Introduction

Here we go again.  Back on the bike to continue pedalling across the US of A on the TransAmerica route.  Part 1 was Florence, Oregon (and the Pacific Ocean) to West Yellowstone, MT in 2018.  Part 2 was West Yellowstone to Wichita, KS in 2019.  Part 3 was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID.  It ran (from Wichita to Lexington, KY) in 2021 but the Canada/US border was still closed so I missed it.  Part 4 will run from Lexington to Yorktown, VA and the Atlantic Ocean.

WomanTours is the company that I'm biking with and there will be a lot of familiar faces.  Our two superb guides, Cy Pugh and Sue Lincoln, have been with us from the start and I very much look forward to having them run the show again this year.  These trips usually accomodate up to 30 riders.  I did one with less than half that number, though, and thoroughly enjoyed the smaller group size.  It looks like this year's roster has 22 riders; perfect!  Fifteen of us have ridden together on one or more of the previous legs.  So - 7 new faces for me.  Some of them may have ridden part 3 last year.  

The distance of this one looks like the shortest of the four -  841 miles (1353 km) spread out over 17 riding days.  We've received some of the more detailed info recently, and any thoughts I had of just coasting down to the coast have been squashed!  Seems there's still a mountain range or two to get over before we splash-down at the finish line.  Almost 60,000 feet of climbing to be done, or almost 3500 feet per day.  Ugh; that's almost as much as we averaged on the Sierra Cascades ride!  

I've been fighting a few injuries over the past few years.  With just a couple of weeks to go until we start the trip, I've only ridden 3 times in the past 6 weeks.  And now I've built in quite a bit of rest before heading out.  I'll just hope that muscle memory gets me through it.  

The WT website notes the following highlights:  Appalachia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Civil War history, Kentucky and Virginia.  I wasn't terribly thrilled with the Atlantic Coast trip in 2015, so hopefully this one will improve my opinion of cycling in the eastern US.  

I do really enjoy the rhythm of this type of trip, though, regardless of the destination.  WomanTours has a great model for these "epic" trips - good support, good mileage/rest day tradeoffs, a target demographic that I happen to fall into, and the luxury of staying in decent hotels.  I recently came across acronym that states it pretty well.  That acronym is SPACE.  Simplicity, Purpose, Adventure/Activity, Community, Endurance/Extreme Exercise/Endorphins.

Looking forward to it!  September 15 - October 6, 2022.