The idea of dropping everything in our lives has come with a rollercoaster of emotions. The trick has been to get past the fear. The fear of what will our friends and family think. The fear that people will think we’re crazy. The fear that we might get hurt or hit by a car. The fear that we might get attacked by a bear. The fear that we will basically be homeless. The fear that we won’t have a job. The fear that we don’t have a home. The fear that we wouldn’t have the stamina to ride 4,500 miles over three months while camping half the nights. The fear that we don’t know what the future has instore for us after the ride. Once we got past the fear and gained the confidence to step outside the box it’s been a lot of fun planning our trip together.
About twelve months ago Kim and I started tentatively planning our trip for 2021, unsure if we were comfortable stepping away from our daily routines, family and friends. The pandemic made the decision easier for us as employment opportunities dried up and at the age of 58, I’m looking for a new beginning.
We’ve been doing a lot of reading of books and blogs following the adventures of those that have toured before us. Many of these authors have been very generous with their packing lists and little tidbits of information that we’ve used to create our own list. Not just lists of gear needed for the trip, but list of items to check off before leaving. Since Kim and I are both going to be gone for three to four months there will be nobody home to watch the proverbial farm, no one to pay the bills, no one to pick up the mail, etc.
Some of the highlights on the pre-trip to-dos include a list of accounts and passwords available to the kids just in case, update our will, make sure health insurance covers us all over America, contact car insurance company for options, make sure our mail is picked up and opened, make sure the bills get paid and find someone to be our shipper and receiver should we be in need during the trip.
Motch Across America to-do lists include creating a budget, creating a campaign and plan with the LCBA, creating a blog, creating a Facebook page and fundraiser, creating a list of corporate and individual sponsors, creating a route across America, contacting a local bike shop to ship out bikes, contacting a bike shop in Astoria to receive and put our bikes together and fine tune, creating a mailer/postcard to announce the fundraiser, creating business cards to give to people we meet along the route, creating a list of gear that we’d like to carry with us and then creating a list of gear that we will actually carry with us.
Like I’ve mentioned, preparedness can make for a more joyous adventure. Like a young kid going to the old Shack in Detroit Lakes, I’ll be packed two weeks ahead of time anticipating the adventure. One of the tradeoffs we’ve made for our trip is that although we plan on camping roughly half of the nights, we are not bringing any camping cookware. It will lighten our load but will increase the cost of food a little. From everything I’ve read an average touring person carries 45-75 pounds of gear, including the panniers (saddle bags). I’m shooting for a number closer to 45. We still have a few items to pickup to round out our packing list and hope to have that part of the to-do’s completed within a week. As we’ll be crossing the Rockies in early June and hitting an elevation of 11,250 feet, we could see all kinds of weather and increases the need for “what if” gear. Once we have all our gear together, I’ll post a fully loaded list of items.
