cold. We did manage to get a good 56 mile ride in a couple Saturdays ago with K&L, C&S even though it was only 30 degrees. This past Saturday we waited and waited for it to warm up, then finally did a short 22 mile loop when it reached 32. It's snowing again today, so I climbed back on the trainer; not as much fun or effective as riding outside, but better than nothing.

Some of the other preparation that's kept me busy has been to line up details for transporting our bike and trailer back to Bozeman, making sleeping bag liners, getting addresses for the letters, getting a display board ready for a school function coming up, talking with our favorite local bike shop (Summit Bike & Ski in Bozeman), doing a pre-preliminary pack of the trailer, getting the necessary techno-gizmos to keep in touch, ordering last minute items(thankfully, they've been on sale) and various other little things. I think of everything I still have to do and I'm glad that I have two months yet, though I know that will fly by.

I mentioned in the earlier post that we would have a link for you to check out our fundraising details. Please click on the link above - "Heritage Christian School/RAAM", then click on the blue RAAM button. This will take you to our letter, route map, pledge card and prayer card.

Don't forget that you can make comments to us by clicking on the Comments button on the bottom right.

Until next time,

Pat