Mainly because I love challenges and this seems like one I can’t pass up.

Many years ago when I was in my 20’s (and not yet into cycling), someone I worked with did a cross-country ride. He was an “old guy” to me then, but probably about the age that I am now!

I never forgot how cool I thought it was that he did it. Once I got into cycling years later, I added it to my bucket list.

I grew up playing soccer. I always loved running around and exhausting myself more than most people. I played midfield for many years, and often center midfielder when it was still common to have only a single person in the center. That maximized the amount of running I had to do.

I managed to play in the top-level league in the Washington, DC area for a while when I was a teen. I actually didn’t have the skills of most teammates. The reason the coach gave me a shot was because I worked hard and I could maintain my output level for longer than most. That meant that as everyone else got tired, my stamina made up for my skill gap.

I was lucky enough to play in a couple of Virginia State Cup finals and a US championship regional tournament. I had bad timing as I left the team in the fall before the team won the national championship. I kinda wish I had stayed a little longer to be part of that win! I continued to play in both indoor and outdoor men’s leagues and co-ed leagues for many years. I finally had to give up soccer when I was 35 due to my knees. 

I also have run ever since I was in my teens. I can still run, but due to my knees, not far enough or frequently enough to have it be my primary exercise. In my mid- to late-40s, I was travelling a ton, not able to run enough to keep in the level of condition I wanted, and I was not in a happy place physically.

Desperate to find a way to get my natural high from pushing hard and also to stay in shape, I started cycling about 10 years ago. I found that I could do a long, hilly ride and completely wear myself out like I hadn’t been able to do for many years. Better yet, it didn’t bother my knees much. I was hooked!

As the years have passed, I’ve started riding more and more. I’ve done the 7 day, approx 500 total miles Bike Ride Across Georgia event a couple times. I regularly do organized events in the range of 60 to 100 miles now and have averaged about 300 miles per month the past year or two. I am planning to increase that pace moving forward. I also purchased one of the indoor trainers that serious cyclists use (very different from Pelotons and similar) so that I can still ride in the winter or on thunderstorm days and I can do structured workouts.

So, the daily distances on this ride don’t scare me, though I know it will be tough to chain them all together. Despite my age, I do think that I’m in the overall condition to handle this ride. I guess we’ll see!

Nothing in life is ever easy…

I started ramping up my training in February to get my body used to heavy daily mileage. Over a 2-week period in March, I did as many miles as I typically do in a month and a half. After the last ride, I was feeling great and told myself that I would 100% be ready if I just stuck to the plan.

4 hours later…

After I cooled down, I noticed that my achilles / calf area was hurting. I couldn’t believe it! I took care of it better than I do most injuries and found that I was able to ride after a week as long as I didn’t press too hard.

By the end of April, I had come to terms with the fact that I’d likely have to cancel my trip. I went to the sports medicine doctor to get a final opinion and because I’d need a doctor’s note to claim my trip insurance reimbursement. Shockingly, he told me that given my progress in the 4 weeks since the injury, I might be able to push through it. He told me to start riding and see what happens. I’d either be ok or not according to him.

In the weeks leading into the ride, I did manage to get 400+- miles into 2 weeks. While the leg is sore, it survived. As I write this, I have 7 days to go. I have decided I will go and start the ride and hope for the best. Realistically, it is no guarantee the injury won’t degrade to a point where I need to drop out.

Time will tell if my leg can take it or if I will have to come home in a few weeks. However it plays out, I am thankful that I will at least be able to try. Stay tuned for updates!

I’m not doing this all on my own, though some people do that. I signed up with Cycle of Life Adventures to do their Northern Tier route. We’ll have a hotel every night (no camping!). There will be a support van to carry our gear, provide rest stops with drinks and food, and bring along a mechanic. They also plan out the meals for us.

There are 10 – 12 of us doing the ride, and I have never met any of the other participants before. Every day is laid out via GPS. You can see the overall route view at the top of the page. Each color change on the map above is a day. When I update each day’s ride, I’ll post the image of that day’s ride with my thoughts on what I saw and how it went.

Each day’s distance varies. A few are 50 miles or less and a handful are over 100 miles. The average is 84 miles per day.

We’ll all have to focus on pacing ourselves and not pushing too hard any given day since we have to keep ourselves going for the full 7.5 weeks.

I am hoping this will be the once in a lifetime experience I am aiming for. I’m going to get to see a lot of the country that few see, including biking past places like Mount Rushmore and Devil’s Tower. The scenery should be amazing, and cars should be sparse for the majority of the ride.

I also expect some absolute misery. It is hard to describe how miserable it can be on a cold, rainy day when you’re feeling low energy and you still have hours of riding to complete. Or, when you don’t eat enough or get dehydrated and then start cramping or just hit the wall physically. I’ve had some really bad ride days in the past, and I know I can’t escape a few here. That’s part of the challenge, though. There is a huge mental component to endurance rides. You have to be able to ignore discomfort and push through it. One time, I misjudged my food and water and I had calf, hamstring, and thigh cramps continuously starting 32 miles from the finish. It was brutal and one of the worst experiences I can recall, but I made it. When I’m feeling low, I’ll remind myself of that time and try to convince myself that if I pushed through that, I can push through whatever discomfort I’m in at the time.

We will have a rest day approximately once per week to give our bodies a break, wash our clothes, and do bike maintenance. Hopefully the extra rest and relaxation will get us ready for the next week.

My biggest concern on this ride (other than the injury discussed previously) is that it will be late fall / early spring temperatures for me even though it is in the summer. Atlanta, as you know, errors on hot! Up as far north as we’ll be, many places average in the 40s at night even in June or July. Few of our locations will be expecting a low out of the 50’s and the warmest average low is only 63. Those temperatures are fine with the right gear when the weather is nice. My concern is a colder than usual, windy, rainy day. Outside of just being cold and unpleasant, hypothermia could become an issue. 

It will also be interesting to see how my body reacts to having to force down sports drinks, energy gels, and other high sugar foods every 30 – 60 minutes to fuel the effort each day. I imagine I’ll have had my fill of those for a while when I’m done.

Tied to that, I will have to eat much more than usual given the calories we’ll be burning. I know how hungry I get after a single big ride day or a couple of days in a row. Weeks of it will probably put my metabolism and appetite on a level I haven’t seen since I was a teen! It is hard to believe if you haven’t experienced it, but you can get to a point where the amount you have to eat puts eating into a chore zone rather than an enjoyment zone.

In the end, I hope to leave the ride with a great feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. I also hope to have some great memories and hopefully some new friends among the other participants.

Feel free to follow along with the daily summaries!