It’s barely over a week away now.  The Spring North Cycling Tour looms, and yet I’m still struggling to get time on my bike.  So far I’ve logged a grand total of 157 miles.  Normally, I do that week in, week out.  And on tour that represents just 3 days of cycling.

We’ve never toured this early in the season before.  Usually by the time we set out on a trip, we have had months of training behind us and it feels like a natural extension of our summer’s activity.  And we are already well acclimated to the weather.

Not so this time.  With temperatures bouncing between the 20’s and 40’s here in the Northland, I have yet to complete a ride without frozen toes.  So when I look at the forecast for Johnson City TX, which we expect to reach within a few days of starting our trip, I find it hard to conceive of readings that climb into the upper 70’s and 80’s.  I will be going on faith when I pack my short sleeve jerseys and leave behind my heavy layers.  Intuitively I know I shouldn’t be needing them, but it sure is hard to let go at this stage.

Spring is a relative term.  On the North Shore just having the ice recede is a victory, even if the snow still clings in the shadows and the wind off the lake rarely registers above the freezing mark.  The thought of wildflowers blooming is still a foreign concept. But very appealing.

We have made a few adjustments to our gear for this season.  To date, we’ve mostly traveled in late summer or fall with the benefit of remarkably dry weather.  With the very real likelihood of spring showers, we’ve made a concession and added fenders to our bikes.  I hated to mar the stark features of my bike with such mundane accessories, but ultimately decided that comfort ruled over style.  Drier feet are worth it.  We’ve also swapped out our down sleeping bags for ultra-light thinner models.  Now I’m really counting on the warmer climes to moderate the night time temps.

There’s no doubt the start of this trip is going to be a shock to the system.  The sudden accumulation of miles.  A sharp spike in temperature.  And a vast blossoming of color in our world.  Despite our lack of training for all this, I’m sure I can take it.  Bring on the Spring North Tour!

Every long distance cycling trip we take starts with a laundry list of detailed preparations.  Route selection alone can take months.  After all, half the fun is pondering the options and researching a variety of potential destinations.  Once that is settled, a map is produced and we move on to checking out sightseeing, lodging options and local specialties.  The final push includes gathering our gear, making sure everything is in tip top shape (including ourselves) and checking off each item on our packing list.

But we’re still not ready to go.  The last essential piece is Marketing.  What would a tour be without a distinctive name?  a logo?  and of course, matching jerseys?  There’s no mistaking our mission when we’re out on the road, and that is no accident.  Our shirts say it all.

This shameless bit of of self-promotion actually contributes a lot to the trip.  Somehow our jerseys make us approachable.  Just sporting a blatant advertisement for our journey invites questions, from the random query at a rest stop to swapping fascinating stories over breakfast in a café.  We’ve even had folks ask how they can sign up for the tour!

This year the name came fairly quickly.  Starting in the south we’re following the spread of the warm weather, hence Spring North.  The logo was an obvious choice.  Seeing the bluebonnets of Texas in bloom will be a highlight of this trip, so a blue flower won hands down.  And the jerseys, well, let’s just say we picked an eye-catching color.

Now one might naturally assume we’d have blue jerseys to go with the theme.  But this color maven complained that we’d done blue too many times already.  I need some variety in my cycling apparel.  Little did I know that when Rich mockingly said “how about pink?” that he was serious enough to carry it through.

I should have known better. Back when our son was on a Lego League team, they chose the name “Super Nerds in Pink.”  Being a supportive coach who was anxious to motivate his team, Rich promised the boys that he’d let them spray paint his hair pink if they made it to the state tournament.  Well, the boys delivered and Rich made good on his pledge.  A precedent was set.

Today a package came – our custom jerseys had arrived.  Tearing into the bag, we pulled out our prizes.  Yes, they’re pink all right.  We’d better like them, we ordered two each.  Wear one, wash one – that means we can always be in uniform.  There will be no missing us this year.  We’ll be the folks cycling in the pink.

There’s a feeling of spring in the air today.  Funny how temperatures just above freezing along with some welcome sunshine can feel so balmy here in the Northland.  It’s enough to start one’s brain dwelling on flowers, wearing shorts and of course…  cycling!  Knowing this blip of warmth is just a tease here in Duluth, we’ve taken measures to find true spring instead.

Announcing the Spring North cycling tour for 2015!  The idea is to head straight south, searching out warmth and blooms in the heart of Texas.  From there, we will work our way back north, as spring warms the adjoining states throughout the month of April.

Once again, we are using Amtrak and the $10 charge for taking our bikes on board to give us a one-way trip.  Leaving our car in St. Louis, we’ll board the train and spend the night in a sleeper car, arriving in Dallas the following morning.  After spending Easter weekend with my brother and his wife, we plan to set off from Granbury, Texas and head south to the Texas hill country.  Our hopes are to catch the Texas Bluebonnets in bloom.  Rich has been talking about this for a couple years now, so fingers crossed we get the timing right.

From there we swing back north, traveling through the Ozark Mountains in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri.  We will complete our journey along the Katy Trail, which follows the Missouri or “Big Muddy” River right back into St. Louis again.  In all, about 1,500 miles.

The timing of this trip presents a bit of a challenge for us northerners.  No opportunity to train!  If we’re lucky, we may get a day or two on our bikes if the temperature spikes in the next few weeks.  Otherwise, we will be training as we go.  It’s not our fitness level that we’re concerned about – cross-country skiing has kept us in shape through the winter.  But without any time in the saddle beforehand, that first week could be a bit sore on the behinds until we get used to cycling again.  But we have a remedy for that too.

This bike tour does not have a solid end date.  Although we can expect to complete the mileage by early May, we have no firm commitments requiring a timely return home.  So we have the option of starting off with lower mileage, taking things more slowly or doing unplanned detours along the way.  We’ve never been very good at veering from the original plan before, but there’s a first time for everything.

Our jerseys are ordered, the train tickets purchased and bikes tuned up for the journey.  It’s still all a bit hard to conceive while there’s still ample snow on the ground.  But we’re banking on warm weather in the south, and looking forward to Springing North.