DAY 0: 9/19 Pacific tire dip and let the "BHAG" begin!

DAY 0: 9/19/21 2446 miles JFK to SAN by Jet Blue; 16.2 miles by bike –

After months of anticipation and planning, the big day went pretty much as planned. Flew JFK to SAN, took Uber to Trek store in Solana Beach (thank you Antoinette, 53 year old grandmother of 5!) and picked up our bikes that we shipped about 10 days ago. Thank you Mike and crew for reassembling our bikes!

TREK Bicycle Superstore

And then just as we were out their door it started. Other cross country cyclists had told us that people are going to start talking with you and asking you all about what you’re doing. An older couple was intrigued and we spoke for ten minutes and heard about their ride down the Danube. How many random encounters like this will we have and what memories will result?

The plan was for a short ride to make sure the bikes were functioning well. The bonus was that we enjoyed a beautiful ride down the coast through Delmar, Torrey Pines State Park, UC San Diego area and to our hotel. The ride offered gorgeous ocean views and so we decided to do the customary dipping of the back tire in the Pacific today since we were literally oceanside. How many days until our front tire touches the Atlantic? 

Pacific Ocean sendoff

We rode briefly next to a younger couple in cool matching cycling gear on a tandem and I’ve asked Heather to ride tandem. I asked them to tell her how great it is for relationships and you get to talk the whole ride. They did share how much they love it. So I turn to Heather and said we could rent one for a week to see how we like it. And she quickly replied “or for a day”. Love her independence!

It had been two weeks since our last ride as we had to give time to get our bikes packed and shipped. I hadn’t realized how much I missed riding and I was definitely a bit stressed the past week. Probably a combination of some jitters, too many last minute details, and now I think bike withdrawal. I got my “fix” today and It was rejuvenating to have the riding feeling again. 

We walked around Mission Bay (amazing cool, young, active vibe and place to live) and headed to the Mission Beach area for dinner overlooking a beautiful sun setting, dropping into the ocean. 

As we pondered what’s ahead, Heather’s main concern is will we suffer mechanical issues we can’t deal with. Top on my mind is the heat we will face the coming first week and overall will my 58 year old body, especially knees and hips, be able to “cash the check” that my brain (thinking it’s 28)  has written? Am I chasing the fountain of youth? Is this ride too ambitious? I like, or better yet love, the good wisher that said “good luck that’s an audacious goal”. It positively triggered Jim Collins (coauthor of Good to Great, and Built to Last) business management guru for me. Collins wrote of the need to tackle BHAGs. That’s Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Tomorrow our BHAG begins!

Day 0 Strava


© Copyright Mark Segal 2021.


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