Am I Crazy for Thinking About This?

It all started with a most inappropriately timed question. Almost twenty years ago, while pedaling up a deceptively difficult hill on the west end of the San Fernando Valley, he asked, "So do you think you'd like to ride from San Francisco back to L.A. next year?" I'm glad I eventually said, "Yes." That summer bike ride of 1988 (wow, that sounds like a long time ago now) was one of my proudest accomplishments. It still makes for a good story.

So did you see how he did it again? Commenting on my last post, while congratulating me on a job well done he snuck in the question, "So, you think you'll be interested in riding x-country in 2010?" It's not the first time he asked. But I think it was the first time I seriously considered it. I ran the idea by my wife and she thought it'd make for a good trip. Lily will be almost four then. They could drive ahead, do lots of sightseeing, and meet up with us after we cycle each day. This would also allow for us to not have to carry all of our gear on our bikes like we did on the San Francisco ride.

Am I crazy for considering this? Bicycling across the United States. I began investigating. It's much more common than I realized. I found quite a few blogs of people that have done it; some more than once. I then looked for routes. Adventure Cycling Association had some good information and several routes from which to choose.

So I know if I do this, lots of training will be required. This leads to some other pretty intense goals. Two things I've always wanted to do but never have done is to run a marathon and ride a century (Not in the same day...I'm not sick!) As I'm already working hard to get in shape, I'm thinking L.A. Marathon in 2008. I'm not sure if I can build up the endurance to run the full marathon in time for next year's race. So for next year I'd probably either jog/walk all 26.2 miles or perhaps do a half marathon and then hopefully run the distance in 2009. I also want to search out local century rides and perhaps complete my first one next year. Putting these goals down in print makes me more likely to carry them out.