Jo Stange has arrived

(Posted by Jody Stange)

My bike and I made it to Seattle ready to start this EPIC adventure.  I flew in yesterday from Denver after pacing for the Denver Marathon.  The legs are a little sore, but it's nothing that 14 days of pedaling won't iron out.  It was good to see Joe's face at the airport, it's been nearly 5 years since our Feb 2006 ride across the United States from Los Angeles to St. Augustine Florida.

Joe mentioned he was coming to the U.S. again and asked if I had some free time for another adventure ... being that it's the middle of marathon season, I hesitated at first, but it didn't take much convincing for me to say "Count me in".  Our ride was originally going to be just a few days touring through Oregon, but somehow morphed into riding across the country ... AGAIN ... this time from north to south, border to border, from Vancouver Canada to Tijuana Mexico.

There are four of us taking this cycling journey.  I met Jeremy from Japan for the first time yesterday and can already tell we'll get along great.  I'm faster, smarter, and better looking than him.  (I wonder if he'll read this post).  I met the other guy Tom from Michigan this morning and helped set up his bike.  I found out that we're nearly the exact same age, only two days separates us ... he's younger (which makes me wiser).  In just the first 24 hours, I have no doubt the four of us will mesh perfectly for this journey.

And finally, this post shouldn't go without a heartfelt thanks to the generosity of both Joe's sister Sue and her husband (also named) Joe, for opening their home to us to use as a base-camp before our adventure begins.  P.S. - last night's dinner was stellar except for when Jeremy tried to steal my brownie.