The Schedule

By Mark Heggestad
The Journey Begins

We are on the road.  Didn’t give you much warning, did I?  Because I have been busy.  Call it unorganized, call it poor planning, call it distracted.  For the last two days I have been buying stuff I need, packing, getting bikes tuned, and trying to wrap up loose ends before leaving home for three months.  Didn’t sleep last night.  That’s right, I packed through the night right up until Jill and I left for Owatonna to meet at Brian and Pat’s house.  I always work best under pressure.  Brian had the camper loaded, bikes secured in the back of the pick-up, and we were heading for the Pacific Coast by 8:30 this morning. 

The plan is to spend the next three days driving 1,900 miles, relax on Sunday, and on Monday we will have bikes on the road.  Yahoo!!  Excitement is mounting.  We have been driving for ten hours and everyone is smiling and excited with anticipation of what lies ahead.  And that’s despite the fact we started this morning in Minnesota with 33-degree temp and snow flurries.  Felt a little ominous for the beginning of a 4,000-mile bike trip.  But hey, we are finally on our way.  Jill and Pat are road-tripping to Oregon with us and once they verify Brian and I are really doing this, they are catching a plane back to Minnesota on Tuesday.

Some of you have asked about our timing along the route.  The short answer: Brian, Bruce, and I are retired – there is no schedule.  If we were forced to state a plan it would be approximately 60 miles a day.  Except on good days, we may do a lot more.  And on bad days… I like to think there won’t be any bad days.  A few mountains, a little wind, how bad could it get?  Oh yeah, and we are taking a break in late June when Brian is expecting yet another grandbaby.  Maybe a day off here and there for sight seeing (or recovery).  That all adds up to us ending this journey sometime around late July.  Pueblo, CO is the half way point in terms of miles so we should be there sometime in mid June.

Made it to Gillette, Wyoming today.  We are a third of the way to the Pacific – right on schedule!

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 28, 2017 at 7:45 AM

    Can't wait to follow your journey Mark - sending you lots of luck!

    ReplyDelete

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