Riding to Get Ready


The Big Ride’s start is just four weeks away now! The anticipation is building. I am excited and nervous. It’s occupying a lot of my mental shelf space. Reminding myself that there are much bigger events happening is important. To that end, I’d like to suggest two organizations that you can contribute to if you feel so inclined: 1) Build Change, https://buildchange.org/, a group that helps folks in poorer countries build more disaster resistant housing; and 2) the Kyiv School of Economics, https://kse.ua/, which is acting as a Ukrainian based portal for support. Both of these organizations are doing great work. I hope you’ll support them. 

If anyone wants to do a per mile thing, the approximate distance I plan to travel is 4000 miles. Of course, it might be more fun to follow along. I plan to post regular updates with mileage and maps. As an example, I have posted links one of my training rides. 


On Easter, my friend Gavin and I rode across the Yakima Training Center on the Palouse to Cascades Trail to the newly reopened Beverly Bridge across the Columbia River. 


This is a cool animated map of our route with pictures. I’ll try to post one of these at the end of the day. It has music. If that's annoying let me know: https://www.relive.cc/view/veqzmojmKB6 

This map doesn’t let you explore the area so I’ll also post this map from the Ride With GPS app. It’s a bummer, but I can’t annotate this map using their phone app and there’s no way I am going to lug a laptop with me. Still you’ll be able to explore the area I’m riding through. Here it is: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/87442556?privacy_code=yndKPGgecIfbFeXy 

For my next update, I’ll go through a gear which may not be interesting for my outdoorsy friends, but might be cool for non-camper friends. I may experiment with doing a video. Not sure.

Thanks for reading! Until next time!







Comments

  1. Sally FoxApril 20, 2022 at 6:31 PM

    Thanks for sharing TJ -- we look forward to traveling with you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gert B. FrobApril 22, 2022 at 2:27 PM

    Awesome! Looking forward to hearing all about your amazing ride!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Consolation Tour - Seattle to Yakima and back - D1 Home to Carter Creek

Image
I am not sure who'll actually read this, but writing this is helping me get through my recent cancer diagnosis. I couldn't do the continuation of my planned cross USA trip so I did a five day trip from home to Yakima via the Cascades to Palouse Trail and back via Naches Pass. To paraphrase my brother, spinning my pedals was better than spinning my mind. Overview static map: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48494574 Day 1 Map: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/220754440 Animated Map: https://www.relive.cc/view/vwq1gzDDdLO (This was the only entry written the day of the ride. It was written in the dark at Carter Creek ). Today's ride begins with me nervously pondering which way to ride my big loop. Go counterclockwise to Greenwater or clockwise to Snoqualmie Pass. I flip flopped all the way up to my departure. I decided to ride my commute route into work to see folks in the office. Work is a comfort in these times. I was worried about the rain situa...
Read more

Consolation Tour D3 Yakima Canyon to Little Naches River

Image
Static Map:  https://ridewithgps.com/trips/221899884?privacy_code=Hrw5hypqs7SqCpXgaV4qYVyJRR6aVWVB Animated Map:  https://www.relive.cc/view/v1vjY87M8Jq I woke up a little after six. The sky was blue but the sun hadn't reached the canyon floor. I listened to the morning birds while I contemplated the day ahead. The Waffle Caffe in Yakima two hours away, beckoned. With just a mini breakfast of bars and dried fruit, I set off down the road. Beaufiful views abounded. I found myself stopping to snap pictures almost every mile. Traffic was light. Most of the time I had the road to myself. Despite the number of times I have driven the canyon, the experience was new. I thought about my mom who drove the canyon almost daily to attend classes at CWU to finish her BA while being a new mom and managing a marriage that was heading toward the rocks. The canyon walls seem to enclose us on our own personal journeys. The canyon is more developed than I remembered or ma...
Read more

Consolation Tour D2 Carter Creek to Yakima Canyon

Image
Static map: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/221188106?privacy_code=aq0uBAb1YD3hG0VxuuIfF4J5F4JOE5iy Animated map:  https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOnkz8kn56 The day began gray at Carter Creek. I slept well despite a visit by a small critter outside my tent. In the morning I found a stroupwaffel in my handlebar bag. It all made sense. The morning prep was easy paced and steady. I was on the trail by 8:17 on the nose. The sound of the creek pervaded the camp but as soon as you reached the trail you could hear I-90. It was a strange feeling being so physically cut off with the sounds of the modern world still present.  The trail continued up past the Lake Annette trail where I spent time with college friends, Kisho as a baby, and Jesse's family at various times. This was a different perspective having taken so long to reach it. I'd find that a lot of this trip. New perspective on familiar places.  I passed the snow shed where I'd been on my fir...
Read more