Fundraising update

Razoo.com just emailed me–$15.00 has been donated! I know it’s only been some days since i started the website, and that Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I got a little sad every time I saw 0$ next to my fundraising widget. Now I don’t have to. Thank you to the anonymous donor–you made my day.

It is really simple to make a donation–and even 10 dollars will make my heart sing. As an added perk, your donation is tax-deductible.

This is the easiest way to end today knowing you made a difference in the world. Think about it!

maps and maps!

my maps are here, folks! this means I truly have direction. Adventure Cycling Association publishes maps for touring cyclists, which include places to see, stay, and equally important, avoid. With these puppies, I’ll be able to get across the country a LOT more easily.

homemade panniers by yours truly

As I had mentioned the other day, I’m trying to save a pretty penny by using some cloth I already have to make panniers. By my calculations, this should only result in me ripping half my hair out.
The cloth comes from the soft top of my jeep wrangler. When I graduated college this may, my mom bought me a brand new soft top as a gift. Gotta love my mom–she always thinks of the things I’ll actually USE. And by use, in this instance, I mean that the new soft top shelters me from wind, noise, rain, debris, and snow. It also provides me with an old soft top from whence will come new panniers!
I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to get the soft top disassembled so I know how much fabric I have to work with. Luckily, I’ve only sustained two injuries from cutting stitching, and both are simple poke wounds from the scissors. I guess 2am isn’t the best time to rip stitching. With all the seams ripped, I have a big flat piece of durable material to work with.

Now that I’ve installed the front rack on my bike, I can actually visualize how my panniers should look. I have cut fabric for the front ones, which will measure 17 inches tall, 10 inches front to back, and 6 inches deep. I think I will have plenty of space to carry everything, and room to spare on top of the rack for another bag, or maybe some gear. I haven’t figured out the back panniers yet, but I realized early on that I’d need more fabric than just the jeep stuff. So now I’m waiting on an order from Seattle fabrics, a company that makes cordura and other treated fabrics. I am getting enough fabric to finish my panniers, some sailcloth that was deeply discounted for potential other uses, and–most exciting–treated REFLECTIVE fabric! I’m planning to make the outer pockets on my panniers from the reflective stuff so that I’ll be super visible on the road.
One of my friends joked that I should just use burlap sacks for panniers, and though they’d be cheap and roomy, I have a feeling I’ll prefer a slightly more expensive and WAY more waterproof alternative.
Now I just have to wait for fabric to arrive and I’ll be back in business!

on the road

I’m en route to Decision Hills Camp in Spicer, MN, where I’m helping my friend Eric set up and dj the all-camp dance. This actually means I’m carrying stuff from his car and then sitting at a table while he runs sound equipment.
As we were driving down a two-lane highway, I was thinking about how much time I’ll be spending on them soon.

I’m pretty stinkin’ stoked.

nice rack!

Today I got a call from Miguel, the assistant manager at Erik’s. The front rack that my lovely boyfriend Arthur ordered for me on Saturday had arrived! (that’s a three day turnaround, if you’re wondering. Erik’s is pretty dang amazing.)
Arthur and I headed over and I spent a good hour or two installing the rack, a Nice Rack by Surly. It holds up to 70 pounds, and looks pretty awesome. I also got the air pump I’ll need on the road and some other little incidentals.
I love erik’s, because the service techs are friendly and helpful.
Anyway, without further ado, this is the rack!

so you want to donate..

As it currently stands, there are two ways to donate to Avenues in coordination with my ride across america. If you’d like to make a one-time donation to Avenues, I’ll bike across the country to earn it.
If you’d like to donate based upon how much I’m actually traveling, you can make a pledge. The trip is between 3500 and 4000 miles (hopefully closer to 3500), so you can pledge by the mile, or per every 500 miles or 1000 miles I bike. The way I’m going to organize the pledge part is via email.
If you are interested in making a one-time donation, visit Abbi Across America. There is a spot on the right side to enter in a donation. The site is wonderfully easy to use.
If you would prefer to pledge (on your rules–by the mile, state, mile increment, whatever works best for you), email the following info to abbiacrossamerica@gmail.com:

Your name:
Email address:
Phone number:
Street address:
What you’d like to pledge:

Email me if anything is unclear, or leave a note in the comment box if you have ideas for how to better streamline this process. Otherwise, I’ll be in contact with you!

Thanks in advance to anyone who goes through with a donation. Any amount will mean a lot to me, and even more to the organization it’s going towards.

I’m super excited to get this rolling. Just thought you should know.

how to prepare for a cross country bike trip

It’s 1:30am and I’m lying in my bed after wasting way too much time reading bike blogs, googling various pieces of equipment I think I’ll need, and facebooking. Okay, so it was mostly Facebook that got me–the bike blogs have proven to be both informational and calming (yes, it’s possible to do this without being eaten by bears), and I’m coming to terms with the fact that there is definitely more money to be spent on some gear.
For example, I need to have a way to pump up my tires (my floor stand is big and heavy). I need to be able to patch or replace tubes and (hopefully not too often) tires. There is a front rack on order for me at the local Erik’s (more on them later), and I still have never owned a ‘real’ pair of sunglasses worthy of physical activity of this caliber.
Regardless of the size of this undertaking, though, I have not once had the thought, ‘oh my God, what am I getting myself into’. Instead, there has been a ton of, ‘I’ll figure it all out eventually.’
The big question I’m grappling with is where and how I can save money. One big expense I’m hoping to eliminate is my panniers (those are the saddlebag-type containers that go at the side of the wheels). Using some extra heavy-duty fabric I had left over, I’m trying to make my own! This alone could mean 600 dollars saved. It’ll just take patience, and the sewing skills I acquired over the years (thanks, mom!).
I keep thinking that I’ll feel prepared once I have the necessary gear. The truth is probably that I will never feel prepared, despite any and all the gear I could possibly deck out my bike with. It’s probably better that way.