Oh the People You'll Meet

I know I haven't finished blogging about New York or Cajan Mardi Gras, and I promise I'll get to them soon but I have got to talk about this. My dad and I were going for a stroll in Audubon Park, when we saw a man biking holding a gigantic box. He ended up asking us to take his picture by a sign. My dad, being the people person that he his, took a picture and struck up a conversation with the man. We found out his name is Nick and he is biking from Dallas to New Orleans. Also, and this was kind of cool, he was from Australia.
This is his blog. He ended up asking us for directions to his hostel and we, and by we I mean my dad not that I wasn't cool with it, offered to take his bike box to the hostel for him. Nick biked away and we walked to the car with the box. Of course my Dad's mini was to small for the box so we ended up driving with the trunk of the car open as I contorted my body to hold the box and make sure it didn't fly away. We must of looked so weird.
On the drive to the hostile my dad told me the story of his bike across the country, with Bikecentennial. He was suppose to go to Greece with friends that summer, but they were at war or having some sort conflict with Cyprus and the trip was canceled. Instead he and his three best friends from high school biked across the country. He says that he is very glad the trip was canceled, because although going to Greece would have been an educational and cultural experience, there is no better way to see the country and explore then biking across the continental United States.
We met Nick at the hostel that was pretty near our house, which of course none of us knew existed. Dad gave him some tips about taking apart his bike and he gave us a flyer for his blog and a tiny stuffed koala, which now is sitting on my desk to remind me to keep peddling.

Over 4,000 Miles on a Bike? You Must Be Crazy!

On Columbus Day my dad and I went on a bike ride. My baby sister and mom went to chuck-e-cheeses and we rode and got burritos. Why did I go on a bike ride on my Monday off school? Well let me start with a back story. Its somewhat long so hold tight y'all.

When my dad was growing up, he lived in Carmel. And Carmel has some amazing bike trails. And hills. Basically its all New Orleans doesn't have. And this breed a love of biking. When I was little he use to tell me he would bike up hill both ways to school every morning in 2 feet of snow. Now that's mostly not true, but the biking part is. And when he was 16, he and his three best friends rode across the country on their bikes. How crazy is that?

Well so crazy that he would always tell me stories about that trip. And jokingly say that one day we would do it together. Well, when I was coming up with things to put on my list this summer at camp, and the very first thing I could think of was to bike across the country. My friends thought I was crazy, but also how cool it was. My dad never thought I was serious, in fact the night after I told him I wanted to start training, I heard him talking to his high school friend Belle and said that he would be pretty surprised if I actually meant what I said.

And boy have  been proving him wrong. We have been going on 15 mile bike rides on the weekends, and I have been learning all about what it takes. I've started to really love my bike, and meld into it. I can't even describe the amazing feeling of just getting on a bike and riding. And because of all this training, I have also realized that I love to run, so that is another plus. I'll be going across this great nation of ours in two summers, and I can't wait!