Friday, August 25, 2006
Food, Route, Training
The three things I have left to do are: organizing food, planning parts of the route and keep training.
Food is my new logistical obsession. This week I've been working with the Market of Choice supermarket on getting bulk foods. Rice, dried soups, dried beans, granola, oatmeal and spices are the main ingredients for the food boxes I'll prepare. Variety will be crucial when I'm out on the road cooking dried food for myself everyday.
The Market of Choice has been really helpful. David, the manager of their newest store donated money out of his own pocket for me to use toward bulk food. Barbara, the bulk food manager at the store was a big help in figuring out how much I needed of certain items. This morning I'm meeting with Rick Wright, the president, to discuss further dry food donations. They have been a huge help to me already and I truly appreciate their support.
My friend Brandon loaned me his vacuum sealer so I can prepare individual meals with individual items inside. After working through this process I'll give you an update on how my food prep is progressing. One thing is for sure, it won't be an easy thing to vacuum seal 49+ days worth of food.
Route planning... To date I have a route through
Training has been going well but I'm winding down. This weekend I did a 50 mile section of very hilly roads with the bike fully loaded. I felt fine. It actually got dark on Todd and me so we had to call for a ride with about 20 miles left to ride. I could have finished the 70 miles if we had more time and more food.
Food is such a huge issue for me. The other night I ate two big sausages then got invited to dinner at a friend's house where I proceeded to eat a full meal complete with second helpings. This is getting out of hand.
Palatability and variety are the two factors that affect my ability to eat as much as I need to. 4000 calories is a huge amount of food. If I'm not interested in eating it, I won't meet my nutritional requirements. Translated into everyday language, that means that I need to have good tasting food that doesn't get boring so I have energy to ride my bike 80 miles everyday.
On the fundraising front, I met with the American Cancer Society this week. They are very eager to help me revise my press release and get me some firm press contacts here in
By the way, you can send me a comment anytime by clicking 'Comment' just below the end of this posting.
Thanks to all! Wish me luck over the next two weeks,
Drew
Do you have a head lamp or something of the sort in case of a major delay during daytime hours and you have to ride at night? I guess you do since you plan on camping?
: 4:20 PM 
: 8:43 PM I just read your story in the R-G and wanted to suggest the Adventure Cycling website as a resource for planning your trip east from the Front Range. The Transamerica route from Astoria, OR to Yorktown, VA is well planned for cyclists and goes right through Eugene. Detailed maps are available at: http://www.adv-cycling.org/routes/transamerica.cfm
Good luck and tailwinds!
-Roy McCormick, Eugene (I had to edit the last one for a url typo!)
The TransAm route looks awesome. I've relied on rider accounts from that route in my planning process. Unfortunately, the route doesn't hit the places I want to go so I'm piecing some things together. I do follow TransAm from Eugene to Sisters but have opted to take US 20 as opposed to US 26 because of the mountains that US 26 goes through. It will be the first week of my trip and I don't want to hammer myself with all those passes right off the bat.
From the Idaho border I go through southern ID, avoiding the interstate and into Wyoming. Through the southern part of WY, dropping down into Ft. Collins, Colorado. From there I head E/NE to the Chicago area.
After Chicago I pick up the ACA Northern Tier route into Pennsylvania. I haven't figured out how to get from Lake Erie to the Jersey Shore yet.
Any ideas anyone?
: 5:55 AM I'm your second cousin Ed Eaton and just wanted to wish you a good ride. Its sure to build mind, body, and soul. I've done some biking but nothing like you are doing, but have always thought about it. Don't let the snakes bite you in the ass. take care Ed.
: 4:40 AM : 4:37 PM << Home
