Day one has been postponed due to full-blown food poisoning. This is not fun. :(
Hopefully, we'll be on the road tomorrow.
V

Day Zero

WAHOOOO!!!!! I'm sitting in a hotel room in Williamsburg, VA, waiting for my start tomorrow (from Yorktown). Dad and I have gotten everything packed, the first week mapped out, and if we get a good ride in tomorrow, we should get 60ish miles into Mechanicsville. If we keep that pace, we'll be in Charlottesville within a few days. (Right after that will be our first major climb into the Blue Ridges - about 3000ft.) If we stick to the 1 map set per week thing, we'll be to Christiansburg at the end of the week.

Excited? Heck yeah.

Have I realized that I'm done with EHC? Not yet.
Hopefully, I'll see some Emory folk on my trip, because I didn't really get all the goodbyes done with.

EEK

Ok, so in one week, I shall have started my great adventure :) For those of you looking for the other perspective, my dad will be writing about his life on http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/LambTransAm. We have something of a packing list put together, and since I'm sure you're interested in every minutiae of my trip, I'll add it below. I'm pretty nervous and incredibly pumped and am sure that my dad's in better shape than me right now. I'll catch up soon enough, though. If you have yet to check it out, I would suggest looking at the first post if you are wondering how, exactly, I managed to get myself into this completely amazing mess of a Trans-America bicycle trip.

So, for the packing list (if you have suggestions, I'd love to hear them)
Camping Supplies
paniers (4)
tent & fly (big agnes 3 person)
kelty bag (40deg synth) + compression sack
ridge rest
stove + fuel
pots (just a 1.5L? + handle)
sierra cup and spork
swiss army knife
2 water bottles + camelback bladder (small bleach thing for water treatment?)
Dr. Bronner's + pack towel(?)
toothbrush/paste
thin rope
first aid kit (pain/allergy meds, bandaids, neosporin, blister kit, larger bandage type things, alcohol/iodine prep pads, badger balm, duct tape, etc)

Food
drink mix
oatmeal (fruit variety pack)/rice, sugar, milk powder for breakfast
cliff bars
dried fruit/nuts/other munchies?
other food as needed (tuna/pbj/dried hummus mix + wraps, ramen, stuff fm grocery stores)
spice kit

Clothes
bandanna
tevas
wool camp/hiking socks
wool biking socks (2 pairs?)
sleeveless jersey
short sleeve jersey (gore windstopper for the first few weeks, then something cooler)
2 pair bike shorts
bike shoes
bike gloves
helmet
underwear
synthetic pants
soccer shorts
normal shirt
light wool long sleeved shirt
fleece shirt (aka pillow)
rain shell

Bike stuff
bike (novara randonee + fenders + front and rear racks)
saddle bag
cyclometer
frame pump
cable/lock + assorted bungees
tools (patch kit, tire irons, multi tool, spoke tools, lube, wrenches, spare parts - my dad is taking care of most of this)

This may get adjusted tomorrow, since I'm planning a trial ride with all my stuff. Hopefully things will go well!!

Wahoo

So yesterday, got my 20 mile ride on and then played soccer. Today, I hit the South Fork before another 21 mile ride. This time I went up Smith Chapel until I found Old Saltworks, and took that until I hit Saltville (at which point I came home back through Glade). The ride post-saltville was on some busier roads (complete with one honking jerk and one chicken-playing car); the ride pre-saltville was quite beautiful, though also pretty darn hilly. Pics fm the south Fork and some new ones from a different part of Old Saltworks are included.

Good Luck Falls

A mother goose has nested at the island by the falls

Hittin' some baby surfs

Single Drop

View from Dan's Turn eddy

Out on Old Saltworks

yay

Finally got out on a bike again (yay for a weekend without rain). This time only 20 miles to a nearby town and back via Old Saltworks (an excellent, cow-filled, dog-free, windy, gorgeous road, by the way). There was quite a headwind going out, but that made the ride back home even better. Old Saltworks also has this great slightly-downhill couple miles that I got to spin on, going around 25mph for quite a while. As promised, I have FB pictures (the south fork run was too quick to get pics this past week, perhaps a longer run will happen tomorrow) and one of a view off Old Saltworks (the entire road is nice, but this section was relatively suspicious-farmer free). Hope you enjoy.

FYI

So, this weekend I'm hitting the French Broad and the South Fork of the Holston. It's gonna be hella awesome. I'l post pics afterward so long as my camera doesn't get eaten by the river. Also, just over a month until I'll be on the transam!!

Mountains

Random Quote of the Day:
When you try to climb a mountain to prove how big you are, you almost never make it. And even if you do, it's a hollow victory. In order to sustain the victory, you have to prove yourself again and again in some other way, and again and again and again, driven forever to fill a false image, haunted by the fear that the image is not true and that someone will find out. That's never the way.