This is my first blog about my cycle journey this coming summer. Plans are to ride from Portland, Oregon to Parkersburg. I plan to leave Parkersburg on June 11 and fly to Portland. My daughter, Courtney, lives there. I will stay with her until the 14th and begin the long journey home. I plan to be home sometime in the middle of August. I will need luck and prayers.

A few notes:

• I named my bike "PJ" for Pile Jumper in honor of my former jumpers and my class I call "The Pile"
• My bike is a Surly - Long Haul Trucker
• I will be mostly camping along the way with an occasional hotel stay.
• My equipment list is too long to mention here but will weigh approximately 40 pounds.
• The trip will be approximately 3700 miles depending on the exact route.
• My biggest obstacles ..... being lonely and cars.
• I am dedicating the trip to my family and Toby! ( if you don't know about Toby, you don't know me)
• The only book I will take is the Bible.

My preparation included:

• Months of training ( riding, flexibility, and weight training )
• Volunteering at Bob's Bicycle Shop - to learn to fix broken things ( Thanks Kenny )
• Hundreds of hours of searching the internet for best tires, routes, etc, etc, etc.
• Talking to riders and reading cycling journals ( Crazy Guy on a Bike web site )
• Practicing loading and unloading my gear
• Dieting to get to riding weight ( the worst part ....... food tastes great!! )

" Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will " Gandhi