My Summer Behind Bars

OK, I hope the blog title got your attention, but if you were expecting a prison drama, you are on the wrong blog.

My Summer Behind Bars refers to my plans for the summer of 2010 to filfill the long distance cyclist's dream and ride my bike 4,800+ miles "from sea to shining sea".

I am not sure where or when the seed of the idea was planted in my head: perhaps on a family road trip across Canada in 1966; perhaps on a 436 mile bike ride in Alaska in 2000 from Fairbanks to Anchorage, yes it snowed, (when I first realized that I could go far on my bike in a relatively short period of time); in 2001 on a 410 mile ride from Montreal, Quebec to Portland, Maine; or, in 2003 on a 398 mile ride from Toronto Ontario to Montreal, Quebec (with my son who was 14 years old at the time).

Over the past two years I have logged 3,007 miles and 4,163 miles (and counting - I did a 10 mile "errand" ride yesterday with snow on the ground) respectively, so the stars appear to be well aligned - that and tremendous support and encouragement from my family.

I have a great base on which to build in my training over the winter and spring, so I'd hate to waste it, and, as Warren Miller has said "If you don't do it this year, next year you'll be a year older when you do!"

194 days to "Wheels up" from Newark.