Slackin?

So, i moved back to school this week... It's been good and bad. I started training again which has been great. I'm a bit sore but i am feeling great. Fell right back into the routine of exercise and training everyday. "Fitness" this is exactly what my rugby coach told us when he said our new game plan... aka we run our faces off on a normal basis! Although rugby is off topic training isn't really so that's why i'm kinda talkin about it.

Onto the trip... My bike can't get here soon enough. I can't wait to get some saddle time. I think it's around t-minus 2-3 weeks! I also am currently enrolled in a "beginning" bicycling class. Pretty excited about that. We actually ride 11 miles a day at least for class. not far at all but saddle time is saddle time, right? I told my teacher i wouldn't have a bike for at least 3 weeks of the class. She was like why not? i told her about my trip and she is all for me missing 3 weeks of class. which is soooo rad.

Overall it's been a good week though. Found panniers to use that are completely waterproof with roll top! From a company called Avenir. The panniers are called the Rain City. Luke over at Fountain City Pedaler is being more than helpful for sure. Great guy. check out there stuff, like them on facebook, or just give a visit here in Knoxville, TN.

Listened to: Jason Aldean and Lonely Island.

Pain it Temporary.... Right?!

Sorry or the gap between posts. I have been in the act of moving back to school and it's been a long process for me this time around. Honestly i want this semester to be over. I didn't wanna come back at all, but hey, here i am in Murfreesboro, Tennessee typing away in my townhouse. I missed my first class today, epic fail. I mean i didn't come to school on Thursday and i missed my classes that day. So today all i had to do was go to 2 classes... FAIL!

Tonight starts the process of training though. Tonight is the start of a long process of getting in tip top shape for a rugby season and a cross-country bike ride. I have been on hiatus from training and my nutrition plan over this past Christmas break which i am ok with, just not gonna be fun tonight when i get to practice. I will kick myself back into shape within 2 weeks though. Just gonna take a bit of drive on my part.

Not really any new developments about the trip really. The only thing is that my bike should be here 2nd week of February. Which i am more than excited about. Imma be training really hard in the saddle once it gets here. Marin BIkes is making a legit bike and i am excited to get the opportunity to ride their bike across the country. I will keep you posted on the bikes arrival. I will be posting pictures soon.

Today while blogging i listened to: Drake, Metro Station, Lil Wayne, Aloe Blacc, Secret and a Whisper, and lastly i listened to Caspa & Rusko.

Coffee & Bike Shops

I stumbled on a great bike shop in Knoxville, TN called, Fountain City Pedaler. It's run by a guy named Luke who knows his stuff. Go check em out. People had mentioned the shop to me but i could never find it... One day i did though and went in with nothing particular in mind. I heard they carried Jamis bikes (which they no longer carry) and that was something i hadn't seen. So i was gonna go look. I get there and just ask about Jamis and Luke was like ya we don't carry them anymore. He and i talked about my trip for a bit. I just kinda told him about what i was wanting to do, how long it would take, and who i was doing it with. He was super helpful.

Luke mentioned a bike that wasn't out yet from a totally different company, MARIN Bikes, and i fell in love with it. It has absolutely everything i would want in a touring bike, no compromise, plus to top it all off Marin is an amazingly ran company. The original owner still owns and runs the company. Read about them and support them. You can check out their story here. I think companies like this deserve our support. I am more than excited about the arrival of my new bike, keep your fingers crossed it comes out in time for me to train on it. It's incredible though for sure. They seem to pay so much attention to what a rider would ever want and then add a lil' bit more. I'm stoked.

Overall the past few days i have been laying quite low key though. I move back to Murfreesboro, TN on Sunday to head back to school. Technically i had class yesterday but my teachers didn't care if i missed... so i stayed home. 

116 days till i am in Oregon. 117 days till i am on the road! 

While blogging i have listened to Kayne West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Secret and City and Colour's Live at the Orange.  

Antici...PATION!

Guess where i am... Yup, the coffee shop. Been here everyday for a while now, minus the few days i was snowed in with a couple awesome friends. All we did was watch movies and Paris Hilton's "The Simple Life"... Don't judge me. It was quite relaxing.

To the point though, daily i have been thinking about leaving for this trip. It can't come soon enough. I am ready, not physically, maybe not even mentally... i am just ready to go. I wanna see the country by bike. I want time to just go. The anticipation is killing me. Daniel, my riding partner, and i talk thru email every other day... if not daily. We have split the trip up into halves and are both working on exact routes and places to tentatively stay along the way. I have from Alexander, Kansas all the way to Folly Beach, South Carolina. Not too bad. pretty even split honestly. I have about half of my half of the route mapped out. This being said if anyone knows places to stay in Kansas, Missouri, or West Tennessee, camp grounds, houses, people they know, any help would be appreciated.

This is something i am going to start doing... i am going to post what i listened to while blogging since i love music so much. Hopefully this is something people can enjoy.
Cee Lo Green, Bruno Mars, Wiz Khalifa, TI, Lil Wayne, Drake, and Currently Lupe Fiasco.
Not sure why but today was a very Hip Hop, r&b day. I like it.

Training? You talkin' bout training?

Training... (insert a long drawn out sigh) It's been in the back of my mind quite a bit. I have to start training for my rugby season in a week (aka 2 practices a week for the next 3 months), then i have 4 days of weights/conditioning a week,  and on top of that i have 6 PE classes this semester. I have been mentally preparing myself for a very strenuous semester of training a whole lot and i just am not sure how i am going to get it all done. It will get done, it's just gonna be really tough. Hopefully i have some friends who will put in gym hours with me. Honestly though i am just gonna be eating all the time and training everyday, it won't be cycling training everyday, but i will still get fitness, flexibility, muscle building, and core training done, just not saddle time everyday. I am shooting for at least 4-5 days a week at least 2 hrs on the bike. I am banking that i can put in 50 miles a day 3 days a week and have a slow day of saddle time 1 or 2 days a week. Which saddle time probably won't start till i get my new bike mid-February or early March... hope that's enough time to get all my training in.

Here's the deal though. i will need all the motivation i can get from anyone reading this. Send me emails, texts, calls, wall posts, comments, or tweets. I am gonna train my butt off for this trip and i couldn't be more excited. This adventure is going to be one of the hardest things i have ever done in my life and i wouldn't have it any other way. So thanks again to whomever is reading this and please tell everyone you know about it.

Here's a lil map of the route. it's not exact cause i just did it with a paint brush in photoshop but you'll get the idea.

BeCAUSE why?

Today was a good day. I really didn't do too much planning for the trip but i honestly didn't too much of anything so that was nice. I move back to school in a few days so it's really nice to have a break from anything that seems like working, although i have a whole bunch of fun planning this trip so, i hardly consider it work. It's just nice to have a day off.

Although today may be called a ZERO day i did think a little  (a lot actually) about if I wanted to ride for a cause on this trip. Do i want to tell people about something i am passionate about? Do i feel like it? Part of me says yes, which that is about 99% of me. That stupid self-centered 1% is saying, "Do it for fun and for yourself." Which today i decided i really wanted to ride for a cause.

If anyone wants to throw out ideas about a cause that they are really passionate about i would be all about hearing something about it. I love a few causes but most of which are so big that my raising awareness wouldn't really spread the word. (i.e. TOMS, Invisible Children, PDA, United Way) 

I am going to talk with a friend of mine pretty soon (which you should check out her work. she is an incredible Jewelry Designer in New York City i will put up a link at the bottom) about some causes and i will keep you posted. Hope today is a great day. Hopefully hear from some people soon. Since i highly doubt many people are even reading this yet, which i hope that changes soon.

My friend in New York... AMAZING Designer.

Cycling Across America.

I haven't ever really blogged and don't know what it is supposed to look like but this is my best shot. I am hoping that progressively these blogs will become more and more interesting and capture the attention of people who i might never even meet face to face.

As I sit here in a coffee shop, keep in mind that i have been here everyday for the past week for at least 4 hours everyday, looking online at maps, parts, and equipment for this cross-country cycling trip i am embarking on in May of this year. I have been planning pretty consistently for the past month. I have been on break from college for Christmas, which i am overly thankful for the break. I graduate this year on May 7th and i am flying to Oregon on May 10th getting my bike put back together on the 11th and hitting the road in Otis, Oregon toward Folly Beach, South Carolina. This trip is going to take somewhere around 55 days and it is 3311 miles... ish.

I am embarking on this journey with a fellow named Daniel. If you all haven't had the pleasure of meeting him you should check out his blog at http://dkalbikesamerica.blogspot.com/    He's a great dude. We met at a Young Life Camp working in the kitchen and threw around the idea and it has come to fruition.

I will be posting on here almost hopefully daily as i learn more and more about this trip and get more and more prepared for it. Please give me any feedback that you have and any info you have that could help me on this adventure. Places to stay, people to meet, places to visit, and anything else you wanna let me know.