Preparation

Preparation, to plan, train, focus, and dream about what you want to do in the future. The future is now four weeks away from tomorrow, Sunday June 13. I am ready to get this underway!
Today we again have a rainy overcast day around St Mary's Point so I choose to go to yoga. During this preparation time I have tried to go to yoga three times a week and now am working on expanding my poises to the next level from what is covered in a regular session at the Y. The leaders are good at coaching and responding to my questions about how to get my body working even better. In these sessions I work on a lot of core strength moves which I can tell is helping me on the bike.
Tomorrow the weather report is better so will try to ride in the morning.
I know I could go ride in the rain today, but have done that, know how to do it, know what to wear, and will do it on the Tour as needed.

Northern Transcontinental PacTour 2010

Well my second attempt to complete a ride across America is coming up starting July 11, 2010 in Everett, Washington and ending after 30 continuous days of riding in Williamsburg, Virginia on August 9, 2010. That is 3,410 miles of riding, 114 miles a day average, with around 101.500 of climbing. This is a sea to shining sea over purple mountains, through many a field of waving grains, in winds, sun, and rain. Neither rain, wind, heat, nor sore bodies will stop this tour from it's assigned riding challenges.

I noted that this is my second attempt at riding across America and that is because on my first attempt in 2007 I rode for 19 days covering 2100 miles then at that point my right butt cheek developed a cist that I had to have cut out. I had the surgery the day after I left the ride, have healed up completely, and that part of my body feels ready.

In the summer of 2008 I rode the PacTour Ridge of the Rockies from Canada to Mexico as my second event with PacTour and that went great.

Then in February 2009 I got myself upside down, while up in the air at high speed in a USSA Masters Super G race at Aspen Colorado and because gravity has a greater power over manned flight I had to land. The landing didn't go so good, one fractured left tibia right below the knee joint which took a plate and seven screws to put back together. That took me out of the opportunity to ride across the country in 2009.

But being a forward looking person I reset my goals to do this ride in 2010. So since February 2009 it has been a rehab program with the goal of getting strong enough, mentally and physically to attempt this adventure again.

So as I write this on June 8, there are 32 days to go till we start riding across America.