Your Questions, Answered!

I am so happy that people are curious about the trip! We are really excited, and are now just a few days away from departure (May 16 departure date)! Tomorrow is our last day of work. Aaaagh!

Anyway, I've been getting a lot of questions from a lot of people. Here are the most asked questions, along with their answers!

1) How far are you going?
About 4,800 miles (see post below)

2) Where are you going?
Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon. :)

3) How heavy is your gear?
Umm... heavy. I posted about what we're bringing, but we're not quite sure of the total weight. It definitely makes the bikes hard to control when still (at a stoplight, for example), when going up hills, and when making tight turns.

Ok, I just weighed it (the curiosity got to me) and my gear is about 40 lbs. Exactly 37, but I'm not quite fully packed yet. So let's say 40 lbs. Dean's gear is probably also 40 lbs. Plus we have to propel the bikes and ourselves, and neither of us are pixies.

Meredith with her fully loaded bike

4) What are you going to do for food?
We are going to carry cereal and powdered milk on us at all times, as well as emergency snacks such as granola bars. For other food, we will stop at grocery stores and restaurants along the way during the day.

5) What are you going to do for water? What if you run out?
We are going to each have two water bottles on our bikes and start the day with two full bottles. In addition, I'll have a Camelbak. We will refill water at all of our food stops along the way. We will do our best to make sure that we never run out. In case of emergency, we have iodine to help us purify water from streams, etc.

6) How far are you going every day?
We expect this to vary, but we hope to average at least 50 miles per day over the entire trip, and 60 miles per day if you take rest days out of the average. I think we will probably start with lower mileage days and work our way up as we get into shape and the terrain gets flatter.

7) Are you doing this to lose weight?
No. Don't be ridiculous.

8) How will you find your way? How will you know where you're going?
We have maps from the Adventure Cycling Association, which we think are awesome! ACA has a network of maps that cover the whole country, and we have patched together our route from those. The ACA maps keep cyclists on the roads less traveled (by cars), and provides information on where to find campgrounds, bike shops, grocery stores, etc.

9) What if you get a flat or your bike breaks somehow?
We both know how to change flats, and we have extra tubes and patch kits in case that happens. Both of us are using kevlar-belted tires, however, so I hope flats just won't happen!

For other breakdowns, we took the Revolution Cycles Park Tool School last month, and we are pretty prepared to handle most things that may befall us. We can fix a broken chain, replace and adjust brakes, true tires, etc. But if we have a serious breakdown (crash that breaks crank somehow, for example), I think we'll just rely on our cell phones and the ACA maps to get us to the nearest bike shop.

10) How much will this cost?
A lot. If you count everything (mortgage, health insurance, gear purchases, student loan payments, credit card payments, cell phone payments, etc.), and we do, since we're not earning any money and everything still needs to get paid, it costs about $25,000. If you take out all the stuff we'd have to pay for anyway and just count the trip stuff (food, lodging, bike expenses) it's about $9,000-10,000. In other words, definitely more than our wedding. :)

11) Where will you sleep? Are you camping?
We plan to camp six nights a week and have a hotel/motel one night a week. I'm sure that won't work out exactly right, but that's what we budgeted for.

12) Are you nuts? This is dangerous!
I will refrain from answering this one until we get back from the trip.

13) Aren't you SO excited? Aren't you nervous? Aren't you worried?
Yes. Yes. Yes.

Please post any other questions you may have in comments (along with, of course, any comments), and we'll answer them as soon as we can!

As Promised!

Us, the bikes, and us with our bikes!

Meredith's Bike

Dean's Bike

Meredith with Her Bike

Dean with His Bike

Testing, Testing, 1-2-3

This weekend we slept in our tent on both Friday and Saturday nights.

I'm so glad we tested it out!

First of all, I LOVE our tent (thanks, Beckles!). It rained for about 24 hours straight on Saturday, and the tent stayed pretty dry. It packs down tiny and light. It has a little net at the top for storing things. It's easy to set up. It's the perfect size for us. I feel really good about it!

But both nights were tough, sleeping-wise. I think we may have tried to go to sleep too early. For optimal tent sleep, you should be really exhausted, I think (which we will be, on the trip).

The first night, we were on brand new sleeping pads that Dean had bought that day. I had a miserable night. The sleeping pad just felt tiny and I kept rolling off it. I gave up and went into the house to sleep around 3:00 a.m. Also, the world in general just seemed really loud. Cars passing, animals making weird sounds, the wind... It was loud. I think the noise part will just take some getting used to.

For the sleeping pad, though, that was totally out. So we went to REI on Saturday and exchanged them for a queen size air mattress. MUCH better. It takes up most of the tent, but there is just so much more space to sleep/roll around on. And it can be folded into a little carrier bag that I think we can easily strap to one of the bikes. Yes!

But on Saturday night, I made the terrible mistake of not zipping myself into my bag very well, and I woke up freezing in the middle of the night. I zipped in and got a bit more sleep, but was up again at 5 a.m. and that was that. I moved around so much that I woke Dean up, too, and neither of us could get back to sleep. We went inside and slept in for a few more hours in our bed after that.

The cat was very confused about what we were up to this weekend. She did NOT like the tent.

But I think with some minor tweaks, it will be great and really comfortable. We'll make sure to bring some cold weather clothing, just in case, and we'll definitely be tired when it's bedtime. I might pack a little Tylenol PM just so nothing's left to chance.

On Sunday, we did another 40 mile training ride. In a lot of ways, it was better than last week's. We had just finished the Park Tool School at Revolution Cycles and our bikes were in tip top condition, plus I think we feel a lot more confident about handling any problems that might arise on the road. Shifting gears was WAY easier for me this time, and my bike didn't squeak like 1,000 tiny tweeting birds. I feel like we went faster. I feel like the exhaustion level was pretty comparable, but this time we knew that eating a big lunch would give us a second wind. It went well!

On the downside, I was trying out a new saddle and a new pair of bike pants. When I got home, my butt was probably about as sore as last time ... maybe a little more, but I had the beginnings of saddle sores. Since I was trying two new things, I don't know if it was the saddle, the pants, the fact that I used vaseline instead of a chamois cream, or what. It's a little worrying. I guess we'll try, try again and see if I can figure a way to keep that from happening. Plus, I'm buying chamois cream stat.

Anyway, that's about it. I have a ton to do over the next 25 days of prep before we go. Eek!

Park Tool School

Dean and I have been taking a bike repair course. Here's what we've learned:

(How to)
Change a flat
Fix a broken chain
Replace a broken spoke
Fix a broken spoke temporarily until you can get to a bike shop
Adjust derailleurs
Determine if wheels are out of true
True wheels (tighten/loosen spokes)
Run a chain through derailleurs
Tighten brakes
Center brakes
Adjust brake pads
Replace brake pads
Replace brake cables

We have one more night, but we've covered most things already. We'll mount a low rider rack and check our cleats on Friday, as well as get answers to whatever questions we have left. :)

I feel ready to hit the road! Many thanks to Joe and Rockville Revolution Cycles!

Gear!

I know I'm posting a lot today, but I want to get some basic content up. Plus, I'm excited!

So, let's talk gear. Here are the things we are bringing with us:

BIKES
1986 Miyata Six-Ten (Meredith)
2009 Jamis Coda (Dean)

BIKE EQUIPMENT/ACCESSORIES
Aero Bars (Dean only, b/c Meredith hated hers and has removed them)
Back Racks
Front Racks (We still haven't figured out how to attach mine)
Fenders
Headlight/Tail-light
Bike Computer
Water Cages
Panniers (front and back -- Dean has Ortlieb, I haven't bought mine yet)
Spare Tubes

OTHER EQUIPMENT
First Aid Kit
Bike Tools
Patch Kit
Tent
Sleeping Bags
Sleeping Pads/Bedrolls
Chamois Butt'r (to prevent saddle sores)
Sunblock
Halt! Dog Repellent
Bungee Cords
Hydration Pack(s?)
Water bottles
Extra spokes
Chain links

CLOTHING
SPF-protective shirts (Meredith, 2)
Padded shorts (2 pair each)
Shirts Anita gave us (thanks!)
Biking Shirts (2, Dean)
Sports Bras (2, Meredith only)
2 non-bike outfits
Regular Shoes (1 pair ea)
Bike Shoes (1 pair ea)
Socks!!
Sunglasses
Bike Gloves

OTHER
Basic Hygiene Stuff (toothbrush, deodorant, etc.)
Snacks/Gu
Wallets (w/ID)
Netbook or Dean's phone (to update here!)
Camera
Books? Kindles?

That's all I can think of right now, but there's probably stuff I'm missing.

The Basics

Dean and I (Meredith) are biking from Yorktown, VA to Seaside, OR for our honeymoon. Here is the route we're taking:

Click to enlarge image

Dean and I got married on December 4, 2010. The honeymoon is a bit delayed, but bicycling across the country in January seemed like a cold, bad idea. Here's us on our wedding day:


That's before we got dressed for the ceremony, obviously. But he's rocking his Cherry Blossom Bombshells t-shirt, so I had to post it. Plus, it gives you a much better idea of what we look like normally. Here's one of us all fancy for the wedding:


I'll post photos of our bikes and such once I have some.

We plan to start in Yorktown, VA, very near where my parents live. They might bike the first few miles with us, and meet us along the way. We will go west to Missouri (via Kentucky) then cut north through Iowa. In Wisconsin, we'll start heading west again, along the Northern Tier Route, then we'll head south to Portland, across to Seaside, back to Portland, then fly home.

We plan to visit on the way:
My parents
Sapna
Teri + Alex
Heather
Snake Bite (Erica) ?
Joy

I'll post soon about our bikes and gear, and how the preparations are going!

Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now!

... We're on the move!

Wow. I can't believe we're actually doing this bike trip. I don't even know how long I've been talking about it, but I think Joy and I first started thinking about it in high school or early college.

And it was never real. (Not like our 40th b-day Kilimanjaro trip will be!) It was just stuff we talked about. And I forgot about it for awhile. In my mid-20s I made a new friend who thought it was a great idea, and I was back on board ... making plans, thinking maybe it might happen. But that fell through, too. So I even started looking around on the Adventure Cycling Association's message boards, thinking I might go with a total stranger (don't worry, mom, I wasn't serious). I had bike fever, but I couldn't go. I was missing one thing I really needed to make it happen.

Dean!

I love Dean so much. You all know this. One of the things that I love most about him is his total willingness to go along with my crazy schemes, combined with the practical know-how to make them reality. "Run a marathon with you even though I've only ever run 2 miles? Sounds good," says Dean. "Drop our normal lives like a bad habit and ride a bicycle for 3 months coast to coast? Count me in!"

I like to talk and fantasize about travels and fun stuff. A lot of the time, I follow through, but a lot of the time I don't. Dean follows through. Dean is SERIOUS. Dean doesn't say he's going to do something unless he really is going to do it. He means it. He will study and research and figure out the best way to do it, and follow through 100%.

I'm glad. I need his seriousness and his dedication and his enthusiasm to keep me on board.

Really, I'm very excited. But I've been worrying a lot lately too. Lots of things could go wrong. It's a HUGE financial risk, and there's certainly personal safety concerns too. But when I talk to Dean about my concerns, rather than saying, "You've roped me into a dangerous trip that could leave us financially ruined?" he instead calms my fears. He's pretty cool.

So my fears are calmed, and we are about 30 days out! We are in the middle of our super great bike repair course, the Park Tool School at the Rockville Revolution Cycles. We are learning a ton. And we just did a 40 mile training ride this weekend that went very well.

I am beginning to feel like we can do this. We are going to do this! I can't believe we are going to do this!