Riding Bikes

So I’m getting seriously into riding bikes. I’m getting a new mountain bike either next week or the one after that. Sponsored by My Mother, Inc. Every rider needs a sponsor, hell, we can’t keep ourselves in diapers and new tires on a graphic D’s salary.

So my plan is to next year ride from Erie, the Flagship City of PA, to Flagstaff, AZ. According to MapQuest, it’s something like 2000 miles via major highways. A straight line connecting Pittsburgh to Flagstaff, plus the 124 or so miles to Erie, is 1400 miles. So my actual length will be somewhere between that.

I plan to take 4 weeks off of work, which might be difficult what with reality being a factor and all, but I think I can pull it off. So 4 weeks = 30 days with the extra initial weekend. The ride itself will take place over 23 days, and it’ll take 2 days to get back on a Greyhound, which leaves me with 5 days to kick back and enjoy Flagstaff or take breaks along the way if need be.

Basically that means just under 75 miles per day, so at 12mph each day it would involve about 6.5 hours of riding.

Do I really think I can do that?
 
I don’t know. I’ve quit smoking, it’s only been a few days, and I quit and start up again all the time, but I’m feeling some extra dedication right about now. As for riding, I went two miles in fifteen minutes today, on a 20″ bike at that, and was feeling okay when I got back. So I’ll keep working on that until winter and we’ll see how everything’s going.

lovely.

Up Next: The Hangover Blues