Need some help-new to cycling :) and about to bike 4000 miles..

[Tuckervill]

The org provides the bike, by the way, but they get to keep it at the end. This is no mean feat, judging from the wiki. First of all, it costs $4,000 to participate, so these folks either come from means or they already know how to work hard. Then they stop and build houses on their way.

Remember the young ladies who took off on their bikes in their skirts in the '50s? We old folks worry, but we forget what it was like to not be fully aware of what causes pain like young people are.

Karen

[annielynn]

WOW Good luck to you. I really don't have anything additional to add to all the wonderful advice that you have been given. Just ride ride ride. You need to get some miles under your booty before you head out on the road. Have a great time!

[tangentgirl]

Holy guacamole. This will be an experience of a lifetime. Be sure to take lots of pictures and/or video and keep a journal/blog/whatever to record all this. One day, when you are 142 years old, your great-great-grandchildren will be talking and you will pipe up: "I rode a bicycle across the whole United States when I was your age." They will say, "oh sure, g-g-gma" and just when they are getting ready to go back to their augmented reality videogame with some kids on the MoonBase, you'll whip out a hologram scrapbook and they will be enthralled.

[AnnieBikes]

It sounds like a wonderful adventure...like those new hikers who start at Springer Mountain in Georgia aiming to hike to Katahdin, in Maine, on the Appalachian Trail. Many of them make it and they learn a whopping amount about themselves and what they can do along the way. Good luck to you all. I think that most every post has had great advice.

My one piece is, start out with not too many miles and work up, especially for those who might not have had time to do any training. Over riding can produce injuries, tendonitis, etc. You can avoid that by not trying to do big miles at the beginning. And, please, take a day off, completely off, to rest weary bodies, around once a week, give or take a day, depending on the group. You will be surprised at what good a day out of the saddle will do for both physical and mental health.

My best to your group!

[choltz]

Thanks to everyone for their support and advice! I went out and bought my first pair of cycling shorts today and my bike is supposed to come tomorrow. I am headed out with an experienced cycler later this week so he can show me the ropes. I'm excited!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My best advice to you is to learn as much as you possibly can about traffic and road safety for bikes.

I have to admit I personally see a 4000 mile ride for a brand new cyclist with only 10 weeks to prepare, and a 70 mile/day average as being a bit unrealistic, even for someone in their 20's. But hey, I've been wrong before. Hopefully you are athletic and active already, and in pretty good shape. Good luck!
My advice is if you cannot manage 5 straight days of 50 mile rides before the trip starts, you might want to rethink it.
Buy the best shorts you possibly can- $80-150 is the usual price range for good shorts, and you'll need at least two pairs.

[channlluv]

Okay, this is absolutely an admirable cause, and the support vehicle definitely makes a difference, but please do as BleekerStGirl says and get in long rides for several days in a row, just so you'll know what you're in for.

And the suggestion to buy shorts from different makers is a great one.

I hope you have a great trip. It will either be one of the best experiences of your life, or one of the worst. Here's to the former.

Roxy

[Cataboo]

You may be able to catch a discount on bike shorts on bonktown.com or chainlove.com They sell one item at a time until it sells out. Nashbar or performance may also have clearances that help you. I'm assuming you're on a budget!

And definitely try to build up the mileage like everyone's saying before you go - but also when you guys start off - when you do leave with the group, instead of jumping into 70 mile days - try to do some light mileage days to begin with to let your body condition itself.

And along with the recommendation of bike shorts - I think I'd probably recommend that you get bike gloves. Leather palms. If you fall and it scrapes up your hands, that really really sucks. So wear bike gloves at all times. If your elbow or forearm is missing skin, that is not as bad as your hand missing skin.

If you run into any problems on your training rides that your hands are going numb - come back here for advice on how to deal with that.

Bike fit is going to be really important for you because you're going to be spending so much time in the saddle, and you won't really have time to figure it out - so taking the bike to a bike shop and paying $200 for a fitting or something like that is probably going to be well worth it. You want to be as comfortable as possible on this bike as soon as possible.

I'd probably recommend clipless pedals & bike shoes after a while - but you can use pedals with straps or something like that. If you're doing long descents on this ride (which I would figure) - having a way to keep your feet attached to your pedals is safer (least I think so - others here may disagree)

Other thing is - find a saddle that you & your butt loves. Because you are going to be on it for a very long time and having a saddle that makes your bottom parts hurt is miserable even for 10 miles. You don't want a big fluffy padded saddle, those are going to cause soft tissue problems on such a long ride. You may want to consider a brooks leather saddle (there's a thread or 5 on them on here)... and start breaking the saddle into fitting you - but otherwise, measure how far apart your sit bones are and start looking at which saddles fit you. That would probably be part of a bike shop fitting.

[kacie tri-ing]

It will be a great trip, I'm sure, as long as y'all start slowly and don't try to get across too quickly. It sounds like that is the plan!

I second what everyone has said about bike safety. You will undoubtedly be on some busy roads, and you will encounter several drivers (and several dogs) that don't want you on the road. Be prepared for that.

Also, even though many people have said it, GET A HELMET AND WEAR IT. The helmet is the most important piece of gear for you to buy--more important than your shorts, your sunglasses, your jerseys, your gloves, or anything else. You shouldn't turn a single pedal stroke without first putting on your helmet, and you shouldn't let anyone in the group you're leading do so, either.

Have fun! Be safe!

[moonfroggy]

everyone has said great stuff. i dunno if anyone mentioned sunglasses or some sort of glasses. for me i wear a helmet gloves and glasses always. bugs can fly in your eyes while riding and make you crash. happened to me 3 times! now i always wear glasses it is safer.

[Tri Girl]

Everyone has given some great advice. While I cannot fathom doing that kind of mileage with no experience at my age- there is definitely something to being younger. Seems as we get older, we forget how to "just do it" and try something new (we overthink, overanalyze, have experiences that cause us to be more cautious, etc).
I've read lots of www.crazyguyonabike.com journals and young people do it ALL the time and succeed and have a great adventure. At night, after you've ridden for the day, read some journals on this site and read about people's cross country adventures. It's inspiring for sure!

I think you'll be fine. Your body will adjust. Just remember: TITS (Time In The Saddle). You need LOTS of it before the trip!!!! It might feel like a chore (or a second job), but you'll be better prepared for all that work you put in before.


Best of luck to you. I hope you have a GREAT time and I hope you'll keep a journal and keep us posted here on TE of your progress.
Oh- and let's see a picture of you and that bike!!

[choltz]

So my bike arrived, its assembled and I've had it checked out by my local bike shop After they heard what i was doing, they checked everything out for free and donated a few little saftey gadgets (like a flashing light for the seat). ***Shout out to North Texas Bikes in Aubrey*** So far, the training has been going well. The weather here in Texas has been a bit crazy-- SNOW in March! I did go for a 30 mile ride on Saturday. It was freezing and super windy, but I made it . Today is nice so I'm hoping to get out for a good ride. yay! Thanks for all the tips and advice! Super helpful!

[sfa]

You are going to have the time of your life on this trip! Yes, it'll be physically and often psychologically hard, but you'll always look back on this trip as one of the highlights of your life. Having done a similar sort of adventure at a similar time in my life, I can tell you that the first week or two is pretty hard, and then it's just kind of your life and what you do. Bodies adapt to these things amazingly well.

Here's someone else to inspire you: http://www.pedallingalltheway.com/

He decided, almost on a whim, to raise money for Farm Africa first by rowing solo across the Atlantic, and then by cycling 6,000 miles over about three months days from his home in England to the farm he helped fund in Kenya. He got his bike February 15 (after not riding for about 10 years), left on March 29. And he did just fine.

Best of luck to you!

Sarah

[BeeLady]

Lucky you! Wish I were going too!

Best cycling advice I ever got as from a TE member: Just keep pedaling!

One good cross-country book I read was Pedaling Across America by Don & Lolly Skillman. They were older when they did their trip but they gave a good account of what to expect on a day-by-day basis. More detail than some of the on-line blogs I have read. It's a quick, interesting read and maybe you can share the book with some of your other travelers.