There are 8 weeks until I start my week long "Mountains to Coast" cycling adventure across the wonderful state of North Carolina and with summer classes coming to an end, the time to start getting everything ready has come. There are reservations to make, camping equipment to purchase, supplies to gather, and training plans to follow to make sure that I not only complete this epic adventure, but enjoy it as well. I have put off doing most of this until now so that I could concentrate on school and work and so that I could research equipment, supply lists, and just ride. We are still raising money in memory of Jimmy Meris. You can find more information and make donations here. Between this site and sign-up sheets at work, we have raised about $300 so far.
I have compiled a 8 week training plan from the materials available online at Cyclo-CLUB and plan to drop at least another 25 pounds before the ride. I am not interested to how fast I ride from town to town, but I certainly need to work on my climbing ability or I will not even make it out of Asheville, so a big part of my training will be working on hills. I guess I should know Caraway mountain fairly well by the end of the summer. :-)
As for the schedule of the ride, the first day, Sept 25th, we will spend enjoying the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC and spend the night camped on the estate grounds. Then, on Sunday, we start riding towards the coast, covering from 40 miles to as much as 80-85 miles on the longer days. After leaving Asheville and tackling the mountains, we will spend the next night in Marion. From Marion we go to Hickory and leave the larger climbs behind, settling into the foothills. After Hickory, we stay in Mooresville, Albemarle, Laurinburg, and lastly Whiteville. Finally, on Saturday Oct 2nd, we will arrive at Ocean Isle Beach for the end of the ride. The organizers of this ride and the towns themselves have worked had to make sure that it is a safe and fun event. Depending on the town, we will be staying at YMCAs, high school gyms, college campuses, or even rec centers. There are also options for hotels every night but that takes away from the adventure.
The plan is for Joy to drive me to Asheville and spend the day with me touring Biltmore Estate and the surrounding area. Then she will return home for the week and then meet me the following weekend in Ocean Isle. We have not spent that much time apart in a very long time. I think that might just be the hardest part of this trip.
What am I expecting? I am certain I will see the state in a new light and I plan to use this time alone on the bike to learn more about myself and the time in camp to make new friends. I expect at times to be exhausted. I expect at times to be elated. I expect in the end to be changed.
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