The Continental 48 and it starts with San Antonio
Sometime shortly after the Dam-to-Dam ride last September, I got to thinking like I normally do, about what it next. Would I dare to do the RAIN ride? Would I try another century? Perhaps a ride around ole Gitche Gumee? Did I want to focus on swimming? Maybe another triathlon? Lots of questions with no real answer.
I settled on wanting to keep riding. Let my body rest a little bit but keep up the riding. So, as I sat around looking up rides to do on google, I kept getting hits for rides in Ohio, Kentucky, and even Illinois. I thought why not go try and ride in another state, that could be fun. I could find a location ride to do in 2025.
I keep thinking about riding in different places. Then I had a vision of me packing up Nebula and putting the bike on the back and driving to these different locations to ride. I really started to like the idea of going to different rides. Then the idea came to me. I am not sure exactly when or how, but it did come to me all the same. I wouldn’t just drive to one ride, but to several, and that several would lead me to doing a bike even in every one of the lower 48.
So, fumble with the idea for a few weeks and September turned into October and at the top of my to do list was Rides by State. A few days into October the heat broke. It started to cool off and get cloudy. My sinuses started to act up and I got really tired. I mean like bone weary tired. Like zero motivation tired. As the tiredness linger, I started to miss workouts. I mean I was still doing 3 or 4 a week, but I was missing more than I was making.
I kept asking my coach to miss move workouts. Then telling her I was just really tired and had zero motivation. She asked for a phone call, and we discussed it. I did tell her I think part of it was the weather change and that my sinuses were bad, but I also believed part of it was a question of motivation. The big ride of the year had come and gone, and I didn’t understand why I was still breaking my ass on the bike indoors or outdoors.
Then I told her my idea was to ride in every one of the lower 48. She thought this was a great idea. However, unlike me who was content to let this fester over the next few months while I dicked around looking at races in my free time. Let me translate that for you not doing anything about it for a while. She suggested why don’t I find a race to do down south where it would be warm in December. She assigned me homework and told me I had a few weeks to find a ride to do in December before she got back from Spain.
I really don’t know what the difference is between being assigned to find a ride and being told to get it scheduled and having it at the top of the to do list, but honestly there is one. One was never going to get done and the other is already done.
In less than a week I picked a ride, figured out how I was going to get there, got someone to do it with me, booked a hotel, told some friends to come see me, got tickets to an NBA game, and signed up for the ride. That was a real mouthful there.
On December 7, 2024, I am going to do the Mission to Mission Ride in San Antonio, TX. It is going to be another metric century. That is my sweet spot. I love doing sixty some miles. The ride looks nice. I have never been to San Antonio, but I am really looking forward to going.
I am going to drive down. I will leave here on the 5th. It is a 17-hour drive. I am planning on tacking on an extra 45 minutes and going to my sister’s house in Arkansas for the night if she will have me on the way there and on the way back. While, I was thinking about taking Kona, I think tis better she stays home. The dog walker Andrea has already agreed to watch over the girl while I am gone.
I am going to meet the Beaver there in San Antonio.
I will be driving his bike down along with Cylon. I booked us for a three-night stay at the Super 8 by Wyndam. It has a 7.8 out of 10 rating on hotels.com. The hotel is like 1.4 miles from the ride start. The reviews say it is clean and that is all I really care about.
We are going to go watch Gregg Popovich coach a game while we are there. I am not a huge NBA guy, but Pop is a legend, and we might as well see him if we can.
So, here I come Texas, you are the first in my new journey to do all the lower 48. Well, I mean technically you are my third because I have ridden in California and Indiana already. So, there you have it. By the end of 2025 I will have 3 states down and 45 more to go.
Let’s be honest, before it is all said and done, I will be trying to ride in all 50 states. I mean I am sure I can be talked into doing something in Hawaii and Alaska : )
I will start looking for a ride in the South again for February got to start making this a regular thing and see if I can't check off 5 or 6 per years!
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