Joy Ride 2 January discussions; a log on the fire

Greetings

Its time to throw another log on the fires of our Joy Ride.   Over the past week, Bob, Steve, Gabe and I have connected and discussed a few issues related to Joy Ride 2:  Utah to Kansas...   Im happy to say that everyone is looking forward to the ride and has it pencilled into their July calendars now.   We will continue to tighten the strings on our trip in coming months.   Meanwhile, here are some bullets and thoughts I grabbed from talking with the Boys: 

1. The route:   We discussed a couple of different options, but in the end, we all felt like continuing where we left off, and to continue heading East, was the right move.   So, Cedar Falls to somewhere just west of Alexander Kansas seems like the right move.  
2. The miles:   We have too many miles to ride this year.  Simple as that.  Intentions was to try and make Cedar falls to Alexander (supporting a 4 year transam) but that is not achievable given the 900 miles we would have to go in 12 days.   So, we said: Forget it.. We stick with our target of 60 miles a day, and include 1 century day on the ride and see where we end.    Bob and I spent some time on the phone poking around at the towns and the distances, and there are a number of ways to look at this years ride.  A couple of things jumped out at us:   First:  The towns are very small, so first step is to identify what towns along the way have what services.. hotels and food stuff.. Next, we will try and pen together a route that meets our 60 mile / day average + a century day and see what happens.  Our preliminary idea is that we will probably have a couple of shorter days and a couple of longer days, AND, that we as a group will need to evaluate options in February to get our heads moving in the same direction.   What is needed and what do we want in terms of trade offs? 
3. The days:   I am back from Angola on July 12th.   Intentions are for me to get in my truck with Gabe et al and drive to cedar falls on Saturday.   I can ride either Sunday or Monday depending upon how the boys feel and what we decide.   So, Riding schedule looks like:
1. July 14th - July 25th .   Drive to local drop off town for flyers, and Gabe and I drive back to CA on 26th / 27th.   12 days of riding.. assume 750 miles this year. 
4. The riders:   Bob, Doug, Gabe and Steve.   Discussion of whether or not others would be welcome to join came up.  And the answer was:  Yes... if they are good with our Creed:  No bosses, just joy and fun.. and everyone gets to ride their own ride..  they are welcome to join.   They will have to figure out their own transportation too and from, but the sag should be OK to support them.
5. The Sag:  As Im writing this, there are a couple of options floating around.  More on the driver later, but for sure, my vehicle will be the one we use.  I wanna have that freedom and always know that I can drive and support us as needed.    Some things we also talked about and all agreed upon was that the SAG needs to be easier for the driver.   Last year, for a number of reasons, SAG became too hard.   Choices.. always choices.. So, this year, part of our creed is that everyone is responsible for supporting the SAG person as they are being supported.. Everyone is ready and has their gear with them.. A bit more active than last year.   And, most importantly, the distribution of the riders along the route is the responsibility of the riders and not the SAG.   Meaning:  The driver cant be hanging with the end of the trip and be cycling up ahead to the people in the front.   Rather, there will likely be a couple of drops for water and ice, and a bit of monkeying around through the day, but the trailing riders gotta gut it out more than last year.  This probably means we all need to think a bit more about what gear and stuff we take with us so that in the event of bad weather, we can hang, and if we have some mechanical thing, we are ready with tools, or our thumbs or phones.  And, the idea is that the first guys into the completion town jumps in the truck and heads back down the road to check on stuff.. while the SAG hangs out and enjoys the life.   Better care and feeding of the SAG.   More discussion on that later for sure.   AND, the SAG needs to temper their expectations.  Find the balance point between responsibility and hyper vigilance.   A tough call when you are in the SAG position, but hard to maintain a high vigilance for the entire time without struggling or being bored / trapped in the car for hours
6. The Circle:  I would appreciate having a more formal circle established each evening.  The idea is to sit and speak about the day and about where each of us is on the journey.   Thoughts, ideas, gaps, beauty and struggle all have room during our evening circle, but I see that this is something that we probably could have spent a bit more time doing, and improved our ride earlier in the trip..  To learn and provide better individual support and enhanced experiences is what we are targetting.   I hope we can develop a circle culture this year.    More on this later. 
7. The Next Steps:  
1. Bob is working on the route details between Cedar Falls and Pueblo CO.  Towns, distances, hotels, ammenities etc.  
2. Doug is working on the route details between Pueblo and Alexander KS. 
3. Steve will be buying himself maps for the trip.
4. Gabe is brining a camera
5. Doug and Steve are kicking the tires on some SAG folks..  maybe that didnt come out right! 
6. Gabe is bringing his bike down to CA to be repaired.. he has bought a carbon frame Giant, so we will work on that during his February birthday trip to SF!  
7. Next Call:  Doug will schedule for later in February..
8. The Jedi Training:   We all learned that a couple of things made a big difference last year.   One of them was to have put in the miles and being fit, and the other was to have your bike ready and to have the necessary equipment and clothing.    I personally have decided to ride 2 centuries before the trip this summer and will be putting in ATLEAST 1000 miles before we begin the trip.   I have committed to making up a riding program for myself and need to stick to it.   I am also setting a target weight of 192 lbs for me and am actively dropping from my current 199.   I hope to be at 190 by the time of the ride.  
9. The Stuff:  Please bring as little stuff as absolutely necessary (Steve) as not to mention any names (Steve), but perhaps we all brought a little too much with us last year and ended up doing too much laundry..   Me:  I am resolute on the liklihood that I wont be going to a laundry mat during the trip.   Simple easy to wash fabrics which I will dry in my room.. no cotton anything except my undies.   Im going to be doing laundry in the shower and drying them in the car or whatever.   Most of my stuff is gonna be good to go without need for a dryer.  

With deep appreciation and excitement: 
Doug