We start tomorrow

Packing the van in Nashville

Earlier this month my wife and I drove across the US in our van. We made an overnight stop in Nashville to see John (my partner in this misadventure) and picked up his bike. It took some finagling to fit his bike in the van with mine, but we managed. We had to remove his front fender, and I eventually removed my front rack so it would no longer rattle against the back door of the van. This means we will have some rebuilding to do before we start our ride in Washington, DC, but it shouldn't be too bad.

We left John's house and drove to Mount Airy, NC, to see my mom. We took a scenic route through the mountains of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, where people are still recovering from Hurricane Helene. Keep them in your thoughts.

We also drove through Boone, where I went to school for four years. The student body has doubled since I was there, and I hardly recognized it. It is disconcerting to drive through a town I knew well at one time without being sure exactly where I was. Part of that was my faulty memory, but much of it was just the astounding growth the town has experienced since I was an undergrad. (The years I was there are left as an exercise for the reader.)

Lynn and I have been in Mount Airy almost a week. We have been helping my mom get some things in order, including helping her clean some things out of her apartment. I've also been repacking my gear, and repacking, and repacking, to figure out the best distribution of weight. (I'll write later about all the crap I'm carrying.)

I have also had a some time to ride. Years ago the town built the Granite City Greenway, eight miles of paved walking and biking trail that makes a horseshoe around the city. Both termini are a couple of miles from Mom's home, so I could have a 20-mile ride, most away from traffic, by riding the Greenway out-and-back.

Today we will be driving to Washington, DC, where we will meet John again. Most parking in DC is in garages that cannot accommodate our van, but we found a place to park about five miles from the start of the C&O Canal Towpath. We will put our bikes together there tomorrow morning. Fortunately, it is by a bike path that will lead us straight to the beginning of our route

I'm a little nervous. I had a very good month of training in March, but since then I've been pretty busy getting ready for the trip, driving across the US, and spending time with my mom. My longest ride this month was only 25 miles, and just 125 miles altogether. Hopefully John won't ride me into the ground during the first week of the tour and bring it to an early end.


Comments

  1. Good luck Rob and John. Would love to follow along with the progress

    ReplyDelete

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