Monday, February 4, 2013

starting to prep for 2013 ride

I am starting to prepare for my bike ride up the West coast to Seattle where I will turn right and take the Northern tier over to Maine and then go down the East coast. I have ordered the maps from Adventure Cycling Association. I bought a new sleeping bag. I found the mummy shape to be uncomfortable on my last ride. My legs would get restless after long rides and the mummy shape restricted my movement too much. In the warm weather which I will be in most of the time the mummy was also too warm for me. When I go over the mountain passes where it is colder, I can just wear my sweats at night to keep warmer and I will get by without the hot mummy bag. I still need to get a new sleeping pad also. A few more cooking pots and pans are on my list too so that I can eat better and cheaper on this trip cooking more food myself. I ate too many cans of soup and stew last year just because it was easy to open a can and heat it up on my stove. I need to improve that diet this time. I plan on leaving in April so I have less than three more months to get ready. My body weight is already high again even though I have been riding almost three hundred miles a week weather permitting. I just put new tires and tubes on the bike also. Marathon Plus tires again and heavy duty tubes. That combination slows me down a tad but it is worth going a bit slower and not getting flats. They are a bit tough to fix when there is a flat but such is life. My health still sucks. I am healthier on my rides than I am living in one place maybe because I only do about half the mileage when I live someplace. I also have been overindulging in food and beer so that does not help things. I will update again in a few weeks.