On the road and no blog for 8 days

I just checked to see when I posted my last blog, and it was on the 31st of May. Since that time, I've been plenty busy and did ride a couple of times. The 1st of June was spent on an all-day retreat with the Home Trust of Skagit. The 2nd was spent getting ready to drive to CA. I did a very short ride of 30 minutes on the 3rd to check out my clipped pedals and shoes. I've been told by everybody to expect to fall several times using the clips, but my obvious goal is to fall as few times as possible. I did OK the first day and only ALMOST fell once. I've decided that I need to make a bold, committed move when I begin so that I have enough momentum going to get the second foot in the clip; anything less than committed will probably result in a fall. Since I would be riding with my son, Robb, on the weekend, I wanted to be sure I could at least get into the clips. Mission accomplished on that.

Thursday the 4th and Friday the 5th were spent driving to the Bay Area to see our sons and families, and to attend a birthday party for grandson Will. On Saturday, Linda and I got to see granddaughter Maggie, and Will swim in a meet--great fun and I'm glad we could be there. After a trip with Max, and Robb and Liz' two dogs to the dog park, Robb suggested we do our 14-mile ride then rather than try to fit it in on Sunday. So off we went. I was nervous riding with someone else who is a better rider than me, and started too fast on a steady, but slight, uphill slope with the wind in our face. I had to stop several times, and walked two tougher hills (for me) before we got to our turnaround point. At that point, I was not going to bike back, and we called Linda to fetch me. I was disappointed I did not ride better, and now Robb is concerned for my safety and my ability to keep my announced schedule. He'll just have to trust me to bring it off. So long as I stay healthy and uninjured, I'm confident I can still average 40 miles a day.

Sunday we attended Will's class birthday party, and then vegged out at the house. This morning we got back on the road at 7:30 AM and made it to Roseburg, OR before stopping for the night. Tomorrow we'll make a stop at Angle Lake Cyclery to get the recumbent adjusted before I begin my ride, and then we're home.

Since the 31st, I've heard from more Habitat affiliates on their coordination efforts to capitalize on my ride, and the plan is coming together. I've also made an appointment to meet with a reporter for the Skagit Valley Herald on Wednesday at 2 PM so he can get a photo of Max and me, plus do an interview for our local paper. Vince Richardson did the article on my Hike three years ago, and is glad to do this follow up story.