Our bikes, or should I say “our homes for the next 14+ months” have just been delivered by our bicycle sponsor, Co-motion cycles. Two of the most frequent questions we’re asked about the trip are “what kind of bicycle will you be riding” and “who is driving your support vehicle.

Answer 1): we decided to have our bikes custom made with heavy duty steel frames that look more like road bikes than mountain bikes. They both have 700cc wheels built with super-strong V-shaped touring rims, Swiss-made hubs (typically used on a tandem bicycle), and mountain bike components that are easily repairable on the road.

Answer 2): The bikes have been designed so that we can carry all of our gear with us in waterproof bags mounted on steel carrier racks. We’ll carry about 60-75 pounds of gear each including tent, food, water, repair kit, cooking stove, clothing, etc. There will not be a support vehicle as this is a self-supported tour.

Cheers,
Gregg



Sponsored by: Co-Motion Cycles, Schwalbe North America, Rudy Project, eRoi, ThinkHost, ZUM, Bay Club, Canright Interactive

We hope you can make it to the Ribbon of Road San Francisco kick-off party at the R Bar on Tuesday, July 5th. All of our planning has finally paid off and Gregg and I are almost ready to hit the road and start pedaling south.

Through our ride, we hope to raise over $20,000 for the American Diabetes Association and we need your help. Please join us to celebrate our journey and to support a great cause, the American Diabetes Association. Every year more than 210,000 people die because of diabetes. So, join Gregg & I and join the fight to prevent and cure diabetes. Each mile we ride will be to benefit the lives of each and every person affected by this tragic disease.

We hope to see you there.

Brooks & Gregg

R BAR
1176 Sutter Street
San Francisco, CA
(between Larkin & Polk)
Time: TBD, but sometime in the evening

Sponsored by: Co-Motion Cycles, Schwalbe North America, Rudy Project, eRoi, ThinkHost, ZUM, Bay Club, Canright Interactive

It’s been quite a busy few weeks for Gregg and Brooks. With the departure date of July 25 drawing ever nearer, their excitement level is growing while their checklist is shrinking.

The big new news from the Bay Area is that Brooks popped the question, and his now-fiancée, Nathalie, aka “El Natural” said yes!

Some of the other, less substantial accomplishments of late:

- Both have officially resigned from their jobs. The support from both of their employers has been unbelievable.

- After a pre-trip check-up with his doctor, Gregg decided that he needed to have a minor surgery on his stomach and leg before the trip. The surgery went well and he is now back on the bike and 100% recovered.

- The travel health clinics in San Francisco and Seattle have injected the team with every preventative inoculation imaginable.

Sponsored by: Co-Motion Cycles, Schwalbe North America, Rudy Project, eRoi, ThinkHost, ZUM, Bay Club, Canright Interactive

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus, you remember them as they actually are, while in a motorcar only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. - Ernest Hemingway