HannahJean: Biking Machine: It's official...it's happening...we're doing it!!

So it's happening...like it or not (prepared or not) we are on the west coast with our panniers stuffed and sanity mostly in tact. We have both recently gone through moments of "My God, I have to really make this happen now!", and after weeks of preparing to leave CT, it was almost surreal to begin this next step. That said, you can't back track once the house is packed, bikes shipped, goodbyes said and words of wisdom exchanged. Besides, who in their right mind would back out of an adventure such as this!? (And I say that with only a little sarcasm)

The 12 hour prep:

Dot arrived at my parents house in Maryland on Friday and we got serious about our packing. Very serious. Even though we'd been through the list about eight times, we continued to second guess our packing decisions....jeans?....warm socks?....that other fleece?...where the heck IS that Leatherman? We both have mostly backpacking experience so it's hard to imagine being able to just pick up something as we roll through towns along the way, but we also know there will be long stretches where this luxury doesn't exist. In any case, final decisions were made, panniers closed and we're off!

The final 48 hours...

Today our bikes arrived courtesy some wonderful friends who we shipped them to (thank you Hannah and Martin!!) who have bike know-how and a beautiful baby. Full disclosure here (as I come clean about this), I have never actually practiced riding my bike with the shoe clips AND it loaded with anything. Furthermore, my only experience riding with my feet in clips was a 30 second ride around a parking lot in the snow. I am an embarrassingly inexperienced road rider and I think my naivety and general optimism are the only things actually allowing my mind to believe that this is possible...as is mostly the case with all great undertakings!! So my mantra right now is less about my abilities and more of a wider-scaled approach. Life is always worth good adventures and you should live as though all your ancestors are living again through you. It's a tall order, but at least I can blame this wanderlust on someone else!

Paying it forward:

Finally, below is the link to my support-Hannah's-ride-by-helping-to-send-a-kid-to-camp page. Like the podcast Serial, I will only ask once :) everyone deserves the gift of a great adventure and for many kids, a week of summer camp is just that. If you do decide that this is something that you are able and interested in supporting, please visit this site, search my name and donate as you can. Thank You!

http://PROJECT139.kintera.org