Bishops Bike Adventure Day 1, July 1, 2010

With a long distance relationship, getting to bed late at night was customary whenever Debbie and I got together, but we didn’t necessarily anticipate this phenomenon as a married couple. However, the frenetic confluence of major events in the last few months culminated in some bedtimes in the past week that ran anywhere from 3:00 AM to 4:30 AM. These events consist of our matrimonial engagement at Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park on April 22, 2010, my retirement from Dead River Company after 26 years of service on April 30, 2010, Debbie’s completion of yet another very busy school year, her 13th, in Framingham’s school district on June 17, 2010, our wedding on June 19, 2010, a 4-night honeymoon on the coast of Maine, complete with loaded tour bike riding as goods recently purchased were thrown into panniers to simulate our upcoming biking experience, and cleaning out and vacating my apartment of 25 years on June 29th.

Last night, or rather this morning, bedtime didn’t arrive until 4:45, with the alarm set for 8:00! The last minute crunch included packing panniers and setting up our new netbook in anticipation of a 12:30 flight from Boston to Portland, OR.

When you prepare for an excursion such as we are embarking upon, minimizing packed weight is paramount. Debbie purchased some luggage from goodwill last weekend, as these bags will serve us only one trip before we jettison them in Portland. Underneath the scabby exterior are brand new Ortlieb waterproof panniers that will mount on bike racks. Panniers are bags specially designed to carry goods on bikes that do long distance touring or commuting. Both bikes, Trek’s bread and butter 520 touring model, have already arrived at a bike shop in Portland and will be reassembled for pickup tomorrow. They will carry four panniers each, two in the front and two in the back, plus an easily removable and tote-able handlebar bag for valuables.

Debbie took great care last night to ensure that each pannier was well balanced and that the weight could be distributed uniformly on the bike, and also into checkable baggage without tripping overweight toll charges. She did a marvelous job. We anticipate that I will carry roughly 50 pounds and Debbie 40. We can adjust the weight allocation to equalize our riding speeds.

We are in the air now as we write this, thanks in part to direct airport shuttle service courtesy of Chris Brown. Thanks again for that, Chris. It has been smooth traveling thus far, including a relaxing three-hour stop in Chicago, with a chance for heavy eyes to rest. We will be picked up at the airport in Portland by Debbie’s cousin, Dr. Jim Massey. Jim is an outdoor enthusiast who wants to help make our transition into our adventure as smooth as possible. Thanks in advance, Jim.

Despite the lack of sleep, we are both excited about what lies ahead. We feel so blessed and encouraged by the outpouring of support that we’ve received as we married last week at Debbie’s church in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and embarked on a new life together. For those who were unable to attend the wedding, we will post some photos and a copy of the wedding program as soon as we learn how! We have good early reports on our first two weeks together: we survived myriad discussions about which of Tim’s sentimental furniture favorites and sports memorabilia would be thrown away, given to charity, or sent to storage. More to come on that upon our return! We are learning that compromise is an essential element to these negotiations! As we are both first-time newlyweds at 52 years of age, we believe that God has led us to one another and has allowed us to experience this most intriguing endeavor. May the fun, joy, excitement, and education begin! Thanks for reading and we’ll be back soon! In the meantime, please share your thoughts in the comments section and feel free to provide feedback on the content herein--like I said, we’re new at this!