Post #16 You gotta be tough to live with

 So here’s the thing about this trip….you gotta be stubborn. 

To train for this ride you’ve got to put in massive miles, both flat and uphill.  Months and months of shirking responsibilities, declining invitations to do other activities, braving weather that you’d rather not brave and in general just checking out of everything non-cycling.

I’m not the only one riding this year who is a “veteran” of cross country cycling.  I’ve done this exact route while Ian and Jacque have done the Southern route from Santa Barbara to Myrtle Beach which is a bit shorter in both riding days and total miles but is by no means an easy ride.  That means the three of us paid money to ride bicycles across America, did it, then paid more money to do it again.  We’ve gotta be tough to live with.

    

That’s Ian and Jacque in the picture above and me showing off.  Ian and Jacque look pleasant enough but they gotta be tough to live with.  Me?  Well, if you know me then you know when I start training for a big event, I am tough to live with.

We are 21 avid cyclists riding our bikes over 3,800 miles in 7 weeks and as of this writing have just 6 rides remaining.  We met in Astoria, Oregon on August 17th, dipped our bike wheels in the Pacific Ocean and will arrive in Portland, Maine on October 1st.  Upon arrival we will dip our bike wheels in the Atlantic Ocean, have a glass of champagne, share a celebratory dinner and then perhaps never see each other again.  I hope that is not the case as I feel like I’ve made a few fast friends on this trip and would welcome them at my home anytime.  (I use the term fast friends as a cliche but on the bike they are some very fast friends). What I do hope is that when it’s all over and we all return to our “normal” pre-trip lives that for the benefit of our loved ones we are not tough to live with….except for perhaps some annoying bragging.  

    

That’s our dog of the day, Millie, and some of the “fast friends” I referred to above.  That group of riders, they gotta be tough to live with.  Millie on the other hand seemed like she’d be pretty easy to live with.  Millie was on vacation from Chicago.  

   

What blog post would be complete without a picture from a brewery visit.  Rick and I enjoyed a couple pints at Bradford Brew Works in Bradford, PA.  Bradford is a charming but somewhat depressed oil and timber town with a shrinking population.  The photo is of the building we had dinner in while in town.  There are many unique and historic buildings like it as evidence of the prosperity the town once enjoyed.

Sunday’s ride is another big day with 100 miles and 5,500’ of elevation gain followed by a rest day in Cazenovia, NY.

Out.