3,252 miles, 80,000' of elevation gain
Who would have thought it possible to ride across the United States at 63? Well I didn't but am happy I took the risk and tried. Yes I rode every single mile and feel very fortunate to be able to say that along with 6 other women on our ride. Doubts along the way? Absolutely! When you ride with a group of women, however, the social dynamics are quite a bit different than the coed tours on had been on before. We all cheered each other on before the ride started, during the ride and at the end of the ride which helped get all of us through our bad patches. It was like having rolling cheer leader section from town to town.
Don't kid yourself, even though I never had a drop of rain fall on my pretty little helmet, I had to dig down deep both physically and mentally to do the ride. Often the ride was boring and hard to concentrate on, the heat definitely took a major toll on all of us and the Southern Tier isn't flat. I doubt any of us will ever be the same person and those of us who got closer during the eight weeks witnessed personality changes that will be long lasting and a special part of the experience.
What helped me do the entire ride? Part of it was luck with the weather and staying healthy. Part of it was meticulous preparation especially on equipment. My 20 years of bike touring experience was huge in helping me make good choices everyday on the ride and thereby staying safe and conserving energy.
For those of you following the blogs in preparation to do the ride in 2013, equipment failure definitely was a part of why some people lost the chance to do the entire ride. I spent hours for several months before leaving for San Diego with my bike mechanic deciding on my best choices for gearing, wheels and replacing parts before the ride. I shifted from my Mavic Ksyrium wheels to a set of hand built 32 spoke DT Swiss wheels for three major reasons. First the Mavic wheels have bladed spokes and deeper rims thereby catching more cross winds. Second the Mavic wheels are much stiffer. Third and not least, the Mavic wheels have a reduced spoke approach while my DT Swiss wheels have 32 spokes which distribute the weight and tension over almost twice as many spokes and are more likely to stay true and not brake a spoke. I came back with a wheel set almost as perfectly true as when I left. I also made a significant change in my gearing and went to a 1 to 1 ratio. Mind you, I didn't make any of these changes the week before but back in September so I could ride the bike with the new configuration. I also replaced all the cables.
Woman Tours absolutely puts everything into place to give you the ability to meet your goals. Their attention to detail including the diet and quality of food was truly amazing. You do, however, need to do your part. I met with two prior participants and their guidance was critical to knowing what to expect. Use your next two riding seasons well both on and off the bike. If you want some more details, put in a post with your email and will get back to you.
I returned home Friday night to a snow shower and it snowed all weekend. 94 degrees when I took off from Jacksonville, 16 degrees when I arrived home at 8600". As I said, you can't do anything about the weather.
