16 miles!

Right now, things are quiet on the bike trip front, and honestly that's no surprise. Because it is so far away. But things still progress.

The kid did a 16 mile trip while out camping with Scouts. I was thrilled! I didn't attend the camp out like I normally do because it was my birthday and I wanted to have a weekend alone with the husband. So the meeting following camping, I approached the leader that I know keeps an eye on the kid because she's the one who best handles the kids with issues. 

He rocked it, she said. He rocked the 16 miles, he was with the back four kids, but he handled gear shifting, brakes, he complained a bit. But he still kept biking while he complained and then eventually stopped. 

So I'm even more convinced, that we can do this. If he could pull off 15 miles with the group, he can pull 25-40 miles, and with his stuff on his bike.

On another front, we plan to camp and couchsurf along the way and I had published an itinerary to see if we could get any bites and we got one! So we'll be going north, instead of straight east, since we had someone offer to host us and show us Green Lake. So now the choice becomes... so we keep heading north east for Green Bay? or carry on east then dip south once we hit the great lakes? 

Because it's all about safety!

One of the worries that I, and the main objection to this whole trip by my husband, has been safety. Because of course, this isn't a car trip. We're going to cover in two weeks what would be done by vehicle in 5 hours. We're going to be on laden down bicycles hurtling at maybe MAYBE 20 miles an hour, likely 10, on roads, trails, city streets. How do you keep yourself safe?

Well first off, we're not traveling during dusk/evening/dawn. Plain and simple we plan to be doing all the biking in broad daylight. I have no desire to be traversing the roads relying on lights and red beams painting lines on the road and praying someone isn't an idiot at night. Nuh uh. Nope. Will we still be decked out in lights and little devices that toss red lines on the road around us? Oh hell yes. Anything to make us more visible.

We'll also have reflective vests on, mesh ones, highly visible. I'm also going to have the kid bike ahead of me. In my research, and in answers to my question on a touring forum, someone suggested that I need to keep 45 feet between me and the kid and preferably with him in front. That way if - god forbid - I get taken out, he's far enough ahead that the odds of him being smacked are low. very low.

At any given time, we'll be within 2 hours of the husband, or a trusted friend in WI. On our trip up to Madison this past weekend - Hello R.E.I. - I wanted Gerry to meet up with a friend of mine and his nurse wife who live in the middle of Wisconsin. The same folks who offered to let us join them at a timeshare near Madison and their family for a few days of waterpark fun. There we solidified just what their definition of "help" was. Which turns out to be 'broken bike? call. Broken bones? Call. Stuck somewhere? Call. They'll get their truck and come and get us. Because once we hit the WI border, they would be a far sight closer than Gerry.

Did I mention part of the reason why I chose Wisconsin is that so much of the state has dedicated bike trails that traverse through their state parks and into the cities. [The Military Ridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Ridge_State_Trail) will factor in a great deal leading up to Madison. It is a nice segue into Blue Mound where there Cave of the Mounds is and where we plan to camp at least one night before the short trip into Madison.

There is of course, so many things that we can't account for on the trip. For all that we can pack extra inner tubes, small tool sets, a first aid kit and anything else that we can think of to make the trip as safe as possible, the fact of the matter is that shit happens. Things you can't imagine, could happen. the best we can do is have back ups for back up. To pack those tools, to have friends ready to grab us at a phone call. To make ourselves as visible as possible when we have to ride on a road - and the road that we will take, we drove down and my husband was satisfied with the wide paved shoulders and the traffic was minimal for a holiday weekend even. I wouldn't take my kid on a trip if I didn't think it would be safe, if I hadn't done the research and seen that other folks have taken their younger than mine kids on the exact same trip.

And in the end, if we only make it to Madison Wisconsin, I will consider it a success. Because it will be something we haven't done before, something together and will create wonderful memories to talk about. You know.. that time we did something totally crazy.

And who knows. Maybe after that, we'll attempt RAGBRAI.

What's in a bike?

So ever since I decided that next year the kid and I will be doing a bike trip, it's become a pretty important goal that... I get a bike. Currently I have a Huffy Nel Lusso. She's a cruiser, a pretty purple with back rack, front basket and a pretty convenient cup holder. Like, put that starbucks in that sucker and go for a ride. She was perfect for California and my 5:30 am rides to get fresh hot bagels and starbucks for the husband and kid.

But this isn't Southern California, this is Midwest, eastern Iowa. Cruisers are not ideal. Mind you I get tons of compliments on her and she's done good for running around in the city with the kid. But a touring/road bike she is not. The kid as well has outgrown his own bike and is in need of a new one.

Enter the Shogun. No, not a corny old chinese/japenese movie. It's a bike. That belonged to my husband when he was around my sons age that my father in law bought for a hefty chunk of change. With the passing of my mother in law and a need to declutter their house and to take away her things that were not needed and could be used, my father in law sent my husband back to Iowa after dropping me off to help, with two bikes. Two bikes in bad need of some refitting and fixing up but really good and perfectly useable functional road bikes.

So the issue of a bike for my son was solved. About $200 to invest in it and he'll have a good solid bike that will last him until he goes off to college and even then. I'm fine with that.

But myself. Do we do the same for my mother in laws touring bike that will need the same treatment as the kids - honestly, the frame is intact and the wheels just need new tires etc etc. But during a trip to the local bike shops to get an idea of what needs to be done I came across //the// bike for me. But it gave me a big huge wake up call. The Specialized Dolce Sport. I was in lust. And love. A beautiful shade of teal blue and white, Brifters - brakes and shifters in one! - sleek lines and I love it.

I don't love the $1k price tag :(

I can't justify 1k. Even looking through eBay and such I've found them for $600 but as someone who agonized over paying $130 for a pair of sneakers that were medically necessary and the only reason they didn't get returned is my husband made me wear them and then marked them to prevent me from returning them, even $600 is unjustifiable for me. Even as a christmas and birthday and anniversary present. I want the bike, but I can't justify the bike.

So the Dolce sits and as of yesterday, mulling it over, I decided that I'm going to sink money into my mother in laws bike. This is our first trip. What if we don't like it? What if we make it halfway in and decide nope, no way, not carrying on? Then I will have a $1k bike and it'll sit in the garage and used just during the summer.

Don't get me wrong, I'd use the bike. If I could find that bike for $400, I could justify it. But those kinds of bikes don't go down to the price I want to pay. I was having a laugh with the husband of a friend who is a biking enthusiast. He has the yearly income to drop 15k on a bike and not blink. I was consulting him on what bikes are cheaper, that are of a good enough quality that I won't be stranded on the side of the road with my son. He honestly didn't know. He'd never been in a position to bargain hunt for a good bike. His own son has a bike that is the first of it's kind in the US. 1k on a bike? It's nothing.

But as I sat in the car with my husband discussing, of laying out the purchases that we will need to make - panniers, racks, pedals, padded shorts, gloves, new helmet for the kid, lights, all the little things, they start to ad up. Not to mention that we'll be buying our meals most of the time and thus need to make sure that I have cards on me to pay for such. I couldn't justify dropping $600 on a bike, and then still need to kit out two bikes and a trailer. Maybe if we were still getting a Christmas bonus this year but that was highly unlikely.

As it stands, to fund this trip, I'm going to be trying to make a handful of quilts and sell them to pay for the kitting out and supplies.

So.

My mother in laws bike. that grey touring bike sitting in my garage covered in dust and webs, like the Shogun. We'll kit them out and when, WHEN the trip is over and we decide to do it again, to do RAGBRAI or the like, then we can look at a more modern and costly bike. But for now, I'm going to make that sucker mine.

Even if it means that I have the bike shop paint it that pretty shade of teal and white, instead of the silvery grey :D

The Grand Adventure Starts

June, 2016, I am taking my son on a bike ride. A bike ride you think? What's so daring about that, that this woman would start a blog to chronicle the whole process? It's just a bike ride. Well dear reader. I'm taking my kid on a probably 500 mile bike ride - last count was 466 miles - and neither of us have biked more than 5. On a kids bike and a cruiser. on a paved bike trail. God help us from my crazy plan.

I place the blame squarely on Elisabeth and Rachel for this.

Let me start.

Elisabeth and Rachel were two random but lovely strangers who are - were - biking across the US of A and bringing education to kids camps, classrooms and all manner of forums on the topic of solar power. And bikes. I confess I don't quite remember what exactly it was, but it was interesting enough. Through Couchsurfing.com they had contacted me and asked to spend the night at my house before they carried on. They planted the seed. It would be nice to go cycle with my son for a week in the summer.

Which over the next two months and how well camping for a week just him and I went, broke through the mental soil and started to take more shape until three weeks ago I looked to my husband and told him The Great Plan.

Andrew and I are going to cycle from our home in Eastern Iowa to Milwaukee in Wisconsin. We would conquer the lovely state of Wisconsin and visit a great lake and immerse ourself in some culture, see the sights, commune with nature and visit some friends from World of Warcraft.

So here I am. Departure day is June 5th, 2016. I have 10 months to find us bikes, to arm myself with as much knowledge as I possibly can to help us and solidify the route that we'll take. We'll have 2-3 weeks to complete our trip. We have my husband to get to us if there is an emergency in Iowa and my friend Don and his wife Mary when we are in Wisconsin who can get to us wherever we are within an hour.

This is crazy. This is absolutely crazy. But we have the means, the motivation and I want to see my son experiencing things and learning to take a chance, to do something new and exciting, scary even. I turn 35 in a month and I feel like I need to have more adventure in my life as well.

So it starts.