Thank you to all our sponsors:
Thanks to Track Director Art Heinrichs and his amazing team at Tampa BMX for supporting our dream and helping us make it real! Visit www.tampabmx.com.
Visit www.ohiodreams.com today for the best in BMX training PLUS
Visit www.ohiodreams.com for the best in BMX training and more.
The ONLY BMX Superstore in Florida!
Thank you to J&R Bicycles for their support. Visit them online at www.jrbicycles.com or at their BMX superstore located in Largo, FL on Bryan Dairy Road.
We ride on puncture resistant Schwalbe tires.
Go to www.schwalbetires.com and find the tire that's right for your ride.
Making our nights more restful,
Visit www.comfortsuites.com, the official hotel of Ride the Nation!
For everything that's happenning in BMX, visit www.bmxmania.com
Check out our weekly updates on BMXmania.com for info you won't find here!
Join the Nation!
Visit www.NBL.org for more about the National Bicycle League and how to become a member.
mmm....
Smoothie King of Wesley Chapel, FL
To find your closest Smoothie King store, visit www.smoothieking.com today!
(This is just the beginning, DON'T FORGET TO READ THE BLOG about our EPIC Bicycle ride!)
Two fat forty somethings and their moody 12 year old BMXer got a wild idea to ride bikes from Florida to Kentucky, following the NBL's (National Bicycle League) race circuit from April to September. Inspired by Annie Londonderry (google it!) and recovering from a financial smackdown (who isn't?), the wild idea grew into a dream and then a plan.
Here's the plan: on April 20, 2011 we'll leave our house, cars and most of the comforts of home behind and take up a two wheeled "camp as you go" lifestyle for 4+ months. We'll outfit 3 second hand bikes with what we think we'll need for this adventure ... all on a shoestring budget, nonetheless. In addition, we'll tow our daughter's 20" race bike, gear and bring another member of the family: Coco, a 20 lb. French Bulldog.
We'll pedal our way to NBL BMX (Bicycle Motocross) races in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan and finally to the Grand National Championship in Louisville, KY on Labor Day Weekend. Between now and then, we'll keep you posted on our preparations, our purchases and our reality checks. We'll test and tweak equipment, mull over food options and decide what goes into the panniers and what gets left behind. We'll discuss managing 4+ months away from work (YES!) and how we'll pay for this adventure. If this works out, maybe some day, we'll ride the whole nation!
Here's the plan: on April 20, 2011 we'll leave our house, cars and most of the comforts of home behind and take up a two wheeled "camp as you go" lifestyle for 4+ months. We'll outfit 3 second hand bikes with what we think we'll need for this adventure ... all on a shoestring budget, nonetheless. In addition, we'll tow our daughter's 20" race bike, gear and bring another member of the family: Coco, a 20 lb. French Bulldog.
We'll pedal our way to NBL BMX (Bicycle Motocross) races in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan and finally to the Grand National Championship in Louisville, KY on Labor Day Weekend. Between now and then, we'll keep you posted on our preparations, our purchases and our reality checks. We'll test and tweak equipment, mull over food options and decide what goes into the panniers and what gets left behind. We'll discuss managing 4+ months away from work (YES!) and how we'll pay for this adventure. If this works out, maybe some day, we'll ride the whole nation!
About Us ...
First, we are not usually long distance bike riders. The 12 year old typically rides a quarter mile or less at a time during her BMX races and occasionally joins us on a 10-15 mile family bike ride. During this trip we’ll need to ride our bikes 5-7 days a week and some times average 50-60 miles per day … for over 4 months! THAT’S SCARY! And yet very enticing, too!
We seldom rode bikes for the first 5-6 years of our marriage while we built a terrific event business and raised 3 kids, 2 of whom are in college now. We started to enjoy all the trappings of our success: big house, nice cars, dinners out and luxurious vacations. One day our 4 year old daughter announced she’d like to try BMX, like she’d seen on the X-Games. We joined the National Bicycle League in 2002 and traveled to state, regional and national bike races. We really loved seeing so much of the country and truly felt at home amongst fellow BMX families.
Like many, the economy took a real bite out of our lifestyle. After closing our once thriving event business in 2008, we were pretty bruised. In BMX terms, we felt like we’d been run up in the berm; that we’d lost our momentum in this race called life.
In the past 3 years, we’ve rediscovered the resourceful spirit that led to our prosperity and which prosperity had slowly overshadowed. Surprisingly, we now really enjoy the creativity that necessity demands. We found that we have what it takes to not only survive but to thrive, even when it seems hopeless. Who’d have thought that such controversy would give us the lifelong gift of self-assurance?
Our experiences have changed us. We now resolve not to let our failures or doubts define us but rather the strength that came from overcoming them. Not one of us is truly certain we can complete this bike ride. However, we are certain that we won’t finish unless we start.
We seldom rode bikes for the first 5-6 years of our marriage while we built a terrific event business and raised 3 kids, 2 of whom are in college now. We started to enjoy all the trappings of our success: big house, nice cars, dinners out and luxurious vacations. One day our 4 year old daughter announced she’d like to try BMX, like she’d seen on the X-Games. We joined the National Bicycle League in 2002 and traveled to state, regional and national bike races. We really loved seeing so much of the country and truly felt at home amongst fellow BMX families.
Like many, the economy took a real bite out of our lifestyle. After closing our once thriving event business in 2008, we were pretty bruised. In BMX terms, we felt like we’d been run up in the berm; that we’d lost our momentum in this race called life.
In the past 3 years, we’ve rediscovered the resourceful spirit that led to our prosperity and which prosperity had slowly overshadowed. Surprisingly, we now really enjoy the creativity that necessity demands. We found that we have what it takes to not only survive but to thrive, even when it seems hopeless. Who’d have thought that such controversy would give us the lifelong gift of self-assurance?
Our experiences have changed us. We now resolve not to let our failures or doubts define us but rather the strength that came from overcoming them. Not one of us is truly certain we can complete this bike ride. However, we are certain that we won’t finish unless we start.
Purpose Of Our EPIC Bicycle Ride
Besides the fulfillment we expect to get from this adventure, we really hope our ride accomplishes 3 goals:
1) to acquaint more families with BMX, an Olympic sport that is fun, flexible, affordable and truly family friendly
2) to inspire occasional riders to bike more often; to consider biking to work, the store, or even on vacation and
3) to remind everyone that life is what you make it and that sometimes 2 wheels are better than 4!
1) to acquaint more families with BMX, an Olympic sport that is fun, flexible, affordable and truly family friendly
2) to inspire occasional riders to bike more often; to consider biking to work, the store, or even on vacation and
3) to remind everyone that life is what you make it and that sometimes 2 wheels are better than 4!
