Leaving for San Diego in less than 48 hours to start my venture. How does a NYC girl go from the lower East Side to riding across the southern tier of the US? Well, it takes a lot of people who encouraged me to think of my bike in a lot of different ways. You can use it for keeping fit, meeting people, seeing countries and even running errands in a environmentally friendly way.
In the 1980's I joined the Huntington Bicycle Club and that brought a whole new way of using my bike. So I met a lot of people who helped me become a better rider. I picked up several mentors one of which was Harry P. He use to encourage me by giving me valuable bike handling skills and took me on some of the bike tours that a group from the club would do every year. There was Frank C who just would not let me get discouraged when I couldn't keep up and then there was Mark S who would bark at me going up hills so I would try harder. Harry rode across the US using the northern route when he was in his 60's and did so in 33 days. That inspired me to not think I was too old to do the ride. Unfortunately both Harry and Frank passed away from lung cancer, but their well wishes are still with me. I expect Mark to send me a barking email every so often as I cross the US. Will have plenty of time to hear their encouragements.
Thanks to my Colorado friends for all their well wishes and my husband who will hold down the fort for two months.
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