Nobody Said It Was Easy

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Never before have I invested so much time and effort in the preparations for a trip.  The customers have spent a considerable amount of money on their places and will be expecting literally the trip of a lifetime; the responsibility to make sure that this is the case weighs heavily on me.
The detailed planning of logistics, route, accommodation etc has consumed many, many weeks of my time and it has only recently dawned on me that my preparations should include a bit of training since I am also riding the whole thing. I took a look through the photos from my 2009 Transamerica ride, just to get in the mood.  Mostly this filled me with excitement BUT I was a bit shocked by the photos of yours truly. They say that wisdom comes with age....well, it is very obvious from the photos that I will be starting a good deal wiser than I was in 2009! 
Looking at this photo it seems I will be starting quite a few pounds heavier too.  Fortunately the recent fantastic weather means that I will be starting with a good tan.....so at least I will LOOK fit, which is half the battle.
The grim numerical details of our trip are:
Miles to cover - 4,156 (average of 69.3)
Feet to climb - 169,416 (average of 2,824)
Riding days - 60
Rest days - 5
States to cross - 11 (Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia)

So, quite a bit of riding to do then!  Hopefully the tan and a considerably better bike than in 2009 will see me through.

Plum will be as fit as ever and will do the whole thing with that stupid grin on his face.  Chris keeps complaining about a lack of training but "the lady doth protest too much methinks".  If you are thinking that Shakespearian quotes are a bit highbrow for this blog don't worry, it will be back to reports of beer drinking and road kill very soon.  

The next blog entry will be filed from the US of A.

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