I have a bike ride to accomplish.

I've been in Connecticut and North Carolina the past couple of weeks for work and quite honesty, it's been nice to have a 'bike' break. Although- I'm a bit anxious to get going again. I have 5.5 weeks until my departure. My to-do list is almost two pages long. I have some long rides to get in and then my mileage tapers. I have not once resented a training ride (even in 50 degree, rainy weather!) which has shocked me. I get on my bike and I'm happy. I'm ready. I'm physically ready, emotionally ready. 

This past week was a little personally challenging. It's difficult when you encounter change in relationships in your life. Someone who can be your rock one day might not be present the next. Someone you look up to disappoints you. Someone you trust has lied to you. Someone you care about isn't there for you. Not all that occurred this week, however, these experiences have all happened in my lifetime with relationships. The grief or pain might want you to go off track. Today, as I said goodbye to this dear friend, I thought I'd walk away and feel sadness. I did and the waves of that will come back in the weeks to come. But today, I took a few steps away from my friend and these steps turned into confident strides which turned into quite a strut (yes, with sexy boots on even!). And, with that, I put my head up and smiled and said to myself... "I have a bike ride to accomplish".

And with that, I realized that any goal, even small is so significant. We all need them. You want to be healthier? Eat better. You want to reconnect with someone? ​Call them. You want to go back to school? Take the GRE. You want to plant a garden? Start with a large pot for herbs. And, when the sad events occur, and the unexpected disappointments happen and you feel let down... you still have your goal. You still have to figure out a way, maybe a different route to get there. And you focus and you grieve along the way. And with that, you grow and become more confident and when you accomplish your goal, you have changed for the best. 

This ride is for me. It's my ride. ​

Where am I in the change process?

So, I'm pretty obsessed with systems change research and effectiveness. How do we go through change and how do organizations ​navigate change internally? So, many people know I facilitate the Systems Thinking Systems Changing simulation developed by The Network, Inc. Today on my bike ride, I applied the key learnings within the simulation to myself. Yup, I'm a DORK.

I was recently fit by a professional bicycle fitter. Michael Sylverster of Bicycle Fitting Services, ​suggested I try a trailer versus panniers. If you combine all the bicycle touring he's done in his life to consecutive days, it adds up to 3 complete years! His number one reason was that with a trailer, the bicycle handles pretty much the same when you have no weight (other than yourself of course) on it. He offered to loan me his trailer for a few days. I was incredibly resistant to changing up my plan two months before leaving on my bike ride across America. But, I borrowed the trailer, added weight and went on a ride early this morning.

While on the ride, I thought about the systems simulation I facilitate, where school teams or public health partners that work with/in schools have to work together to bring 24 people within a virtual school district from awareness of the change (the facilitator frames the activity depending on the audience, ie., implementation of a sex ed policy, staff wellness opportunities, a new PE curriculum, etc), to the preparation stage, implementation, sustainability and beyond. Within the simulation, virtual staff emerge as leaders, champions and even resisters. I was thinking on my ride how I was a resister. And, processing that, I determined that I resisted the trailer idea only because I've ALWAYS used panniers. Since I was 15. Why change? And, honestly, that is a valid reason to resist. I'm comfortable with it. I have the equipment. I know how my bicycle feels fully loaded. When Michael told me his reasons for advocating trailer use, I was in the awareness stage. I knew it was an option. And, within that stage, I hopped a few spaces over on the game board. Last week, I made it to the preparation stage. I was prepared to try the trailer. And, I borrowed it from him yesterday and this morning took at 15 mile ride with it. At this point, I think I'm at the end of preparation and about to implement. I think I may be converting from panniers to trailer.  I liked the feel of my bike with the trailer even better. In fact, loved it. At some point, I may be sustaining and beyond stages, which means I'll be advocating for the use of a trailer. In the meantime, I'm going to continue to test both options out and make a decision that fits me best!

Bike Fitting!

On Friday I had a legit bicycle fitting by Michael Sylvester at Bicycle Fitting Services in Portland Oregon. He was awesome! Michael took measurements of my body and flexibility. He had me do tests to determine my strength, including my arms and core. And, he had me up on the bike taking photos to show me the angles and where we could make adjustments that aligned to my goals for making the appointment. Those included:

1. Increase comfort
2. Decrease risk of injury and fatigue
3. Increase efficiency

Michael pulled my seat back a little and adjusted it's angle. ​And, he swapped out my handlebars and stem to allow my upper body to be more upright. What a difference! I biked 64 miles on Saturday and a 30 mile hill climb Sunday and it felt super! Thanks Michael! I'll be back for the cleat fitting soon!

Bike Fitting at Bicycle Fitting Services in Portland Oregon

3 months or 6 hours?

Yesterday, on a short 30 mile training ride ;), I passed the Portland Airport. As I rode by at an 18 mph clip, I watched the planes taking off and landing. I thought, this trip, that is taking hours of research, training, uprooting my life completely will take me about 3 months. And, it's amazing that a plane could take me from destination A to B in about 6 hours. Same start and ending states, but a completely different journey. Fascinating.​

GEAR.

In the past two days, I've purchased:
-My panniers (Ortlieb)
-New bike shoes (Giro)
-New Tent (REI Quarter Dome T2 plus)- THANK YOU REI DIVIDEND.
-New Sleeping Bag (Nemo Rhapsody)- packs smaller than my current one
-New Thermarest - it was time for a new one
-New socks :)

I have a scheduled legit bike fitting next Friday. Costly, but worth it when you're going to be putting 4,106 miles on your bike over the course of 3 months.​

Overwhelmed?

Prepping for a trip like this can be extremely overwhelming. For example, there is training (hours and hours), researching and purchasing gear for the trip. On top of all of that, I’m trying to raise $25,000 for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.  This means hours working with a graphic designer on the identity/logo for the ride, developing my website (I did it all myself!), blogging, tweeting, Facebook-ing, emailing, writing handwritten personal thank you notes for those that have donated and planning a send-off party on June 2 (also my birthday)! And, then, there’s moving. Yup, moving out of my fantastic place into a room with a friend. There’s no reason to pay what I pay in rent when I can stay with a friend for a reduced rate. I’m only in town 60% between March and June (work travel) and I’ll be gone June through potentially October. I have work on the east coast end of September and October, so I’ll probably stay through. And, I haven’t even mentioned work. I’m still running my business full time. I’m currently balancing (trying!) the following contracts:
​•Kentucky Department of Education- project consultation
​•Alliance for a Healthier Generation- Kaiser Permanente Thriving Schools work
​•Advocates for Youth- Health Ed Curriculum Analysis Tool training for DC Department of Education
​•Oregon Public Health Division- helping write the Chronic Disease grant, specifically the school health components
​•Facilitating the Living Well annual Network meeting in Oregon in May
​•Facilitating the sexual health brainstorming session for Clinton Health Matters blueprint development day in Little Rock in May

Pro-bono:
​•Presenting at the Adolescent Seaside Sexuality Conference, Seaside OR
​•Presenting at the School Employee Wellness Conference in Bend, OR

PHEW! So, how do I balance everything? Well, my friends aren’t hearing from me as much, that’s for sure. Very little evening plans. Making sure I get 8 hours of sleep. No alcohol. Okay, maybe a drink a week. Eating well. Exercising. I have a feeling the bike trip will be relaxing compared to all this prep.

Here’s a little calendar of what I’ve been doing/plan to do to continue prepping for the trip:
​October
​Registered for UBI’s course
​Worked with personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness on a training plan
​December
​Met with dietician
​Ordered Adventure Cycling Association maps – Trans American Bicycle Trail
​Determined route
​January
​AHG made the pitch to do this as a fundraising effort
​February
​Took UBI course
​Began seriously training
​Began purchasing gear
​Researching bike computer vs iPhone
​Personal trainer 1X/week
​AHG fundraising page launched
​Research on panniers
​Researched self protection options
​March
​Launched site
​Continued to train, personal trainer 1X/week
​Twitter account @roadtorhode
​Purchased panniers
​Purchased bike computer
​Put bike racks on bike
​Purchased new bike shoes
​Moved in with Julie
​Put 90% of my stuff into storage
​Looking for a place to store my car
​Research- health insurance coverage sufficient? Car insurance if I’m not driving (comprehensive only).
​Determined my mail will be forwarded to my parents home in CT
​Change all bills to online payments
​April
​Take self defense course- Portland Public Police women’s course
​Continued to train, personal trainer 1X/week
​Bring bike in to shop for full and final  ‘check up’
​May
​Continued to train, personal trainer 1X/week
​Planned for send-off party planned for June 2

Launching... now!

Welcome to my site! It has been an exciting couple of months preparing for this life-changing event. I'm in the process of moving and putting most of my belongings into storage. I've been on my bicycle almost every day getting miles in on the saddle. All this on top of running a business full time! I'm super excited and life couldn't be better. Thank you for visiting this site and I hope you'll consider donating. Even dollar helps! Be part of the cause... we need our schools to be healthy places for students to grow, thrive and learn. And, be part of Team Road to Rhode... so I know you are supporting me over every hill, during every thunderstorm, sleeping under the stars during every cold night in a tent and enduring each muscle cramp!

Love,​

Jess

Training

Training every day has begun!  I know have a Garmin Edge 810 (dreamy) and I'm getting used to it (slowly). ​I've gone from 3 training sessions a week at the gym to one with my trainer, Aaron. This way, I'm putting more time on the bike with only 1-2 days a week lifting. I feel good and it feels easy now to do a 30 mile ride. However, finding hours in a day to get rides in is incredibly challenging. And, I'm a consultant (meaning flexible hours)! Currently, my days are spent training, eating, sleeping, working, packing up my place and maybe a social event here or there. But rarely on the socializing. Not much time! I feel good and it's nice to focus on a goal. 

United Bicycle Institute

One of the first things I did to prepare for this journey was to commit to learning more about my bicycle. I've had my custom Vanilla Bicycle for over ten years at this point, but wanted to know more about how to maintain it (I'm not super great at that) and obviously fix it when possible. A clearer understanding of how the systems work and reasoning behind why certain parts/components are on my bicycle in particular would be helpful. The 40 hour Introduction to Bicycle Maintenance course was held in Portland February 4-8. You can find out more information here. ​There were 17 students, half of whom traveled from all over the US to take this course.  Among the participants were retirees who spend a lot of time bike-touring and want to know more than how to fix a flat tire, aspiring bike mechanics, current bike mechanics, people who ride a lot and want to gain the knowledge and skills to work on their own bikes and adults running bike programs for youth. It was a fabulous mix of people and I fully enjoyed working with my bike-stand-partner, Phil originally from Tasmania and heading back there from Vancouver, BC with his wife to be much closer to family!

The trainers were not just knowledgeable bike geeks, but made working on bikes fun and created an environment that was safe to learn and ask questions. Here was our workshop agenda, 8-5 each day:​

Day 1: Wheels, hubs, tires and tubes​

Day 2: Pedals, cranksets and bottom brackets​

Day 3: Derailleurs​

Day 4: Rim brakes and disc brakes​

Day 5: Headsets, handlebars and stems​

There was much more to what I just listed... we spent an hour talking about the geometry of bikes and how to best fit a bicycle. We spent time talking about cleaning and maintenance schedules, different types of brakes, seats, bike shoes, etc. It was just fabulous!  I feel much more confident adjusting and working on my bike. Hoping I won't need to use many hardcore skills I learned on my upcoming trip, but at least if I need to, I'm more well-equipped!

The UBI Classroom

You know, orange finger nails and bike grease? Sexy!​

Setting everything out so I put it back together the way it should be!​

October- Present

In October, as my crazy dream of 23 years started to become something I could feasibly do this summer, I started to plan. I'm an expert at planning. I love making lists and drawing diagrams and creating goals. So, the first thing I did was make a commitment. I registered for a forty hour bicycle maintenance course hosted by United Bicycles Institute www.bikeschool.com. I'll write more about that course since I have since taken it (AWESOME!), however, it held me accountable to at least learning more about how to take care of my bike which I ride often, but neglect maintaining it even more so.

I did not really fully commit to this trip until February 13, 2013, after a meeting with my financial advisor. I needed his confidence in my finances to allow me to say, "I can do this."

These people I consider my advisors. They are truly the foundation that enables me to fulfill this dream. Of course, I have family, friends, colleagues that are providing the emotional support- you will be mentioned at another time.

Koko Hunt: My financial advisor, who rocks.

MJ Petroni: My business coach for six year now, who I now consider a close friend. My business is as successful as it is because he has been a part of my advising team.

Judy Johnson: My accountant who alongside Koko, advises me personally and professionally on many fiscal decisions.

Aaron Simpson: My personal trainer of two years who patiently puts up with my crazy nomadic work travel schedule. He holds me accountable for working out and my training for this trip. My lowered risk of injury and the benefits of strength and endurance are a result of his guidance and support.

Lisa Miller: My awesome therapist who has been a great support the past couple of years!

Julie R: A friend who is charging me a minimal amount to move in with her to save money on rent.