Road Trippin'

Road Trip 2011: A Trip in Three Parts

The girls have been bugging me to start this year’s trip journal. Mostly, I think they need something to do in the car . . . so here we go.

Our 2010 summer road trip was fantastic. We knew we wanted to do another, but where did we want to go? There were a lot of good ideas, but the plan was settled when some velomobile riders from Europe announced a 2011 summer ride across the United States. Mike has been interested in a long bike trip, so the opportunity to see the country by velo with 49 other riders was too good to pass up. As a result, everyone in our family is taking a long road trip; we just won’t all do it at the same time.

This year’s trip report will have three sections.

1. The trip west. The girls and I will be transporting the velo from Michigan to Portland, Oregon.

2. Family time in Portland: We will meet Mike in Portland, spend some prep time there, and work as trip support for the first few days of the ride.

3. The trip east: Mike will pedal his way from Portland, OR, to Washington DC. The girls and I will travel with him for the first few days. We’re still working on how he might keep a record of the trip once we head home, but hopefully some of it can go here. Alternately, you can see the ride plan/riders/updates from the official site, Roll Over America, at http://www.rolloveramerica.eu.

This is definitely not a typical family road trip. The girls and I set out on July 6^th, Mike arrives in Portland on July 23rd, the velo ride begins on July 28th, and Mike reaches DC on appx August 26. That’s a long time, and it should be exciting. Check in on us once in a while!