Hey everybody,

Sorry to everyone who may have looked for this post earlier, but I’ve had a busy day. I went on two rides today, one of which was with my new partner. Let me start from last week…

Last week I went on a date in the Smoky Mountains. It was a beautiful day. The trail we were hiking had dozens of cascades overflowing with water, the rhododendrons were in bloom, and the bugs were coming from everywhere to feast on us. I knew that if this girl loved the mountains enough to fight the skeeters that I had found a keeper. The date lasted a lot longer than I ever expected and, towards the end, I realized that this girl definitely IS a keeper. Unfortunately, she had plans to go to New York and I was going on the Epic Road Trip. My how plans change…

Don’t worry. I’m still going on the Epic Road Trip, but now I’m brining Caitlin. Her travel plans fell through and she decided she wants to come with me. The other day we bought her bike, the Trek 520. It’s an amazing bike that will definitely be able to keep up with my LHT. In fact, she’s already passing me up. Looks like I’m the one who needs to train more.

That’s it for this post. I’ve got a lot of planning and ordering to do. Until next week, may the tailwinds push you through that last mile and may the dogs trip over their feet before they bite yours.