That's me in the middle. I don't know who the old dude is!

Finished my training rides for the East Coast trip. Last week was devoted to "climbing". While there are no mountains to train on, there are some longer "hills" that have two to three miles of 10% grade. The typical distance was 45-50 miles and speed was no concern. For those familiar with the area, my longest began from my house, down Germantown Hills to East Peoria which is all downhill for about 12 miles. Then, I circled around and rode up the two mile 10% McCluggage bridge hill to the front of ICC. I proceeded to Centennial Drive with its 12% grade and looped around to climb back to Metamora. That is all uphill with a 2 and a half mile 10% grade and finished back home. The good news is that I was successful and and body parts are still in reasonably good working order. I then finished the week yesterday with 100 mile trek to Champaign. The good news is that I had a favorable crosswind and tailwind. The reason I describe this is that many people I talk to ask about my training for a long distance ride like the one on the East Coast. Also, today I am having my bike tuned up and boxed to be shipped to Maine. This should leave plenty of time, given the effects of hurricane Irene, for my it to arrive on time. In the meantime, my riding will be at the local rec center on a stationary bike. My objective is to maintain, but not loose, what endurance I have achieved during my training period. My official East Coast ride blog will be at this site and I will begin blogging on the 21st of September. As earlier stated, I will be raising money for the Central Illinois Alzheimer's Assn. Stay tuned for future entries.