Oakley with his best friend Scuppers, the day before departure.

The hardest thing about leaving tomorrow on my bike ride across America is that I am going to be thinking about my friends all the time. I won’t be seeing them for three months. My mother and I decided that I will be able to call them once a week, on Wednesdays. If I were to talk on the phone every day it would be a big problem, and my mom would be mad at me all the time because I would never get off the phone. I also know it would just make me miss them more. I am also worried about having to be alone with my mother for three months.

The best thing is that this trip is going to be a really good experience. When I get home I will be able to look back and know that I did a really cool thing. I think I am going to look like a frog when I get back. I will have huge thighs (but hopefully not a potbelly). I will probably see a lot of cool and historic things. Maybe grizzly bears, elk, and bison. I know I am probably going to hate pedaling over the Rockies at first, but I will get used to it, and going down will be super fun.

I am excited. I am looking forward to seeing all my friends when I get back. I hope the mountains don’t kill me. I hope my mom and I don’t get in a fight every day. We probably will, but we will get over it. I hope we don’t get eaten by bears in Colorado. And I hope that three months doesn’t feel like three years. I will try not to think of the day we get back, but instead think of the day we are on.

Leah’s Postscript: We are flying to Astoria, Oregon, today. I am incredibly grateful for all the encouragement, support, and contributions that Oakley and I have been lucky enough to receive from friends, family, and the world of bike nerds. They are the fuel that will carry us across the country, over the mountains and through swamps of self-doubt and fatigue. I can’t thank everybody enough. Here we go. ….

Share this: Twitter

More

Facebook

Reddit



Email

LinkedIn



Pinterest

Tumblr



