Time is flying and we are now down to ten days before "lift-off". Blue Planet Ride 2011 will kick-off on Tuesday May 3rd to begin a 108 days, 7,834 miles and 18 states, tour of duty. This is more miles than I have ever done in one year! It will cover parts of the Southwest, the Pacific Coast, including the San Juan islands and British Columbia and returns via the Northern route across Glacier National Park back to the Great Lakes region. I will mostly be camping, using the national parks, city parks and the outdoors along the route as daily base camps. Since it is a self-supported solo ride it means that I will be doing my own navigating, communicating and raising awareness for the global water crisis. All essentials including two sets of cycling clothes, rain gear, bicycle tools, and a daily ration of food and safe drinking water, will have to fit in two rear panniers and my BoB trailer. No Sherpas here to help carry the load!
For the last several months I have been busy planning the trip, creating the route and shopping for gear. Together with my friend Nick we completely overhauled the bike and during that process discovered that the rear rim had cracked from all the abuse during last year's ride and needed to be replaced. We also changed to a 12-32T cassette and three new chainrings to get me down to 24 gear inches in anticipation of all the climbs across the Rockies. At the bike store the shop owner, a veteran touring cyclist, explained that my bike was not really designed for long haul trekking and that I should consider purchasing a touring bicycle engineered for that purpose. I thought about it but in the end opted to stick with my eighteen year old Trek. Only time will tell whether that was a wise decision.
The mission of this Blue Planet Ride is to raise awareness and funds for sustainable global water projects and ultimately help end a humanitarian crisis causing two million people, mostly children, to die every year from water born diseases. I start my journey with the hope that many will see the need to save lives and support and follow my ride either electronically or on the road. Like previous years, I am looking forward to making new friends along the way and raise another $10,000 for water projects. Please tell your friends and give if you can. For daily updates click the Facebook or Twitter button on the sidebar of this blog.
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