Pre-Planning* the Ride. The Bike.

I need a bike that can handle the 60-80 miles off road and gravel, and one that can handle hundreds of miles of shoulder ("bike lane") riding that provide close encounters with gravel, broken glass, building materials, and more. I have a mountain bike. I like it, and it has the perfect tires for off and on. It is, however, not a road bike, and the tire size is not ideal for a 2,000 to 3,000 mile trip. I have a road bike. A nice road bike actually, and almost 20 years old. The tires are much too thin to handle a gravel trail. Versatile gearing, nice shifting, but unsuitable for this type of trip.

Don't get me wrong. I am not expecting to do the self-supported thing here. I want a SAG. (For my non-cyclist friends, that is "support and gear". A guardian angel that carries your gear... and maybe even your mobile and temporary residence--RV, tent, whatever.) DL has agreed that this is a trip we can do together, with her role being SAG. Aside: Rough plan is for her to drive the residence to the stop for a given day, and then she will ride back towards where I started. We'll meet in the middle, and then ride to the stop together. Or she might not ride at all when she doesn't want to. Or she might ride ten miles.

Having a SAG means not having to purchase a bicycle that carries the 40 extra pounds of gear one might need. Hybrid bikes can typically handle the road conditions that will be encountered. Therefore, one of my first "pre-planning" check list boxes was "new bike". Done. Check.

I rode all women-specific, extra-small and small framed hybrids available in stores. My new bike is a 2017 Cannondale Althea X. Deep discount since it's an older model. (They don't make an "X" anymore.) My road and mountain bikes are Cannondales, so I know what to expect, and the components were better than some of the others (which may or may not make a big difference). The ride was an instant "fit"--this is it--experience. Now for some seat time!

The bike that could have been.  Based on my original research, I wanted a Liv (Giant's women-specific line) Rove 1. One reason is that Giant seems to be putting some oomph into making bikes for women. They also have an "ambassadors" program. The ambassadors lead workshops or rides. Their faces and short bios are featured on the Liv website. The ambassadors are mostly young (all for sure younger than I am!) and attractive. I don't know if that is a pre-requisite, but I thought it would be a good idea for there to be at least one ambassador who is over 60 and can represent that market. BTW, the bike was a nice ride, but I was going to have to order one to get exactly what I wanted. It was nice to find something almost equally desirable, in-stock (albeit elsewhere), and deeply discounted. 

*Pre-planning seems like one of those terms that is somewhat redundant. In this case, there is a lot of planning. But there are also things that have to be done before I can plan. OK. That's planning, eh? I say it's pre-planning. We can agree to disagree.