Finally I was able to ride outside for two days in a row...this has been the worst Spring I can remember for weekend rides.  My friend Mark and I did 30 miles of rolling hills on Saturday and we did 52 miles on the trail (a few hills) today.  I have the bags on the bike with some stuff in them so I am going to gradually load it up.  Feel pretty good but wish I had more days to train between now and June 5th.  We saw a crash today...biker hit a jogger on the trail...bike lost that one and was sitting in an abulance as we rode by...a reminder that I don't want to crash on my trip.

So, I learned today that I was blogging incorrectly.  As Steve Martin used to say, "Well, excuuuuuuuse meeee!".  I've been adding comments to my original blog so there are 46 comments to my first entry.  I think I got it now.  My next move will be to learn how to post pictures so look for a pic of my bike...it's so ugly, it's cool.

Local weather has not been kind to me as I try to train on the bike outside on real roads...but, strangely I'm not worried.  I have been lifting 3 days a week with a trainer who gets the whole biker thing.  Not losing weight but definitely getting stronger.  I know this because, on the few occasions I have been able to get outside and do a long ride, I recover much faster than I had last year. Weight bearing exercise is great for my arthritis.

On Saturday I will ride for the first time on a fully loaded bike which will simulate my riding load on the trip. That should be interesting. One rule I have followed is that nothing will go on the trip if it hasn't been tested...nothing. I'm putting new tires on the bike this week so I have a month and a half of riding on them before the trip.  I have a friend who bought a bike a week before he did a solo ride across the US without training...he made it but learned that prep is a good thing.

Any questions out there?