I Am Going!!! #8

So things have been happening!!! I firstly have been trying to get as many people to my blog, twitter and facebook page as possible because I need the support. So sorry if I am annoying anyone yet, but I'm not going to stop because I have to do it. I also have finished and published my first video! It is just 4 mins explaining what I am doing and where I am going and stuff, check it out and subscribe, like it, comment and all that good stuff.




I have also booked my flight tickets! Was a bit of a shock to see my bank account afterwards as it did leave an impressive dent, but could have been a lot worse. After hours of searching Iceland Air was a God send!! More than half the price of British Airways!! This is because I have a few changes, but hey, I don't care. 

My flights are: 

30th June
Heathrow to Reykjavik
Reykjavik to Seattle
Seattle to Bellingham (still need to book)

8th September 
San Diego to Denver
Denver to Reykjavik
Reykjavik to Heathrow 
(Then back to Mummies house :D)

Very complicated and with camping gear and a bike, even worse! But with a bit of planning I should be fine! Anyway, I have always wanted to go to Iceland, even if it is only for 2 hours it will be cool to fly over. 

FINALLY

I do need to get a bigger audience so please follow me: @smallguyride
And like my facebook page /smallguyride
It costs you nothing but means a lot to me as later on I need people to be reading my stuff. 

THANK YOU

Maps and Pretty Pictures #7

A lot of things have been happening which have made little progress forward, but they are needed. I have more or less finished a video to launch the whole SGLR project, I have signed up for twitter @smallguyride where I have made an amazing (if I may say so myself) background. I also have a youtube account when the video is done. My Google account is being used left, right and center. I also have a proper profile picture which I will keep constant over all websites so it is obviously me.

I have just finished now going through all the maps, studying how they work and where I am going etc... They are amazing! I have put a bit of detail about them before as well as on "The Route" page but to really see what they are about, go on the website. I have also got a map now!!! Taken me a while to work out how to do it and make it easy to use and view. It is on "The Route" page and you can look around it as you wish. I do have a few things I want to do, but they shouldn't take that long, and then I will be less bogged down in admin stuff and able to start getting to the fun stuff.

I will be soon buying flights and the bike I will be taking! I will write about these either as a blog entry or on "The Kit" page.

No Turning Back #6

So it looks like everything is coming together. Scary!!! Exciting obviously, but also terrifying. Putting a large amount of money and time into a plan dreamed up from a random idea. My 18th is just in 5 days which is when I plan to really kick this off. I will be advertising, emailing, planning, buying and training like mad!!!

Everything, slowly, is being planned out and seems to be fitting perfectly. The maps are here and are perfect, a few people know what I am planning, money and time has already been set aside to do this trip, information about the charity is with me. Everything seems like it will work out just as planned. Next step, buying the large, expencive items, i.e. the bike and the plane tickets. This also will be around about the same time as I start getting people to look at my blog and such.

It all seems so far away that I don't need to worry about anything but I know that I should be planning it in detail, making purchases and generally getting ready to ride America!!!

I Lied... Well Forgot Really... #5

So I did say that I have no experience of riding my bike a long distance on a tour, well that is true, but I do have experience of riding my bike a long way. Last summer I was in Portugal in mid July with my family and a friend. Me and my friend (Mike) hired out two mountain bikes, nothing special just the classic Hardtail Trek MTBs that were heavily used and about 5 years old, and we went off just where ever we wanted. Probably going to go for about 3 hours, have lunch then 3 hours back, easy right?

Well of course we shot off and killed our selves in about an hour and a half, stopped onw a beach and chilled for a bit just so that our legs could recover a bit. We managed to get hold of one of the worst maps ever but it was all we needed, so we just carried on going east along the coast. Our idea was that if the sea is on the left, you are going away from home, on the right, going towards home, simple! After about 4 hours of riding we were miles away but enjoying it like hell! Stopped off at this tiny beach hut restaurant which did amazing pizzas and cold drinks more importantly! Everything was feeling good and we were full of energy and water so instead of turning back, we had a better idea!!!

We pushed on and tried to find the marina as we could see a huge yacht moored up with loads of other around it, obviously where all the big impressive boats will be. So we kept going, but this time being more adventurous, going off the main road down little side streets which was amazing! We ended up finding a long boardwalk that went on for about half a mile and along side a lake with Flamingos in it! Then we got to a beach where we decided would be the turn around point. So far it was going so well, just had the same enjoyable trip back.

But instead of doing the same route back because nothing is as boring as seeing the same thing again, we tried to be clever and cut back a different "quicker" way. Big mistake!!! 2 hours later of being lost and tired with no water we started to almost panic. July heat in Portugal with no shade, cycling and no water is not the best position to be in. We cycled around tried to work out where we could go to get a drink of anything!! eventually 20 mins later finding a supermarket and buying about 3 litres of water. The ride back was awful, we stopped every few miles and were going down all the main roads so cars were shooting past constantly.

So yes I have done a long bike ride in a place I didnt know, but it wasn't planned, nor as big as what I am planning.Importantly, it taught me that food but especially water is EXTREMLY important and can change the feel of a ride totally. Also, small roads are normally slower but so much better to ride on, and finally, work out a plan and stick to it!!!