Training for a Cross Country Ride

Here is a bit of what it looks like outside in Lynden in January:

How do you begin to train for a ride like this? Well, a better question to ask is, how do you train for a ride across the country in the Northwest's winter-time? While it would be great to get on my bike and do lots and lots of riding, pushing progressively higher and higher milages, the reality is something different.

In January I have had one round of a good whopper cold, a week of the flu, as well as snow, wind, and freezing temperatures outdoors. So, my training has been limited so far this year. However, that said, I have been pushing the gym routine very hard. I do 24 minute rides on the Lifecycle, which has progressively higher and higher hills, as well as running on the treadmill for 12 to 15 minutes. Then, back to the bike again, another round on the treadmill, and finish with a weight lifting circuit. All this leaves me quite tired, but feeling like I got in a good workout. Hopefully, it will be enough so that when I start out on those hills east of San Diego, I can make it. I know all of us have had to adjust to the limitations of weather in our various areas of the country, so I am not the only one struggling to get in enough riding on the road. I also have the assurance that if I need to get a ride from the SAG vehicle to make it, I can do that, too. So, no worries. I will give it my best, and encourage my fellow riders along the way. We will make it!

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Are you crazy?

Are you crazy? That's the response of some people when they hear my plan to ride across the Southern tier of the United States. What makes me want to do something so physically challenging, time consuming, and risky?

The dream of riding my bicycle across the United States goes back to my childhood. I loved getting on my bike (a 26" blue Schwinn) and exploring neighborhoods and vacant fields, going up and down hills with the wind in my face. I never wore a helmet, never had an odometer, or padded Lycra shorts. I just rode and rode. The feeling was exhilarating. I wondered what it would be like to pack some food and ride from town to town and just be free and independent.

In 1976, when the United States had it's two hundred year anniversary, the bike culture captured the spirit of the Bicentennial, urging bikers to see the US by bicycle. They called it the "Bike-centennial". Many riders packed up belongings and headed out to see the country and told their stories in bicycling magazines and various other publications. I dreamed of getting to participate in such an adventure, starting at one coast and ending up at the other coast several weeks or months later. At the time, I was in my early 20's, newly married, and just getting established in a career. So taking off that much time was just not feasible. However, my husband and I did manage to get enough time off to bike part of the California Coast. We spent a week with bicycles loaded down and managed to ride from our home in San Fernando, to Santa Maria. The scenery we saw was incredible.

As life moved on and children arrived in my life, the dream faded and other priorities moved to the forefront. Less time was available for biking, and soon my old bike sat in the garage, unused and unusable. In 1999 I began riding again. I invested in a new bike and soon was riding distances I never dreamed of doing in my earlier riding days. With new enthusiasm, I again thought about how fun it would be to do a trip of length on my bicycle. I rode in some local rides like RSVP (Seattle to Vancouver, B.C.) and STP (Seattle to Portland). When I read about Woman Tours and their Southern Tier Cross Country bike trip, I was immediately interested. Finding the time to take 58 days for a trip of this magnitude is not easy. But last year it looked like 2008 might be the year for it. So I signed up with fear and trembling, not sure if this would be at all possible financially, physically, or practically.

As I thought about, and prayed about my decision to do this trip, the passage from Psalm 37:4 jumped out at me. It says: "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." I have sensed that God is giving me this desire of my heart as a gift to me, because He is a loving Father who delights to give good gifts to His children. I am in amazement that I have this awesome opportunity to fulfill this dream. This is the perfect time for me to do it. Both of my kids are grown and on their own. My full-time job has ended, and I can now focus on something that I have wanted to do for a long time. So, thank you Lord! Here we go!