Disclaimer

Before I go any further writing, I suppose I should set a few things straight:

1.  I am not a biker.  Up until recently I have never owned a road bike.
2.  The mountain bike I did own, I never wanted to ride.
3.  I have a consistent record of starting writing projects and training regimens and never finishing (look at my blog in Ecuador for an example).  But I will try my hardest to stay faithful to this Blog.  And I don't have a choice about working out- I NEED to.
4.  I still don't have a car.  And for graduation- instead of asking for a car- what do I want?  A Trek- that very easily could have been a down payment for a car.
5.  I am a broke, recent college graduate.  Let me stress the adjective
b-r-o-k-e.  And instead of doing the logical and rational plan of getting a job, I am taking 72 days during the summer to ride my bike from New York to San Francisco.  And as of now, I don't have a plan for when I get back.  (I'm hoping this will change)
6.  I was asked in my interview for the Illini 4000, "How do you feel about eating the same thing such as peanut butter and jelly everyday?"  I HATE peanut butter and jelly.  But I lied and said that I could live off of the stuff.
7.  I am a certified, top class, professional whiner.  And as much as I am going to refrain from doing this on the trip, I will more than likely use this blog as my outlet.  There will definitely be whining- and lots of whining about PB&J.  And probably even more about my sore butt.
8.  I am going on this trip, as I already mentioned, with my fiance.  This will NOT be a romance story- maybe more along the lines of a surreal comedy.  Maybe a little bit of drama, action, adventure...Whatever it is, it won't be short of interesting.
9.  Just like with Ron, I am sure there will be days that will push me too my limit.  There will be high highs and looowww lows.  There are probably going to be some plain awful days.  And there will be days that are extraordinary.
10.  I plan on honestly documenting all of these ups and downs whether they be physical, mental, or emotional, or even spiritual in this blog.  It could be about my bike, my experiences at the clinic and hospital oncology wards, experiences with the people I meet, the places I see, my team, the food I eat, my body aches, my relationship with Ron, etc.

*11.  I am 100% fully aware and knowledgeable of all the above mentioned facts and that many people may see this trip as: nuts, silly irrational, cuckoo, senseless, CRAZY, loco.  I am not going to disagree.  It is a little crazy.  Arguably a lot of crazy.  But I am 100% sure that it will be worth it.

Squats and Lunges

(Springfield, IL)

In the past few days since I first started writing, I have gone to the gym once. 

 On Wednesday (February 2) Chesapeake (the Seafood Restaurant where I find myself serving tartar sauce and lobster butter 5/7 nights out of the week) closed due to the previous day's winter storm. So I changed out of my ever-so-sexy tuxedo shirt and bow tie into my workout clothes and headed to the gym to work out with Ron- who if I haven't mentioned is my fiance, best friend, and fellow rider in the upcoming bike trip.

I love spending time with Ron, and honestly one of the reasons that I am most excited about this trip together is that it gives us something to work for together- giving us a mutual hobby (because camo and the 22-gauge weren't working out for me). However, if I had forgotten why I don't like working out with him, I quickly was reminded. We were doing cycles of backward and forward lunges, dead weight lifts, squats, one leg lunges, scissor lunges, God-knows-what-kind-of lunges. He warned me that I was going to “feel it tomorrow.”

Translation: “You are going to wish you were dead instead of walking tomorrow.” Saying that my legs feel like jello doesn't really do it justice. I have had trouble putting my pants on, sitting down at my office, sitting down at the table, climbing out of bed, climbing in bed, even sitting on the toilet. That is how much my lets hurt.

I told my dad on the phone how much my legs hurt and he said, “Lauren, I want you to remember how much you legs hurt now. Remember, because that is what they are going to feel like after riding all day and you are going to have to repeat it again and again and again.”

…....and again and again and again for about 72 days. Every day we are going to average around 60-70 miles a day (sometimes as little as 40 miles per day or as high as 100 depending on the terrain.)

107 days and counting...

The Starting Line

(Brickler Road- Springfiled, IL)

It's funny that the title of this post is "The Starting Line" considering the starting line to my cross country bike ride is actually in Central Park, New York City, and I won't be leaving until May 22, 2011.  However, I am pretty sure my training and preparation should have started yesterday.  I do not know why I chose today out of all days to start writing in my blog...it could be one of several reasons-

1.  It's the first of the month (kind of like a second chance for new years resolutions- January was only a mulligan.)
2.  Writing in my blog is one other thing that I can be doing instead of running on the dumb treadmill- every sluggish step and side ache relentlessly reminds me that I am nowhere near being in shape to ride a bike across a country.  Not even close.  
3.  And the third and most logical reason to start writing today is that there is exactly 110 days left until our ride.  Holy crap.   I need to get on that treadmill.


So this is my actual starting line.  110 days to go.  110 days to train and prepare for a cross country bike ride.  And I don't even have a bike yet.  So get ready for a wild ride.