Additional info

I'm still in the UK but I can report that I have successfully completed my charity bike ride from Cambridge to Oxford and back, over two days. That ride was about 85 miles per day, which seemed fine apart from the strong headwind on the first day.

 

I'll be leaving for Portland this coming Thursday (26th), where I have bought a touring bike. For those of you interested in bikes, I have opted for a Surly Crosscheck, the sizing is a bit of an issue but I hope I chose the right frame size! I'm getting it from Revolver Bikes (www.revolverbikes.com), the guys there have been extremely helpful and I can only recommend their shop if you ever wish to buy a bike in Portland! They have added a third chain ring on request, and changed the tires for 28mm Schwalbe Marathon Plus... I am hoping to minimise the number of punctures over the 4,250 miles!

 

I'm taking a bus from Portland to Astoria, OR, where the Transam officially starts, on Saturday. If all goes well, I should be on my way on Sunday! My flight back to the UK is leaving Philly on August 28th, so I have only given myself about 8 weeks for the actual tour. That means I will aim to ride on average about 90 or 100 miles a day, which allows me to take one rest day per week. Of course that's all still subject to change, I'll just have to see how it goes once I am on my way!