Prologue:

What Did You Do This Summer?

1. Tried all flavors of Gatorade (green apple is highly refreshing but mainly when cold, flow is a nice change of pace from the 'fierce' flavors, didn't bother with low calorie ones as I needed what I could take in out there - if you're interested others have even ranked them: https://www.delish.com/food/g27585013/gatorade-flavors-ranked/ - full disclosure I didn't even see the cucumber-lime - I doubt it's a big seller in rural MN gas stations - and no way would I have bought that anyway...
2. Identified location of Casey's convenience stores in most west central MN towns
3. Became expert on status and integrity of shoulders on county roads (oh, and did I mention that the rumble strips on the side of the roads just SUCK - at that point aren't you in the ditch anyway?? I get putting them in the middle to keep you from killing other people but when you're in the cornfield by the time you perceive the rumble what the hell is the point?)
4. Determined that the maple almond butter flavor of Snickers should be a crime against humanity (though the regular almond butter one is just fine - don't mistake the one for the other...and peanut butter snickers rock)
5. 'Looked to my right and I saw the Hollywood sign' (see picture Hollywood MN town hall) - 'this is all so crazy...'
6. Decided to ride over 100 miles after awakening post-night shift and wound up finishing on sidewalks in the dark after 122 miles due to several gross errors of map reading and some detours
7. Figured out how to sit creatively in meetings to give my ass a break 
8. Resolved not to train for a cross-country trip on a racing bike again (see #7)

Why Do This?
Excellent question! I've always kind of wanted to do this, but it really took hold when Trek Travel started offering a southern route cross-country trip about 16 years ago (not that I have anything against the North, but it's longer across that section - and I have visited most of those states but have not seen much of the Southern tier). Now that Tess is in college and Kate is a junior and since Trek is offering this for the first time since 2016 again it seemed like it was time... And with an average of 93 miles/day it's about the right intensity - we get across the country in 6 weeks - some other groups do 4 and some take 10 but this seemed kind of Goldilocks-range as far as being able to swing it with work and not just getting killed every day on the bike...

Am I Ready?
No.

Is That Going to Stop Me?
No - I haven't trained like I wanted to, but my guess is that life has interfered with other's best intentions that are also on the trip too (at least some of them - and for those that had unlimited time to train and are feeling super smug about that screw you - I hope you have a flat tire the first day). So I may be slow, but I'm just going to ride my pace and remember that the point of the day is not whatever small town hotel is home tonight and how fast we get there to enjoy the complimentary tea in the lobby but the rides themselves - which is a nice consolation when you are finishing last every day and a way to salvage some self-respect...

What Am I Excited About?
3,400 miles yes! 139,000 feet of elevation change not so much! Getting a chance to eat a lot of southern food and burn it all off! Meet new friends that are crazy enough to do this! And explore the nation at ground level - especially today when the news cycle paints the USA as a dumpster fire I'm eager to get back to the beauty and diversity of the US mile by mile and take my time and a lot of pictures along the way...

What Am I Thinking About?
There will be a lot of time to think out there - which will be good, and interesting, and potentially dangerous... I'll be thinking a lot about my family, including my daughters and their current and future selves, myself and my past, current, and future self (hopefully in better shape and with a good sense of humor and most of my teeth intact), what career and personal paths I may be taking in the years ahead, what I want (and what is likely) to happen the next half of my life, of my sister (who is anticipating surgery for a pancreatic mass - fortunately one with a good prognosis - but still a scare and a yet uncertain treatment plan...) and of my mom (and her 22 year breast cancer survival and subsequent founding of the mentorship program at Mayo - http://www.jointhejourney.us/), and her good friend Ken who got me started long distance biking with a 100 mile ride in Rochester when I was in 8th grade (and I got the job done - slowly - fueled by orange soda on a Schwinn Traveller which I think was forged in Pittsburgh of solid American steel). Tragically, Ken committed suicide just a few weeks ago - likely because he was unable to bring himself to ask for the help that he needed and risk distracting from his wife's illness and needs. So I'm thinking we need to do a lot more for pancreatic cancer research (https://www.pancan.org/) and for suicide prevention (https://afsp.org/) and I'm grateful my sister should be around for a lot longer yet and sad that Ken is gone too soon. I'm donating to all these organizations and I'm not soliciting or asking for donations but if you are interested they are all exceptional and provide amazing support.

When I first contemplated this ride 16 years ago I didn't have the perspective I have now and that's simply that I am going to find something of beauty and some laughter every day and I'm going to try hard to do things that are meaningful - to me, but that hopefully also in the course of my day are also helpful and meaningful to others. I won't be doing this ride again, so as painful as some of the 140 mile plus days will be I'm going to try to enjoy those too...

Oh, and I've never blogged before so if this sucks tell me how to make it better - I work in the emergency department at Hennepin County Medical Center so you can't scare me...

Let's do this!