Country Roads, Take Us Home

After a week of rest (for both our bikes and our legs!), we were itching to get back in the saddle and do some local riding. It was great to be back on familiar roads, and we soon realized how much we had taken for granted when we trained on St. Mary's County's bike-friendly roads. The wide shoulders, relatively low traffic and low elevation changes made for a fun, easy ride. We surprised ourselves with our speed and endurance, even after a week off the bikes.

Our first destination after the Atlantic coast was to pay a visit to Slack Winery. Our good friend was keeping busy with the newly harvested grapes, but took a break to share the new award-winning wine with us - Not a bad way to celebrate our homecoming!

We hurried home (once we realized how early the sun is setting these days) convinced that we should sign up for The Southern Maryland Century/The Indian Head 100. A fellow local cyclist shared positive reviews of the ride, and we're excited to have a fitness goal in the not-so-distant future. The century will also give us a chance to experience some local roads that we have never cycled, and maybe even meet other local riders.

With the hurricane and earthquake behind us, we're hoping we'll have plenty more opportunities to get out on our familiar country roads, including the new Three Notch Trail!

Coasting To A Stop (For Now)

Many folks want to know how it feels to have crossed the country by bicycle...

To have woken up with the sun and ridden an average of 75 miles for several days in a row;
To have spent the whole day outside, making sunscreen a habit and changes in weather a daily concern;
To have climbed mountains and coasted down them, going from 5 to 50 MPH in a matter of seconds;
To have watched the corn grow on small family farms and expansive corporate fields;
To have met new people - kind, considerate and generous folks - in cities, towns and country;
To have gotten lost and found our way, navigating new roads and improving our map-reading skills;
To have eaten more than we ever have... and found ourselves hungry 2 hours later;
To have learned how to fix a flat, change a tire, replace a spoke, and other roadside repairs;

To have reached our destination, the Atlantic coast, and when asked, "So how does it feel?!" we answered, "Like just another day on the bicycle."

Our summer was amazing - from the changes in landscape to the interesting people and turns of events. We live in a beautiful and awesome country, and we couldn't be more certain that cycling is the best speed at which to experience it.

Physically, we obviously feel like we're in great shape. We've lost a few inches in some places (like the waist line) and gained a few in others (like our quads!). We have to be very conscious of our diets now that we're not burning an average of 6,000 calories each day, which mostly means we need to focus on portion control.

So what's our next step? When we created and named this blog, we did not intend for it to only refer to this cross-country ride. We're setting our sites on new adventures and more travel so that we can continue to coast cross country. Stay tuned...

One Week Left

Hello from downtown Pittsburgh! We arrived yesterday after 90 miles of rolling hills (which we actually welcomed after over a week of relative flatness) and convoluted city streets. We're enjoying our last rest day before our last 6 days of riding. We will be heading east over the Appalachian Mountains, leaving city centers for a few more days of camping, and then it's... New Jersey or BUST! Stay tuned for more posts after the ride's end about places seen and lessons learned.

You can find more videos, photos and stories at www.lvsride.com/social.

Rapid Progress

Hello from South Dakota! We crossed the state line today and are relaxing with root beer floats at The Newman Center in Spearfish, SD. Today was a light day, 60 miles. It still gives us pause to realize how quickly and comfortably we can complete so many miles. After our longest ride - 110 miles from Sheridan to Gillette, Wyoming - 60 feels like a breeze!

With two days left until our next rest day in Rapid City, SD, we've accumulated a long list of favorite routes, pit stops, foods, people and lessons learned. Here are a few things we've learned on our rides:

• Safety first, then teamwork.
• Stretch. Before, during, after and all the time.
• Eat. (See above.)
• Hydrate. Drink before you're thirsty. Water will do the trick, but it's okay to treat yourself to a sports drink and a cold one when the day is done. Just make sure any alcohol is followed by extra water if you plan to ride the next day.
• Sunscreen - Take the few extra minutes every few hours to avoid discomfort later.
• People are very generous when you give them the chance.
• Prunes really do work... Remember: everything in moderation.
• First step when making side-of-the-road repairs: Practice deep breathing!
• For long rides, carry spare tubes AND a patch kit... Multiple flats happen (Our personal record in one day: 11 flats).
• While riding with a partner is an obvious safety rule, a riding buddy can be a great coach on the uphills, your spotter on the straightaways and copilot on the downhills. But seriously... Don't ride alone.
• There are few things better than a long downhill and a tailwind.

Until our next post, check out the stories, videos and photos on our ride journal!

Ride With Us!

We have finished our second day of riding, and are back in Portland. We might not be able to update this as frequently as we'd like, so we invite you to follow us on the team's site: www.lvsride.com/social.

You'll be able to read updates, receive Twitter feeds and check out the incredible videos (like the one below) that are constantly being filmed and edited by our talented filmmaker who has joined us for the ride.

Thanks for your support!

Day One: A Lesson in Flexibility

Our first full day together as an LVsRide team proved to be an exciting one. After spending the night on the gym floor, we began the day with breakfast conversation. We then gathered around Brother Ed's colorful parachute circle and ran through some basic need-to-know items - from expectations to health and safety. An important focus was flexibility, which we were soon able to put into practice...

Around lunchtime, everyone inspected their bikes. Some of us unpacked and reassembled our bikes from shipment boxes, while others practiced changing tires and fixing flats. We soon discovered several red flags - from damaged frames to broken spokes to tangled chains. The rest of the afternoon was peppered with impromptu trips to local bike shops and lots of teamwork. The gym was full of upside-down bicycles as small groups tried to trouble-shoot and share skills. The day's schedule was also turned on its head, as we learned an important first lesson for this grand adventure:

Things might not go as we plan. In fact, they'll probably never go exactly as we plan. The important thing is to be flexible and go with the flow, because we are a team, and we have an awesome adventure ahead of us!

Greetings from Portland, Oregon!

Hello from the west coast! The ride officially begins in a few days, and we're excited to spend this week meeting fellow riders, grabbing some extra gear and practicing riding in a large group. For more updates on the ride as whole, including other riders, check out LVsRide's official blog: www.lvsride.com/social.

See you on the road!