Map the Grizzlies

Yes Sara got the new maps in yesterday. There are little bears all over the map indicating grizzly bear territory. Might as well be little dinner plates. I have this tiny little tent that is half screen and Sara runs faster than I do. What chance do I have? I have a higher fat content, I have been tenderized with age and I will smell... big smell, and all of that smell will waft out the huge screen of my tent (nope .. no door) and tantalize those grizzlies. Do you know how fast I will have to run to get away from those lip licking grizzlies? Just faster than Sara. And that is just not going to happen. Suddenly I am questioning this whole thing.

The maps are ordered!

Maps of the route are ordered and on their way from Missoula, MT to Ohio.  All Tour Divide racers follow these maps designed by the Adventure Cycling Association.  We can barely wait to see the maps and pour over every detail of the route. It will be so exciting to study them as we dream of what we may see and experience on our great adventure.

Warm and light

Sara and I will be sleeping out during Christmas break. She says she will anyway. We need to test out our sleeping systems. We need to find out how light can we go and still be warm in twenty degree weather. We have to carry these things up and over every mountain pass. We have to carry these things every mile of the race, all the way from Canada to Mexico. So we will go as light as possible. I will be trying out a 9 ounce tent. You might ask how much protection will that give you?". Not much. But it is light.

Practicing

So this morning it was 28 degrees in my bedroom. You may ask why. Well... I had my window open. My nose was cold, my breath was visible and frosty and I told myself..." this is what it will be like". I put my clothes on under the covers (though I will likely sleep in my clothes for the race) and got up to get my day started. I am practicing. It is the gritting of the teeth I need to practice. And I ask.. "Am I obsessed?". But I am acclimating. I am adversity training. I am toughening up. Okay.... I am likely obsessed.

Here we go!

Here we go!

It was so much fun the last time I had a blog ( thanks to Cindy). Many of you read, joined in, commented and commented on comments, wrote haiku's, and I love you's, cheered me on and cheered me on again. Cheered each other on. And as corny as it might sound, I think we all dreamed together. Seperate dreams, similar dreams, shared dreams and secret dreams... but your dreams spurred me on, sometimes catapulted me to the next adventure. I hope mine did that for you. So lets do it again!

Please join Sara and I in our next big adventure. ( make sure to see the video clip on the blog) We begin writing the blog now because we want you involved in our preparation and we want to carry you with us as we go. How?  First we want your music. Please post to the blog your top ten or twenty picks. Tell us a story associated with a song or two so we can think or laugh about it as we pedal. We will need help to focus our minds on something other than our nether regions.

And so the journey begins!

And so it begins...

Check out the movie trailer for "Ride the Divide" on the right sidebar of the blog. It's a documentary about the race and will show you... oh.. just a little bit of what we'll be doing.

Also check out the official Tour Divide web site:
http://www.tourdivide.org/