I have been training since February 2009 with the goal of completing a cycling tour from Portland, Oregon, to Tybee Island, Georgia in 30 days. The PAC Tour group embarked on July 5th and we are traveling about 3600 miles and climbing approximately 124,000 cumulative feet. Please enjoy sharing my journey across America.
I am asking friends, family, and anybody else interested in following the trip to consider supporting this trip by making a donation to Seattle Children's Hospital, Research, and Foundation. Art and Kristin Reeck have made Children's a priority in their philanthropic efforts over the years, and I laud their achievements. I encourage donations to the Uncompensated Care Fund, to help pay the bills for children without insurance, or with inadequate insurance to pay their bills...lifting the financial and emotional burden from the children and their families. Indicate Jay Across America as the occasion for the donation so we can total the money raised.
Hopefully, someday, we won't have to raise money for causes like this. For now, however, I thank you for your support.
The donation total will be updated occasionally...Consider a donation per mile or vertical foot climbed...and follow on the GPS link, where you can see the route, the speed, the ride profile, the weather, and-yes-my heart rate.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009





I felt like a new man today...after yesterday's recovery. Also, I started using Sustained Energy in one of my waterbottles between every sag/lunch/etc which provides sugar/amino acids/calories/a bit of protein, etc. Before lunch I rode with a few different groups: someone who had 2 major surgeries last year-including a new knee, a father-son pair who are both accomplished racers, and a couple composed of a current racer and a former multiple state-championship holder and essentially pro-racer. The pace was up.
We rode through increasing vegetated valleys with increasingly proportioned waterways, very slightly gaining altitude. We were rewarded with a several mile downhill before turning up the last valley (and getting blasted with wind in the face for about 15 miles). Fortunately, I teamed up with Greg Lester to battle our way in through the last 20 miles. I did note 103 degrees on the thermometer while cleaning my bike and putting some new cleats on my shoes this afternoon when we arrived in Glenwood Springs. 125 miles.
After 2 glasses of chocolate milk, a 360 calorie recovery drink, an ice bath, a massage, and a meal of a cheeseburger with guacamole, mashed potatoes, sausage links, and hashbrowns, everyone joined up for an ice-cream and brownie social. Now I'm going to eat my slice of pie and hit the sack...and dream about 40 miles on a bike path into Aspen, then climbing over Independence Pass - which tops out just over 12000 feet.
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2 comments:

  1. strongarmJuly 15, 2009 at 10:23 PM

    you're in my old stompin grounds and I am jealous! no place better to be in CO this time of year, except maybe Crested Butte rippin around on the dirt :) Have fun climbing the pass tomorrow!

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  2. Christopher MannJuly 16, 2009 at 4:58 PM

    By the time you are posting (probably soon), you'll have the highest point of the tour behind you... so in a way, its all downhill from here :-) You'll have to come back and ride Independence Pass again someday... When it first opens, people have been known to ride up, then carve up the sweet spring corn in the snowfields at the top. So if today was bad, just imagine it with the tele boards strapped to your back... and then think about how fun it could be to do a ride-ski-skin-ride quadrathlon ("quad" being the key to it all :-).

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