Planning is WORK! Folding bikes!

Hey, this trip requires a lot of pre-event work!!! Who knew?

After we three cousins decided to drive Route 66 in May, 2024, to try to benefit our favorite charities, I figured we were all set. Now, just buy some PowerBars and bottles of water, gas up, and go, right? NOT SO FAST, dummy! Turns out we need a website, graphics, links, official donation sites, permission and assistance from our charities, find some sponsors,  THEN organize and schedule the mileage for each day, stops and attractions to visit, overnight accommodations, get some event T-shirts & swag, etc.. Lots more effort than we’d expected, but so far it’s all been fun and we’ve met amazingly interesting people who are stoked about our plans. Not to mention the fun mechanical stuff: mechanically tune and prepare our cars for the trip, and arrange for folding BICYCLES! 

Yes, Mike and I intend to take folding bikes on the Route 66 journey. The thought of sitting passively while driving around 5,000 miles over three weeks without exercise is pretty daunting. I’m an active mountain biker, and figured a take-along bike would let us explore the places we visit, and keep us reasonably in shape during the trip. We each got an inexpensive folding bike, and are practicing riding and folding them (to fit in our small cars) over the next few months. Mike has successfully fitted his foldie in the passenger seat of his Miata, and I’m planning to fit mine in the Cobra when I get it back from Jeff Kleiner. Mitch steadfastly remains bike-less: Instead he opts for walking as his exercise regimen for the trip. It’ll be fun to see if this idea works, or if we all come back home wearing extra pounds of weight from all the sitting. There’s reputed to be LOTS of good eating along the Route 66 journey. 

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John