Day 1, April 24th, Costa Mesa, CA to Palm Springs CA

Whoa baby we are on our way.  Covered 115 miles with 3700 feet of climbing.  Longest climb was 6 miles long and was brutal.  Weather was great.  Good temperature, tail wind, little bit of rain.  The mood of the group was electric.  We have some riders in our group who do not recognize the term "take it easy."  Not me though.  Coming into Palm Springs we had a 35 mph tail wind that pushed us along at 35 - 40 mph.  That lasted for 30 miles and was incredible.  The only problem for me was that I flatted.   Kind of scary when you are going 38 mph..  We started with a ride down to the beach and a ceremonial dipping of our rear wheels into the Pacific and then were off! Oh no, only 32 days left!

 Next stop the Atlantic Ocean!

Just outside of Palm Springs



One More Day, April 23, 2011

The time is getting near.  Spent most of the day in registration/orientation sessions.  This outfit i.e. America By Bicycle, is very thorough and organized.  The 4 staff members really seem to know their stuff.  At the end of the sessions the general consensus from our group was, "Dang, they scared the hell out of me!"  As for me, they did a good job of getting my undivided attention and questioning my sanity for being here.  I think that was their plan.  It will be important to ease into this challenge over the first 7 days.  Establish a routine, good riding, eating and sleeping habits, etc..   I am concerned but I think that is  healthy!!  I have met all 25 members of our group and fortunately we all have name tags.  It is a fairly diverse group.  Several riders from the UK, New Zealand and Norway.  They seem like a good bunch of guys.  We did get out  for a small group ride down on the beach.  It is tempting to drop out of this ride and just stay here.  What a gorgeous place.  Tomorrw at 7:00 a.m. we begin.  Hope I can sleep tonite!!

Steve, Eric, Bob, Lasse, Jay

2 More Days, April 22, 2011

Spent the day  resting (a little) and preparing for the challenge.  Road 35 miles on Newport Beach and Highway #1/ Pacific Coast Highway.  What a beautiful place.  Met a few of my fellow riders.  Got my bike checked out by Mike (the tour leader).  It passed inspection and was declared ready to go!  While riding on  Newport Beach I asked someone to take this pic for all of my fans back home!!

3 More Days, April 21, 2011

I am in California!!   Flew out of Bishop airport at 7:00 a.m..  Leisa Rose was kind enough to drop me off at 6:00 a.m.. I have to admit that it really did not register with me until we were heading down I-75 that I was going to be away from home and Leisa for over a month.  In nearly 39 years of marriage we have never been apart for so long.  I  suspect she will survive without me easier than I will without her!  I flew to Cleveland and a ½ hour later was on a flight to Denver.  Following a 2 hour layover in Denver I arrived at Orange County airport aka John Wayne Airport at 1:30 pm, PT.  It was an uneventful day of traveling.

The extra special good news was that my bike was here waiting for me.  It only took a few minutes to unpack and get her reassembled.

It is  good to be here.

If you have not looked that the fund raising page you gotta do it.  Take a look at what the students at Cramer Jr. HS were able to do and also what our friends in the Western HS and MS Special Education Departments were able to do.  Thank you!!

One Week And Counting..........

It is hard to believe that the time to ride is almost here!  One week from today I will have completed day #1, having road from Costa Mesa, California to Palm Spring, California a distance of 112 miles with 4,150 feet of climbing.  Hopefully I will be thinking, "Oh no, only 32 days and 3,345 miles to go.  I do not want this to end!"

On Thursday I completed my last day of riding/training.  Since March 16th I logged 715 miles.  Not bad considering that I lost an entire week of riding due to being sick and the weather never did cooperate (it was down right nasty).  I am quite confident that I have the "base fitness" to complete this challenge.  However, I have to remind myself that it is only 1/5th the miles I will put in during the next month! 

On Friday I turned my trusty bike over to Fed Ex.  The pics below are of the packaging I used.  The bike is scheduled to arrive in Costa Mesa on Thursday, April 21st.  I will be flying out that morning and with any luck we will both arrive safely at the hotel at the same time.  We have an orientation session on Saturday and will begin riding on Sunday.  I checked with America By Bicycle last week and there are 21 riders signed up for the cross country tour and another 5 who are doing sections of the tour.  We will be assisted by 4 staff members who will shepherd us safely across the country using
 2 vans.

On Friday & Saturday I had the pleasure of spending some time with my 2 favorite Grand Boyz, Garrett and Ezra.  I arrived early to relieve the day care provider of them (she appeared to be quite grateful!) and we headed immediately to our "special park" where we spent 1 1/2 hours swinging, climbing, sliding and having a great time.  When we returned home I discovered that Ezra had a "goose egg" on his forehead and Garrett had a cut lip.  We explained to their Mom's that "something must have happened at day care."  We spent the evening playing cars, eating an incredible meal and taking baths.  At 7:30 the next morning they rousted me out of bed to begin the day.  We played cars, hide and seek, drew pictures, danced and just chilled out while their Mom went grocery shopping.  When she returned home we ate lunch, they went down for a nap and I headed home thoroughly exhausted thinking, "If I can survive that, the ride will be a piece of cake!"  Spending time with these two little buggers is an incredible experience and a true joy.  They are two gorgeous children and it is obvious that they are blessed to have two loving, nurturing and caring Mom's!!  Thank you Sarah and Cindy!!!

The fund raising is going well.  We have collected $5088 from 119 doners and are well on our way to meeting our goal of $7000.  If you have not yet had the opportunity to donate, log onto http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/jaycrane/jay-cranes-fundraising and donate today.  

Two more weeks...................

Two weeks from today I will have finished the first day of the ride.  I have been able to get a lot of riding in during the past week.  Though the weather was lousy I was able to log another 200 miles giving me 580 miles total for the "season".  With each ride a feel stronger and more confident that I will be able to get from coast to coast!

The fund raising is going very well. As of today we have raised $4237. If you have not yet had the opportunity to contribute log onto http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/jaycrane/jay-cranes-fundraising and do it today!

I think I will be seen out on the road in this jersey!!

This is the route we will be following.

21 Days To Go..........

Three weeks from today I will have completed the first day of "the ride".  As the event approaches I am getting more and more anxious to hit the road.  Unfortunately the weather in Michigan has not been cooperative at all.  During a brief break in the winter weather I got a few rides in but not what I had hoped for.  We spent last week at Hunting Island, S.C. and though the weather was less than ideal, I was able to do a lot of riding.  In 7 days of riding I road 350 miles.  On the 6th day I did a 101 mile ride in 6 hours.  To participate in the tour I have to be able to demonstrate that I can do 100 miles in 5 - 6 hours of riding time.  I was very pleased with my performance given the fact that I did it by myself (no opportunity for drafting, pace lines, etc.) and the weather was lousy (50 degrees, rain and 10 mph winds).  This picture was taken at the conclusion of the ride and if I do say so myself, I think I look like I could go right out and do another 100 miles.  I am quite confident that I am up to the challenge!

The fund raising is going well.  We have currently raised close to $3500 for Special Olympics.  Our goal is $7000, so if you have not yet done so log on and donate today: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/jaycrane/jay-cranes-fundraising