Meet Breezy

It all begins tomorrow. These last days in Saratoga have been a bit of a roller coaster, cleaning out the house I'm moving out of, trying to find a home for all my stuff, packing and re-packing my gear to bring down the weight to the very minimum. Through all of it the heft of the road ahead has been slowly settling in. Perhaps it won't entirely until I hop on the road tomorrow morning, but until then I can rest and keep my mind in the vision.
However, in a moment of inspiration last night while walking my street humming an old blues tune, I found a name for my bike. I was signing JJ Cale's "They Call Me The Breeze"...

They call me the breeze,
I keep blowing down the road
They call me the breeze,
I keep blowing down the road
I ain't got me nobody,
I ain't carrying me no load

Ain't no change in the weather,
Ain't no change in me
Ain't no change in the weather,
Ain't no change in me

I ain't hidin' from nobody,
Ain't nobody hidin' from me
I got that green light, babe,
I got to keep moving on
I got that green light, babe,
I got to keep moving on
I might go out to California,
Might go down to Georgia,
Might stay home

...and I thought, say that sounds something my bike would sing. Riding it as I have been the past couole weeks, I feel like I know it well enough to say so. So it's name is Breezy, or Breeze for short. The thing is fast and quite like the wind, but not forcefull like a gust, just easy like a breeze. And now it's got a theme song too.

How's about a trim?

I've been told before that ounces equal pounds, and pounds equal pain... and all that hair was weighing me down. Cut of 4 inches and let the chops go. Hoping the straight stash will give me a little prefontaine speed.

A whopper

Went for a hell of a ride on Saturday. Just about 60 miles, which is what I expect my daily average to be. A beautiful day,  warm without too much sun, and lots of barbaques and fellow cyclists on the road. Great Sacandaga was quite the sight, something I'd been meaning to see for a while. Stopped and had a good snack n break on its shore, by that lovely lakeside town known as Fish House.

Here's some stats from the ride using a location tracker on my phone. After I got home and immediately passed out for a solid hour on the couch I realized I probably couod have taken my time a little more. Certainly worth it to get a sense of the pace. Felt like somebody hit me in the gooch with a baseball bat and had my knees and lower back under vice grips all day but after a good night's rest I was feeling fine again. Just hoping my body can keep up with my head this whole way.

Here's my card...

Made some little business cards today, because, why not? Figured I'd want to pass em out to the folks I meet along the way as a token of sorts. Also, I think I've always wanted to have the pleasure of saying, "Here, take my card..." and whipping one out on the spot. And, they're limited edition, so I guess that means I can only make 75 friends...?

Lotsa gear

The assembly continues.... This is very nearly everything. Just a little food packing to do and I'll be set to go. Might look like a lot but it's just enough to keep me alive and feeling fine all summer. I promise it all fits on the bike... I think.

10 days...

Ten days to go before blast off. Been riding my arse off these past couple days, really trying to get the feel of a good, long ride. The other day did a solid 40-miler to the battlefield and back, and it wasn't so bad. In fact it was gorgeous. Did it in just about 4 hours, and wasn't all that sore the next day. However, anticipating an average of 60 miles a day for the trip. But hell, I got all day-- plenty of roadside naps...
Biking by the track yesterday I managed to find myself a lone earing without its back that made a lively hissing sound as it deflated my rear tube. A bit if a bummer, but good practice nonetheless to prove to myself I can change a tire on the go.
Sad to say goodbye to my housemates this weekend, (love you guys) so it's just me from here on out. An empty house full of anticipation.  -- stay tuned

T-shirt!

Now it's really official... Shoutout to my lovely lovely housemate Elianne for the homemade T-shirt, and for all the folks that bought one to support me. You guys are the best.