Interim Post - Yes, I'm still alive and pedaling!!!!

Hi TEAM JEAN - Yes, I am alive and I've completed every ride every day so far (we are now in Baker City, OR). This is just an interim posting - I have either been without internet access or (more likely) way too tired to post anything. We've had two of the most grueling days of the entire trip and I have been pretty exhausted.

An update on my knee.... My bike saddle was lowered a millimeter and I took ibuprophen and iced it one night and it has been great ever since.

If we get in to Ontario, OR early enough tomorrow and I have internet access, I hope to post several entries and get back up to date.

Thanks for all of the comments - at times, they do keep me going up those big climbs.

If you want to read more info about this trip, our trip leader, Mike Munk, has a website where he is keeping a daily journal with photos and he's more up to date than I am. His website is: bamacyclist.com. Once there, click on "Across America Ride Journals", and then click on "Cross Country North 2007".

Tuesday, June 19, 2007, St. Helens, OR to Welches, OR: 74.5 miles, 8 hours, Ave. speed 12.1 mph, 2866 climb

Day 2 is history! And what a great day too! We had tailwinds and fairly flat for 40 miles - much of it along a bike path through Portland. At one point we had the river on one side and the airport on the other. It was amazing to think that just 3 days ago I was flying in to that airport.

It was warm and sunny with crystal blue skies. The last half of the ride we had a spectacular view of Mt. Hood. What a great sight to have as your companion.

The biosuit is holding up fairly well, but my left knee (the good one) is starting to talk to me. I had my bike seat height adjusted and I'm doing ice and ibuprophen tonight. Hope it works.

Tomorrow we start the day with an 11 mile climb of 2500 ft at a 3-5% grade. Pray for me! One good thing, since I'm a slow rider I get to go to breakfast first. Downside - I have to get up at 4:30 am. So, g'night all.

Monday, June 18, 2007, Astoria, OR to St. Helens, OR: 69 miles, 7 hours, Ave speed 12.1 mph, 2650 ft. climb

I made it through Day 1!!!! We left around 7:25 am under cloudy/misty skies. Had some big hills to get up and over today. Did a pretty good job of pacing myself. I was in the last quarter of the group, but I was not the last one in! For most of the ride it was green and wet. Got in about 2:30 pm. I did stop along the way, but not for long, I was too focused on getting to the end. Hopefully as I get conditioned and into a routine, I will relax a bit more and stop and smell the native foliage.

I am tired but not totally exhausted. I wonder what tomorrow will bring....

Sunday, June 17th, Astoria, OR: Finding the ocean...

A fun an eventful day today! At 8:00 am went down and got registered and then had my bike reassembled. As I was waiting I met a young woman from the Chicago area named Colleen who was getting her bike put together too.

Once our bikes were assembled, we decided to bike to the Pacific to dip our wheels in the ocean. We were given directions and a map and off we went - over the bridge as instructed. Well 8 miles later we still had not found the ocean and we stopped to seriously look at the map. Turns out we went to Washington state (we took 101 N instead of 101 S). So, we took a 16 mile bike trip we didn't need to take (and Sarah - I biked over that big Astoria bridge and back - not fun!!!). However, we do get to claim an extra state on our tally!

We returned to the hotel and checked in (and found out we were roommates for the trip) and then headed out again for the ocean - over the other bridge. This time we did make it to the Pacific and we took off our shoes and walked to the water with our bikes and dipped our wheels! Woo hoo!

Back at the hotel I found out I was moved out of the triple room (Cindy, our other roommate is a weaver!) and into a double with a woman named Susan. Depending on hotel accomodations, I could be back in the triple at some point. I actually have the room to myself tonight because Susan is staying with friends for tonight.

We had our big orientation meeting this evening and a really good catered buffet. Now it's time to wind down and get ready for tomorrow. As I suspected, we are taking Hwy 30 to St. Helen's and it is very hilly - with really big hills. It's a 69 mile trip and I'm going to be very tired at the end.

Saturday, June 16th, Astoria, OR

Well, I'm here in Astoria, OR. It is foggy/misty/rainy, cool and breezy. It looks like we will have some interesting weather to start the bike trip off. The Holiday Inn Express where we're staying is right on the water and practically under the big bridge. I have a great view of the water and the bridge - though it is pretty misty and wet right now.

I made it here safely and uneventfully and so did my bike. I got in at 7:30 pm, so missed registering today - they stopped at 6 pm. Tomorrow I'lll get my bike put together, register and explore Astoria a bit. I may walk down to the Sunday Market also, if it's not too wet. Our orientation meeting starts at 3:30 pm and I'll probably meet my roommates at that time too.

This is going to be quite the experience.....just looking at the terrain on the drive up from Portland tells me that there are going to be some major hills right from the start. The 60-some miles we ride on Monday could do me in! Everybody - send me lots of good energy - please!!!!

The Century Ride - I DID IT!

I am proud to say that I completed the century ride yesterday! I was extremely pooped at the end, but I made it. I was the very last one in and for the last two miles I received an escort from all of the support vehicles – complete with flashing lights and horns. I also got cheers as I crossed the finish line – from the 3 or 4 people still there waiting for me!

The 100 miles took me 9 hours and 15 minutes to complete (with 8 total hours on the bike). Guess what my average speed was – yup, 12.5 miles per hour.

This was the Bob LeBow Bike Tour and the course was beautiful – it meandered through southwest Idaho. Lots of farm fields and several miles along the river – we even crossed in to Oregon for a while.

Fortunately there were several rest stops along the way (about every 13-14 miles) and that helped tremendously. They even stayed open for me – I was way behind everyone else. I also had the last support vehicle stay with me the entire route.

The first twenty miles were kind of tough because I hadn’t been on the bike for awhile and we had some headwinds. The middle 40 miles were awesome – tailwinds and following the river. The last 40 miles really got tough – we got back in to the headwinds and hills and it got hot – at one point my bike computer said it was 108 degrees! The actual temperature was in the mid 80s. I stayed pretty strong for about 80 miles and the last 20 I gutted out through sheer stubbornness.

I was pretty wiped out when I got home – went to bed by 7 pm. Today, I feel pretty good. The legs aren’t even very sore. I know it will be much more challenging on the ride however – we will be doing this on a daily basis – without rest days…..yikes!

Today I bring my bike to the bike shop to get boxed for shipping later this week. I’m really starting to get excited…...

Background Info on the TEAM JEAN Travelogue

For those of you new to this site – here is some background to fill you in (family and friends who are already a part of TEAM JEAN, bear with me on this posting).

My name is Jean and I will be biking across the country starting June 17th. My sister Sarah contacted family and friends and created TEAM JEAN – a support group of sorts - to provide encouragement and support to help me fulfill one of my dreams. There are so many people wishing me well, I decided to share my adventure with everyone by writing about my trip on this blog - the TEAM JEAN Travelogue.

The Bean you see on this site is my mascot (one of my nicknames is Jean Bean) – it was created by a friend of Sarah’s (Tia – thank you again!) as part of the official TEAM JEAN t-shirt Sarah had made up for me and TEAM JEAN. I love the Bean and wear my shirt proudly!

First, why the heck am I doing this? Well, biking across the country has always been a dream of mine – ever since grade school. A while ago I came across one of my writing assignments from 6th grade – I had written about my dream to be able to take off on my bike and explore the country. So, it’s been on my life list for a long time. Since my divorce, I have been getting reacquainted with myself and decided now was the time to follow one of my dreams. I am very fortunate to have the means and the vacation time and supportive administrators to be able to take this time off to actually fulfill this dream. Also, I am not getting any younger, and I think my bio-suit (body) can still survive this craziness.

Next, what have I been doing to get ready for this adventure? Last fall I purchased a new road bike (a Lemond Versailles) and it is a sweet ride! I biked on and off last autumn and got an indoor trainer (a stand to put my bike on, so I could pedal inside) for the winter months. I used it some and also did some cross country skiing. This spring, as the weather has gotten nicer I’ve been riding outside – so far my longest ride has been 64 miles. I’ve been getting in some hill climbs and it’s windy quite often, so I’ve been getting used to riding with headwinds too. Since last August, I’ve biked over 1,800 miles and hope to bike at least another 200 miles before the trip starts.

So, what’s the scoop on the trip? This is a cross country bike tour through America by Bicycle (www.abbike.com). It is the “Across America North” tour and it is 50 days long. We start in Astoria, OR on June 17, 2007 and end in Portsmouth, NH on August 6, 2007. Our route: OR, ID, WY, SD, MN, WI, ferry across Lake Michigan, MI, Ontario, Canada, NY, VT, NH. Total mileage: 3,629 miles. We will average 80 miles per day. This is a fully supported ride – we stay in hotels, breakfast and dinner are included, they carry our gear, there are mechanics to fix flats and do bike repairs and there are regular check-in stops along the route each day where we will sign in and can get food and beverages. They will even pick us up and give us a ride in the van if we crash and burn (literally or figuratively). However, I plan to ride EFI – Every Fabulous Inch! There are 65 people signed up to for the entire trip and another 10-12 will join us for segments along the way.

Other details: I have really, really, really short hair (I mean really – it’s almost as short as my dad’s….) for easy care – I hate helmet hair! I can tell I am building muscle, but so far I don’t look any different (ie, leaner). My biggest concern is how my bio-suit will respond to this challenge. I hope to have most of the “kinks” worked out before this trip starts. Right now my knees are fine, I haven’t cramped up, but my my feet get sore after about 3 hours on the bike and my low back does tighten up by the end of a long ride when I am fatigued. I do lots of stretching!

I have been biking (but not enough), getting gear, getting used to new biking shoes and making arrangements to be gone for 52 days (mail, lawn care, bills, etc.). I’ve also outfitted my laptop with a wireless card for easier access to the internet on the trip. I got a digital camera and now just have to figure out how to use it and get photos posted….

I’ve completed a metric century (100 kilometers, 64 miles) - though I came in dead last. However, it was only because of mechanical problems – my chain jammed up with less than 10 miles to go and I had to wait for the mechanic for over ½ hour (he was already at the finish line party having a burger). Since I was last, I had my very own pace car to follow and I was cheered in at the finish line. I didn’t get a burger though – they were cleaning up by then.

As I’ve been training, I’ve discovered that I average between 12.3 and 12.6 miles per hour – no matter the length, terrain or wind conditions of the ride. That means it will take me about 8-10 hours to ride 100 miles. I have signed up to do a century ride tomorrow – wish me luck! It will be a good indicator as to how physically prepared I am. I’ll let you know how long it takes me and how good (or bad) I feel when I finish….