12 hours until I start out on my BIG trip. I guess technically my bike ride started May 10, thats when I rode out of the driveway and completed the first leg. A little more than 1100 miles. From my house in Greencastle Pa to D.C. to Cumberland MD. Then down through the Monongahela Nat Forest the whole way down to Lewisburg. I was able to ride the Greenbrier River Trail then turned around and rode back to Pittsburgh.
I guess those starting dates are just when the bikeing started. This dream that became a plan started many years ago. Anyway to keep things simple im going to refer to Tomorrow July 28th 2021 as my official start day.
Today was a bit hectic running around gathering up last minute things and doing some minor repair work on my bike. First thing this morning I went to the DMV to renew my drivers license. It expires in January but since I hope to be in New Mexico or California around then I thought I would take care of it now. I then hustled to the post office to get a passport. (I always wait till the last minute on everything). Finally back home I started the massive undertaking of dumping everything out of my panniers and repacking. This was done with the hopes of getting rid of a few pounds of gear. I found nothing I could do without so I guess it was an exercise in futility. I refilled my food bag with stuff I had on hand, I now have about 5 days of food packed.
I didn’t weigh all my gear this time but I think its probably about the same as the first leg. Roughly 55 pounds without water. My 2 water bottles hold 40 oz each so thats close to another 5. I do have less food then when I started it out in May. On that first leg I wanted to see how long I could go with out spending any money, partly to see how hard my $10 a day challenge will be. I went 21 days without spending any money. I know the grocerys cost when I bought them but I wasn’t counting that. Also my brother and sister-in-law visited me and they had a box of my food I re-suplied from.
Mom and Dad took me out to Golden Coral for dinner tonight it was excellent. Throughout the meal I kept thinking I won’t be eating like this again for a long time!.
