tt This is my first attempt at a blog, remember I am an Engineer thru and thru so do not get your hopes up that this is going to become a literary wonder. So it will be a simple update on our progress from New Orleans back to St Paul, approximately 2000 miles.

The last time I did a long bike trip like this was when I was 16 , nearly 50 years ago!! Many things have changed since then especially with the bike I am now riding and the body that is on it. 50 years ago 3 of us toured Ireland, 14 days at nearly 100 miles per day, kinda crazy when I now think about it. My bike was a Claude Butler, it had 5 speeds, and cost about $70.Concerning the body on it….. I was 16, weighed about 11 stone ( 154 lbs), had hair, and there was nothing this boy could not climb on a bike.

Roll on 50 years, the bike is a Salsa Vaya, it has 24 speeds and the cost is currently unknown, the accountants are still working on it. Like the bike the body has also changed, weight is now 192 pounds ( 13 stone 10lbs) , the hair got lost somewhere and the only thing I can climb easily is getting in and out of ….is bed.

My neighbor, Mark Hansen, is leading this effort and the two of us will ride from New Orleans to Natchez starting this Monday and meet up with a group of 27 on the following Saturday. We will then ride the Natchez trace together, about 440 miles. The nice thing about this leg is all our gear well be carried in a van. Below is a map of the route. After the Natchez trace we call into Nashville to see Hobby, the son of Hob and then it is a hard ride back home.

As promised I will keep this short, next update will be from New Orleans. Wish me luck!!!!

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