12 days till the ride

We are getting psyched and packed, with 12 days til we start the ride and only 10 days til we fly to Banff.  We are excited about the donations, we are up to 35% of our goal.  So to answer some questions that have popped up from people.  The ride will consist of Jen and I, there is no group of people or support vehicle.  Showers....what showers, we will wash up in water sources and yes take the occasional shower at a campground with shower facilities.  Our goal is to camp and not use any hotels/motels that we come across, though we will stay at the occasional 'bicyclist only' lodging, which is basically a trail angel.  The best way to describe this adventure is think about people who have hiked the appalachian trail, except we are on bikes.  We will be pulling BOB trailers with our bikes, packing as minimally as possible.  We will have a water filter to treat the water we find along the way.  The route is mostly off road on dirt back roads, fire roads, forest service roads and some single track trail, about 10% of it is on pavement.  We plan on stopping in libraries along the way to update our blog, we do not have smart phones.  We will pack up our bikes in bike boxes and take them on the plane with us, there is a $150 fee for bikes.  There is an unofficial race that starts at noon on June 8, no entry fee, no winnings and no support.  We will plan to be at the start to take some vid and pics.  We will post at least one more time before we head to Banff.  Hasta luego. 

3 weeks til departure

Today we did the 64 mile North Shore Tour de Cure ride for the American Diabetes Association; they announced our ride and we were able to hand out some of our cards with our Blog information on it.  The donations are flowing in we are up to $750, which is 27% of our goal!  It is truly awesome how giving people have been, we are very thankful to you all.  The plan is to depart on June 9 from Banff, we feel as though we are on schedule with preparations and training.  What seemed to be surreal has slowly shifted to becoming reality, we are so grateful for this opportunity.  Keep the donations flowing, no amount is too small, it all adds up.  Chow for now.  :~`)

5 Weeks to go...

So obviously we are getting really psyched for this as we are posting with still several weeks to go.  Update on the snow, they have had some warm temps and rain, so the snow is melting, hopefully will be gone or at least almost gone in 5 weeks.  Reports are indicating a faster than average snow melt this year.  We also want to thank those who have donated to the American Diabetes Association using our link, we have received some very generous donations.  Currently we are at 10% of our goal.  Donations can be made from now until some time after we complete the ride in August.  We have begun practicing with the video camera and Jen believes that she is just hilarious, laughing at herself, we will see how funny she is after a looong hot day in the saddle!