Leaving.... tomorrow

Hey everyone, so I'll spend some time to actually write a legitimate blog post (have I ever done that actually?) I'll try my best. My writing should actually be better since I've spent the last 3 weeks of work intensely working on a conference paper that I had to figure out how to condense from 11,000 words to 5,000... (for some reason that reference of Gov Arnie and the knife and scalpel to the state budget comes to mind).. Now I can understand why it's not quite as easy as that... Well. back to the topic. Today is July 25th, let me think if anything that revolves around this date. I will be getting married in 9 months from yesterday, yesterday was my last day of work, work will begin again in 6 weeks from today. Just for some other fun date facts... after this ride concludes, my timeline coming back to San Francisco will look like this: Sept 12 - Amy's wedding, Sept 13 - fly back to San Francisco (without a place to live as of now), Sept 14 - start a full time job. Yikes, that to me sounds more scary than the bike ride itself. Also, some other tidbits. I decided to weigh myself today and will take a photo tomorrow. I'm really curious about what this ride will do to my body. Hopefully it won't just wither away. More to come on that tomorrow.

So! About the bike ride itself! I'm very excited. From what I can tell, at least a few people will be able to make it on Sunday morning and will ride with me for a little bit. I wasn't too keen on having a big super-sendoff... I don't think it's my style, kinda like how some people don't like to have birthday parties, well that's me too. But, I think it will be nice to have a low-key gathering for those who actually are interested in riding, otherwise... there just isn't a reason to be up at 7am on a sunday.

I have my bag pretty much set, but I'll be going to the store today for some odds and ends... postcard stamps, luggage locks, food in general. Should be an interesting day. But I'm also ditching the rest of my belongings at some point, the car, the laptop, single-speed.... tomorrow i become a nomad.

Some fun things have happened in the last few days. So yesterday, I recieved an email from Jean Noellsch, a mother of a high-school friend who would be doing a write-up for the News-Gazette (champaign,il newspaper). So it sounds like they're going to publish an article about the ride and the fundraising... super! It was fun to be interviewed. But really, it was more of a conversation and catching up on their family among other things. But fun none the less.

Non-bike, but transportation related, I ate it on my skateboard coming back from work on Monday. However, major injuries were avoided... but the whole fall happened because I was trying to take things from my office at work, and as a result, totally overloaded my bag, which threw off my balance... you see where this is going

And finally, my GPS tracking device works! Feel free to track my progess and see where I'm at during the ride. If for some reason the device stops moving for a long time you should do either:

A) text me to tell me to quit being lazy and to start pedaling
B) call the authories

It's here: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=00tqrjYQYFhYCWe0hZubTHJe9fdl0T5CQ

Ok, I think I'm spent for the night. It's been a long week and my writing becomes less clear as I push further towards 2am. Thanks for reading, and be on the lookout for a pre-ride post later this evening before the big Sunday ride.

Paul

quick post!

so. real quick, just got back in town from a 5 day trip to Atlanta. Nice time, loved being back. Hung out with the fiance and met up with the people at the Atlanta Bike Coalition! Fun. Summer. Awesome.

So I also realized, I've been basing my emotional clock on my timer on the bottom of this screen. Oops. I realized that I had it having me leave on the 31st, when in fact I'm leaving on the 26th. So 10 days just went to 5. That's more like it. Yikes.

T-Shirts - Now Available for Pre-Order

front pocket

back center design























Hey everyone, after working with Torri and Tommy at TNT Signs and Designs of Paxton, we now have a design for production. The cost will be $25 and the proceeds will go to the beneficiaries below. The shirts will be produced in central Illinois. However, if you would like a shirt shipped to you, please let me know!

If you're interested in a pre-order, please fill out this form: (please only complete if you are committed to buying a shirt!)

Training with the Trailer (Finally)

So this one will be short... but I think I'm all geared up now. Just wanted to send some shots of the beautiful bay area and my rig/bike. I was a bit nervous after tiring out yesterday doing the Grizzly Peak loop.... so adding an extra 70 lbs didn't seem like it would be a good idea, yet it wasn't so bad. The BOB tracks well and just felt like i was riding a road bike with two flat tires (when going up hill), which is totally doable.

So these shots are both taken from the East Bay, the first one is at Sea Level near Emeryville, and the second is on Grizzly Peak Blvd above Oakland.

t-shirts : coming to a festival near you!

So I don't know all of the details yet, but with some super support and help from Miss Riley back in Gibson City and Torri back in Paxton, it seems like t-shirts to help raise funds are nearing a possibility! No specific word quite yet, but stay posted. I'm not sure if they'll be available online, (perhaps via cafepress eventually)... here is a proposed idea of back and front:

Huge thanks to those who have recently donated and especially who have gone out of their way to help promote the cause!

Ride Fun Facts

Tonight, I am proud to say that I've become one with my GPS device. So originally, the purpose of this little guy was to provide me the escape button in case at any particular time I needed to bail out to the nearest hotel or mcdonalds to break my daily rationing of clif bars and my sleeping bag. However... wow. I tell you, I now have my whole route mapped out from start to finish. AND it's all on a little interactive box that's 3" x 2". Amazing.

But this basecamp software that I'm using allows me to do all kinds of fun things: and here they are:
TOTAL MILEAGE: 2848 Miles






and better yet! I now can see my first elevation chart. woot.

Happy 4th of July!

Greetings independence day revelers! Just wanted to say greetings from East Central Illinois. I flew into Chicago yesterday and got to catch up with some dear high school friends and now am downstate after a lovely amtrak ride to Bloomington. So right now, I'm sitting on the couch looking out the window at the beautiful central illinois rain. I'm just imagining that this is what it'll feel like in 2 months after visiting on my bike. It's kinda weird for me to think about it and begs the question? If i'm here now, why would I want to do it again, but on a bike? we'll leave that one open ended.

So 4th of July is my favorite holiday by far. What else could you ask for, grilled food, family and friends, and a fireworks display, all centered around a non-discrimatory, secular holiday that you don't need to celebrate at night and can start the day out with a 5K or some other athletic event. love it.

So this afternoon, I'll be headed to Gibson to catch up and relax with some of my good high school pals and then perhaps to Sibley, IL (which is 1/4th the population of Gibson, which is 1/150th the size of San Francisco), to catch the big fireworks display. However, it's raining, bummer. Last time I was here for the 4th in 2003, it also rained... hopefully I'm not bringing bad luck to this town. If so, I should claim my final destination as Paxton or maybe even Fisher.

But as for now, I hope you all have a fanatastic independance day and party safe.

Sub-30 days and counting!

So I must admit, this photo is a bit dated and it was when I wasn't recovering from a leg injury and it was when the state of california actually had a budget. Nonethless, you can imagine, that if you fast forwarded a year, and i had a better tan, this is what I would look like training for my cross country ride!

However! neverfear, I now can start to say my leg is getting better, and never a better time than 28 days before the beginning of the ride! So I apologize for not writing more often, but these past few weeks have a been a bit hectic with being out of town last weekend (South Carolina) and this weekend (Illinois). I'm also trying to wrap up my current job while preparing myself for a move out of my house. whew. So yes, It's been a bit crazy. However I've had a few accomplishments!

1. I have my trailer now (it's fantastic, I can't wait to start training with it)
2. I just made wedding save-the-date's last night... not bike related, but glad to have gotten that started.
3. Fundraising just passed $2500.... however, it's starting to stall a bit, only $1500 more! We can do it!
4. I have *almost* all of the stuff I need minus a cap, bear spray, and a few other random things that will make every last day of those 6 weeks less painful
5. I hear zip-ties are a cyclists best friend. Luckily they were $2 for about 100 of them today at walgreens. oh how life is grand.

Also, I want to give a shout out to my friend Torri Godsey who has been working with me on a potential t-shirt idea! more to come soon, but hopefully it will work out.

Ok, I think that's it for now! Please let me know if you have comments or suggestions!

supa