Monday, June 29, 2009

The Final Preparation

One more day until the date that's been solidified in my mind for the past 9 months. But I'm nervous.. or as the beach-bros here would say "hella-nervous, bra." I've been haunted for the past few days after stumbling upon this website: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/. I was browsing through stories of individuals performing insane acts like one Brit who rode a Penny Farthing bicycle around the world: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/joff1. However, I stumbled upon "failure blogs" which detailed trips gone awry. Most of these mishaps occurred within the first or second week of the trip... the testing point. I'm very confident in my mental and emotional ability to finish this trip; however, I can not account for my knee blowing out somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains or a brief collision with a coal truck in Kentucky. I don't want to fail. I'm sure if I did, I'd never let myself live it down until I completed the journey some other time. A botched journey would break me... so I'm going to do my best to avoid this. I've decided to pace myself slowly and not try to conquer Virginia in record time. I'm going to ease myself into this and hope/pray/beg for the best.

After another beautiful sunrise kayak adventure, I took off to "Fat Frogs" bicycle shop and threw some new brake pads and bought some spare spokes. I also had to break my 5-year boycott of Wal-Mart to buy some Ramen noodles, granola, and other food for the road. I included them in my inventory list:
(2) Arkel GT-54 Rear Pannier Bags
(2) Topeak Pannier Drybags
Arkel Tail Rider Bag
Arkel Big Bar Bag
North Face Daypack
TransAmerica Map Packets
Eureka Back Country Solo Tent
Kelty Sleeping Bag
Therm-A-Rest Sleeping Pad
Therm-A-Rest Mini Pillow
Gyro Black Helmet
(4) Bandannas
(2) Polar Insulated Bottles
Acer Aspire One Netbook
Trianga Mini Backpacking Stove
½ Bottle of Denatured Alcohol
Lightweight Coffee Cup
Wet Road Lubricant
Pedro's Ice Wax
Halt! Dog Deterrent Spray
Talcum Powder
Tin of Bag Balm
Bug Spray
Antibacterial Wipes
Some Cheap-Ass Rain Jacket
2 Spare Inner-Tubes
Road Pump
Combo Lock
Electrician Tape
Brooks Saddle Cover
Front/Rear Lamps
Multi-Tool
Extra Tire Lever
(4) Extra Brake Pads
(4) Extra Spokes
First-Aid Kit
Cellphone
Wallet
iPod Shuffle
Headlamp
Glasses
(2) Jack London Books
Canon PowerShot Camera
(3) Boxer-Briefs
(2) Endura Singletrack Shorts
(2) Endura Singletrack Liners
Sugoi Triathlon Liner
(2) Swobo Bamboo Shirts
Long Polyester Shirt
UnderArmor Shorts
Bicycle Gloves
Marmot Windbreaker
(4) Smartwool Socks
Baseball Cap
Birkenstocks
Shimano MTBike Shoes/Cleats
Assorted Toiletries

I'm assuming this is close to 60-70 extra pounds on the bike; however, I can't think of anything I don't need right now. How about you? -Any ideas to help me shed some pounds? Anything I'm missing?

4 comments:

Vicki said...

You are amazing and inspiring! I'm so impressed and extremely grateful! You're in my thoughts and prayers. Be safe. On behalf of the kids at MdL, Mil gracias!

ash said...

Holy Shitoly! Leaving in just a few hours!!!!

As far as shedding weight goes, did you consider shaving your body hair? That must weigh something.

:)

Unknown said...

Thinking of you... Hope you're trip is off to a great start!
-Aaron

kurtis.biggs said...

If you followed Ashley's advice, it would then be acceptable to do away with all that clothing weight too.

Tour d'America au naturel :)

Good luck, man.

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