Prologue
The Drive Out

I finally pulled out of town on Sat. the 23rd. here is a breif account I sent to the people that were there:
"Well I learned quickly that time is not so important on an all-summer trip. I left the shop after a great, long and drawn out send-off (thank you, thank you), and went down the Cowan side; when I finally got to Alto I saw I had gone 25 miles instead of 5, had I gone down the Alto road. When I got to Murfreesboro, I realized I had forgotten the all important box that had all the maps, atlases, and gazateers, so I turned around and headed back home to get them. I was now incredibly fearful I would be spotted, by Darren or anybody, for that matter. Anyway I picked up the box and went on my way, pulling out just before noon. In the big picture, it was not much of a delay."
It was a wonderful drive, the further west, the more extrordinary. Visited son Leland in Denver, then up through Wyoming and Montana, noting how high and snow-peaked the Bighorn and Rocky Mountains were and will be. I surprised old freinds Tom and Sherry Brown in White Salmon, WA, and visited Pratt and Heidi Rather and their incredibly adorable children. Well here I sit in Seaside, OR ready to Rock n Roll tomorrow morning.

My Trip of a Lifetime

This is an account of my 60th birthday present to myself, an opportunity to ride my bicycle(s) from just west of Portland, OR to Portland, ME, apprximately 3600 miles. In doing so I hope to capture some of the vastness, essence, and diversity of the U.S. of A.. I will be supported by a vehicle driven by my seventeen year old son, Theron. This will allow me to carry extra things such as cameras and tripod, tools, parts and extra bicycles; this will also allow me to have the luxury of being shuttled to a motel if need be, and finally, this will allow me the opportunity to explore certain places that might be out of reach on a bicycle given realistic time restraints. Also this will allow me to share a certain to be incredible experience with my son. Without his support I doubt if I could pull this off. Did I say support? Yes, my wonderful wife has been able to artfully give me the green light on this journey without making me feel that it would be "jolly" to have me gone. Oh yes... support. On this ride I hope to support the American Cancer Society by spreading information and awareness, as well as solicit donations for research.
A word about cancer: Most of us have had our lives affected in someway by cancer. Whether it is you, a freind, or a relative, certainly, we have felt loss and or devastation by this powerful disease. For me, it has been my mother, my grandmother, an aunt, two uncles, some cousins and several good freinds. Some of these people would have surly survived had they been given modern day treatments. Yes, the advancements have been incredible; many cancers are no longer the death sentance that they once were. The research has been paying off but still has a long way to go and many challenges to face. We can play apart in this. I pledge a dollar a mile. That would be way too much for most of you (but not all of you), but what about a nickel a mile for $180? or a dime a mile for $360? or even a penny a mile for$36?...anything. Donate by clicking the following link: give now . I feel it would be most beneficial to direct this towards research so please do so, if you would. When done, please email me at woodybike@gmail.com and let me know who you are (if you want) and how much you donated.

FOLLOW ME

You can check my progress on this shared page from my Spot GPS device:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0qqjqRaHoo3zIirE3MkIorr1hbcUCJ3ds