Route

Here's a picture of what the route will roughly look like. It's a little different that what we were originally thinking in that it does not go up into Oregon, but because of time constraints (i.e. Andrew's classes starting) we can't do everything. The main points of interest are going through some of Northern CA national forests! Riding through Idaho's beautiful mountains, and cutting through Yellowstone! I'm also looking forward to the ride up Route 1 in CA.

In other news I got my bike all situated. Fenders are on, as well as bike pedals. MTB shoes are bought and everything works well together. I still need one pair of panniers, but I should be ordering that from bikenashbar.com this week. The weather is getting nicer so starting this week we'll be going on some rides!!

If you haven't already I invite you to click the follow icon to the right of the screen =)



The plan...

We're starting to get geared up for the trip. Plane tickets are secured, starting point is settled upon, and a general direction for the trip is decided. We are going to start heading north up the coast of CA and once we reach around the midpoint of Oregon (about 400 miles N of San Fran) we are going to head east across Idaho and through Yellowstone. We will head up through the UP of Michigan and down through Canada, entering the United States through Niagra and then heading home =) simple right?? I don't think I have any real appreciation for the pure distance that is going to be traveled during this time, but the best way to learn is to start at point A and keep going until point B is reached.

During the next couple of months we will be raising money for Living Water International (LWI). You can donate using the "Donate" button to the right of this column. It will take you to a Paypal screen, Paypal is used by many large online organizations (ebay) as a safe and reliable way to transfer money. Recently one of our family friends started working for Living Water International as their CFO. Their approach is three fold, they wish to train, equip, and consult the nationals in how to bring clean water to their community. This approach assures that the energy and resources donated by volunteers and donors results in a sustainable, participatory water systems that meet the long term needs of the community. Prior to the well being drilled many of the people walk for miles to obtain water. Having a pure source of water, established within the community, allows time to be devoted to improving the quality of living through work and education. I encourage you to go their website, http://v7.water.cc/, and see what they are doing.

The reason Andrew and I decided to support this organization is because it is not a huge charity that already has gobs of money. It is an organization that spends as they have and is making an impact. A well costs approximately $20,000. We are looking to be able to fund a complete project. 80% of all donations will be put directly to Living Water International. The remaining 20% will be used to help with the costs of the trip.

Andrew and I are both excited about this opportunity to help LWI in providing such a tangible resource as water to a community in need. We hope that you will partner with us in this adventure and this cause.

We are flying into San Francisco on the 24th of June and spending some time with the Lev family before we head out on June 26th. Very exciting =) We will then be biking for the next 55 days to get across this great nation. We will need to average around 75 miles per day, with a couple days off. It'll be epic =) We need to get back in time for Andrew to get to classes and hopefully for me to get back to a job (side note: I just finished my application process for the Air Force!).

From talking with friends and family who have done this trip before us we feel confident of being well prepared, though I suspect that nothing but the real thing is going to give us a full understanding of the task before us.

Signing off,

Nate

PS Andrew, I think we need nicknames.

Andrew, why do you want to do this?

Riding my bike across the country is something that seemed like a pretty sweet idea. I love bikes, I love travel, I love long periods of time away from work and school, I love working out, and I love chillin. This trip is an awesome combo of all them. I haven't traveled a whole lot over on the west side of the states so it should be fun. I would love to go through some national parks like Yosemite, which I think we might do, if not then we're going through something like it. This is every road bikers dream pretty much, I am not a road biker but I can pretend to be one for a few weeks. It also looks awesome on a resigme. My dad did this in his younger days and it helped him get work. Among other reasons I know Nathaniel really wants to do this, and he needs protection so I figured I should go. I am looking forward to this trip, hope to learn something from it, and have some great experiences.

-Andrew D.

Who needs a car =)

Over Christmas break I got the bike! I'm pretty excited. It's a Novara Randonee, sold at REI. I got a really good deal on it, but I couldn't help but think that I was once again putting off getting a car for something of less mobility. In high school I got a lawn mower and now it's a bike =) Travel arrangments are in the process of being made. The trip is steadily becoming more of a reality.



Nathaniel why do you want to ride across this country?...

...well let me tell you. My Dad, Kevin Dolan, rode across America in the early 80's. I've known this growing up and I never really thought about doing it myself until my Junior year of college. I started to have a strong desire to see the country. I've lived in America all my life and yet I know very little about the way people live beyond Mt. Laurel, New Jersey and Cedarville, Ohio. I see all these things on the news and hear about how people are in this state or that state. I know how they drive when they come to Jersey (poorly) but I suspect that to get to know the communities that make up America I will need to take more than a casual drive by the residences. I will need to take time and absorb what is going on around me. Unfortunately I can't take in all of America (it's kinda a big place) so Andrew and I settled on tackling the Northern tier route because it won't be crazy hot and the landscape will be the most interesting.

So between me having a relatively free summer to spend on an adventure and a desire to see the country biking from West to East became the obvious...okay maybe not so obvious choice of how to spend the time =)

We'll also use the opportunity to raise money for Living Water International. You can donate through the blog. This is a great organization which Andrew and I are really excited about partnering with!