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

[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!