Life On A B-I7

Section 9, Monroeville, IN to Orchard Park, NY, 420 Miles

A large part of this section follows the southern shoreline of Lake Erie for the greater expanse of the lake’s length. Leaving Ohio you leave behind the first oil boom in America. Oil was easy to find in this region. It often bubbled from the ground in places. It even seeped naturally into the water supply. Edwin Drake built the first oil derrick and America’s oil rush was on. Today there are only a few remnants visible of this bygone era. An interesting side-trip here is to the memorial of Captain Perry’s defeat of the British fleet on Lake Erie in 1813. This became a dramatic turning point in the War of 1812. When initially losing the struggle, Commander Perry famously coined the phrase, “Don’t give up the ship.” This ultimately led to a decisive victory over the British. The memorial can be visited by ferry ride. More info is available at the National Park Service

Section 10, Orchard Park, NY to Ticonderoga, NY, 450 Miles

This section follows Lake Ontario although not as close to the shoreline as in the previous section. The first 200 miles of route is relatively flat. If you want to put the hammer down, this is a good place to do it. The route abruptly climbs 1,500 ft into the Adirondack Mountains. You reach the end of the section at the town of Ticonderoga. One of the highlights of this section is Niagra Falls. A short alternate will allow a visit to this natural landmark. Taking in a portion of the Erie Canal is also a worthwhile endeavor.

Section 11, Ticonderoga, NY to Bar Harbor, ME, 440 Miles

This section traverses four states, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The section begins at Fort Ticonderoga where there is an opportunity to take in some Revolutionary War history. There is always potential for wind and rain in the Mount Washington area. The White Mountains in New Hampshire present climbing challenges. Nearing the end of the tour now, the climbing should feel celebratory. Another Revolutionary War historical site worth visiting is Fort Knox. Fort Know is noted for its exceptional preservation. The Vermont Green Mountains were once some of the tallest mountains in North America. Today they reach heights of 5,000 feet, in their youth they reached 12,000 feet. Logging has a long and storied history in New England and is still important to this day.

Training Plan

The reason I have a training plan is because I’m not 25 years old any longer. I’m pushing three times that age. One can’t be too careful when taking on an endeavor like this at my age so being prepared physically is critical. I don’t have a lot of experience putting together training plans, in fact, this is the first one I have ever built. My two previous trans con tours I just got on the bike and went for it. That said, this plan is a bit off the top of my head. If it works great, if I find it’s not working, I’ll adjust as I go. The jury won’t return its verdict until sometime after June 1st… probably when I reach the first mountain passes on the route, Rainy Pass and Washington Pass in the North Cascade Mountain Range.

Week 1 is bike tune-up week and first ride. I return from camping on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on Tuesday and take the bike in to my bike shop the next day.

Week 2 the training begins in earnest. Mondays will be the week’s warm-up ride. Wednesdays will consist of endurance work. I’ll find a hill and climb 2 miles for the indicated number of reps. Friday will be distance work. I’ll be riding my fully kitted bike starting with empty panniers and gradually adding weight to the kit until they are fully loaded.

This schedule will allow for other activities on Tuesday, Thursday and the Weekends. Hopefully that will include skiing on Mt. Bachelor in March and early April. It has been a bad snow winter so that prospect remains an open question. I would also like to do some weekend camping. Which would include some short mountain bike rides. My local bike shop also hosts weekend and Wednesday evening rides so those are an option, and always fun too.

I will record each week’s training adventure on pages here, just for fun.

Training - Week 1 - March 2 to March 8

The preparations are beginning. The bike is in my local bike shop for a tune-up. I’m doing my first training ride on Friday. It will be very short but I can already feel it’s going to be good to get back on the bike. The Davidson is a real thoroughbred, even without panniers.

Yesterday I downloaded the Northern Tier digital map set from the ACA. I’ll be loading that into Komoot so I can sync it into my COROS app and watch. I’ll be laying out the tour route and schedule in separate entries here on this site. I’m planning to begin the ride in Anacortes Washington on June 1st and end in Bar Harbor Maine. Some 4,300 miles and approximately 80-90 days of adventure touring.

I’ll most likely be riding solo unless the right riding companion(s) sign on. I plan to camp and cook for myself most of the way with occasional stays in motels and a meal in roadside diners here and there. This will be my third trans con tour so I’m no stranger to this sort of travel. I actually enjoy it. That’s a must, so no surprise really.

Training - Week 2 - March 9 to March 15

Plan

Notes

Week 2 got off to a rocky start. I had surgery scheduled for Wednesday. All is well and my recovery is not an issue, however, that pretty much consumed three days out of my week.

Thursday night I went for a ride with my local bike shop crew. The ride got off to a rough start for me when I had an asthma attack two miles in and had to drop. I do have asthma but it is normally well controlled and not a factor on tour. That said, in the early stages of training it can make things more complicated.

I don’t expect this to be a problem. Next week will be better! Cheers!

Training - Week 3 - March 16 to March 22

Plan

Notes

Week 3 is in the books and the training has yet to get underway. I’m not terribly happy about that but on the other hand, I still have two months to make this come together and I’m pretty sure that is enough time.

I had the toenail removed on my right big toe because is has been bothering me. That was done on Tuesday and the blood thing is terribly slow to heal. By the end of the week it had gotten infected so now I am on antibiotics for ten days. It is feeling better and I think I will be able to put on cycling shoes in just a couple of days.

I started Accupuncture therapy to help relieve pain in my back so I can train more effectively. I’ll be taking treatments once a week until the tour begins. I’m also meeting with a personal strength trainer early next week, so that will be a real aid to preparation I’m sure. More to follow.

Training - Week 4 - March 23 to March 29

Plan

Notes

The month of March has slipped past me. Fortunately I still have two months to pull the training together. I’m going for a ride tomorrow (Monday 3/30). Next week I begin weekly workouts with a personal strength coach. My toe is still healing and feels pretty awful but I’m going to have to ignore that since it could be several weeks more before the dang thing is fully healed.

My asthma has been giving me fits for the last two weeks. Spring has erupted early here in Central Oregon — with a vengeance. I’m going to make an appointment tomorrow to see an Asthma/Allergy specialist — hopefully I won’t need to wait long to get in. All of this sounds a bit grim but I am optimistic as hell, and excited. To boost my moral, I designed a logo for the tour (see below) and my daughters want their own t-shirts with the logo on them. Who would have thought.

I’ve been looking at the COROS watch/app combo. I’m planning to use both on the tour. I have a lot of work to do to get familiar with them. (They are new acquisitions for this tour.) I’ve discovered three features I definitely want to use.

1. Pause Navigation / Resume Later
   This will allow stats and route info for the day to be saved without extended food/rest breaks mucking up the works.
2. Extender
   This will display the watch screen onto my cell phone (which I have mounded on the handle bars).
3. Safety Alerts
   This will notify my special someones when I begin each day’s travel and also allow me to send an emergency alert to them — should that become necessary.

Training - Week 5 - March 30 to April 5

Plan

Notes

Another slow week in training. That’s in terms of cycling miles anyway, otherwise eventful. My toe is not yet healed and sometimes it even keeps me awake at night. I’m glad I didn’t put that treatment off any longer. Getting that done as early as I did was a good idea. The toe is getting better, ever so slowly.

My weekly Accupuncture treatment continues on Tuesdays and will until the start of the tour. I’m getting good relief from the treatments and they are helping to keep me in the game. Wednesday I attended my first strength training session. It kicked my butt. It’s going to be great. My trainer marveled at the fact that I did a long distance tour just two years ago. She was judging that based on my current level of strength. She said I was living on good genetics and I needed strength training now more than ever. I don’t disagree with her. She promised that our sessions would get me ready for the long hours in the saddle demanded by the tour. She’s right, it does require strength in the back and glutes to handle the prolonged pressure.

A winter storm blew in Wednesday night, possibly the last storm of this season. We took advantage of it by going skiing on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Thursday was tough because I was soar from training on Wednesday, but I survived and we had a blast getting in three days in a row of good turns, possibly the last days of good snow we will see this winter. We played pickleball Saturday and Sunday (and tomorrow as well).

The upcoming week will see me sorting through my touring kit and making sure that everything there is in order, and of course, I plan to get some miles in this upcoming week!

Training - Week 6 - April 6 to April 12

Plan

Notes

I’m going to keep this week’s summary short, largely because not a lot happened. I haven’t made a lot of progress this last week in terms of training mileage. Two short rides, one of them shortened by weather. I’ve been going through my touring gear that I’ll be carrying with me, that’s good. Accupuncture and strength training are continuing. The bottom line here is I still have a long way to go to be ready. Each week is becoming increasingly more important. That was not my original plan, but that is the plan now. On a side-note, there is only one week of skiing left on Mt. Bachelor. I’m going to try and get up there a couple of times this week to close out the ski season.

Training - Week 7 - April 13 to April 19

Plan

Notes

My weekly acupuncture treatment and strength training continued this week and will continue right up to June 1. The miles were low this week due to unseasonably cold weather and rain at inconvenient times. I’m not discouraged, in fact, I’m as excited as ever; but if I don’t crank up the miles in the coming week the first 400 miles of the tour are going to be a bitch.

Training - Week 8 - April 20 to April 26

Plan

Notes

I’m approaching the final month of preparation! A couple of things to take note of. I finally completed my first real training ride. I describe it here:

This week will see additional miles (I’m making a promise to myself here, you will of course have the opportunity to judge me in a matter of just a few weeks. I probably will not finish my training with full panniers, but I’m not too worried scene my sweetheart has graciously consented to sag me the first 400 miles. I’m certainly grateful for that!

Training - Week 9 - April 27 to May 3

Plan

Notes

I’ve been working this week on gathering my gear and getting it loaded onto the bike. The first order of business was my camping set-up. I was pleased that my one-person tent is still in good shape.

I haven’t decided if I am going to go with sleeping bag or down quilt. I think there are advantages to both. I’m tabling that one for now.

This week I got in two rides of 20 miles each. I’ll up that a bit next week. I felt a bit tired after each to be perfectly honest. I am encouraged though because I still have almost a month to go before the launch date.

Yes, the “training plan” says I should be up to 45 miles in a go by now. I’m not there yet. It feels like I’m about two weeks behind in the plan. On the other hand, the plan itself was just a guess and it wasn’t based on much more than speculation. I’m going to have dedicated sag support for the first 400 miles. That is going to be a great help. In a sense, although this is certainly not the way something like this should be planned, that first week of the tour will actually be a training week of sorts.

Training - Week 10 - May 4 to May 10

Plan

Notes

I managed a 32 mile ride this week but it did not present a huge challenge in terms of climbing. I continued to work on gathering my gear ready and my bike prepped. I now have new shoes and new SPD pedals. The old ones were pretty worn out. I’m very excited despite my lack of ability to get out on the road and test my mettle. For the record, my mettle is on the order of pudding…

Training - Week 11 - May 11 to May 17

Plan

Notes

I completed another 32 mile training ride. This one included a 1-1/2 mile climb at about 6% grade. I made it just fine but I’m still not carrying a full load in the panniers.

Training - Week 12 - May 18 to May 24

Plan

Notes

I’ll update this page with training notes and progress at the end of week 12.

Training - Week 13 - May 25 to May 31

Plan

Notes

I’ll update this page with training notes and progress at the end of week 13.