- I like riding with someone! It was great having Greg and Jason with me for 2 days, and Jason with me for another 3 days. I ride a lot on my own, but it’s a lot more fun to ride in a group.
- There wasn’t enough time to enjoy camping! Greg and Becky are experienced campers and we had everything you would need. The problem is we had everything you would need. It was too much to ask Becky to set up everything every day and too much to take down and pack up the next morning.
- The support truck is FANTASTIC! Not having to carry everything makes the riding so much more enjoyable. I wore an Osprey back pack with about 2 liters of water in it to start. In addition, I usually had an apple, Cliff bar, and maybe a Kind bar for our rest stops. Lastly, I had my shoe covers and jacket in case of rain. The pack probably weighed 15 lbs, but that’s not bad.
- The pace was awesome! That’s easy for me to say since I tend to ride pretty hard and have been racing most of my life. But we kept about a 12 mph pace for the 5 days and it was just very pleasant to not drive so hard for a change.
- Catching COVID sucks!! It definitely put the kibosh on the 1st part of this journey and sent my Florida gang packing. I haven’t felt too bad, when riding or when recovering. But I want to get a negative test before I hit the road again.
- The gadgets were great. What an inventory: Garmin Fenix 5S Plus for metrics, Garmin Edge 830 for navigation, Apple iPhone for taking still pictures, the GoPro Hero 10 Black for video, the Google My Maps application for routing, the Garmin Base Camp application for loading the Edge, and the Mac Book Pro for blogging. Yes, I need all of that!!!
- Twenty-Nine days is too long! I know this was an epic journey, but that’s a long time to be away from home. My girlfriend Becky and I have a routine, even though it’s not routine. I certainly missed her and just hanging out. I hadn’t seen her for 10 days, the longest stretch in the 5 years we’ve been dating. It was nice to sit back for the Memorial Day weekend and just chill with her. We were bummed we couldn’t visit family, but we wanted to be safe, not sorry!
- Our support staff was top notch! Yeah, Greg’s wife Becky was unbelievable and more than we could have hoped for. Thank you!
- Commenters are great! Thanks to all for posting comments and sending along well wishes. I try to respond to all of the comments — if I missed any, it’s not intentional.
- The biggest lesson is really more of my life’s philosophy. “Don’t let perfect get in the way of success!” The outcome (so far) wasn’t what I had trained for, or planned for, or expected. But I call it a huge success! 1) Getting my brother to train for this and get excited about the trip was instrumental to his well being. He’s got the spark to keep training and get ready for a Florida adventure this coming Winter. 2) I had never planned or set in motion a trip like this, so for me, it was well worth taking a step out the door. I’m looking forward to doing more like this (just not as long). 3) Don’t lament that things weren’t perfect, just enjoy that you were able to accomplish what you did!!!
Lessons Learned
Love your positivity and learnings. Can’t wait to read about chapter 2!!!
Thanks! Coming soon!
Attitude is 1 of the 2 things you can actually control! I believe the other to be effort. I love positive people 😘
Agreed!
Love the introspection. As we’ve discussed, I’m all about the destination and getting there, so my hard lesson would be slowing down to enjoy the journey.
I’m going to try!
Good attitude to have. It was a success. Most people could not have done what you guys did. I know I couldn’t.
Thanks Janel!
Sorry to hear you caught COVID. I did too (and yes, I agree it Sucks!!!) A little over 2 weeks now for me and not yet feeling normal again yet. I am hoping to have a negative test sometime this week.
Many would say I’ve never been normal 🙂
I’m feeling pretty good in general though.
You positivity will take you very far on this journey, and in life in general. And it was very rewarding to read it. Good Luck Dennis!
Thanks Mileya!