46 Days till Departure

Be sure to check out the NEW site in our links to the left . It has our daily itinerary and other information

We rode 279 miles this week with over 7,055 feet of climbing. It seems we seek out the hilly routes hoping that that combined with our spring winds will do the job in preparing us for the mountains that lay ahead.

We had over $1,000 come in this week for our fundraising which pushes us north of $14,500 so far. The weather has been delightful to ride in of late. Short sleeve or sleeveless jersey's.

Bernice & I will be heading to San Diego for a conference from Wed to Sat this week so our mileage will be off a bit but we will get some exercise there as we will be kayaking in the Pacific at LaJolla and walking a good bit at the San Diego Zoo. We are hoping to meet up with our good friend Darrell (pictured right) for dinner Wed. He helped pull us across the deserts of Nevada last summer

If you have not had a chance to donate yet -- Be sure to click the link on the top left -- "Help the Miller's Fight Cancer"Or you can send a check-made payable to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Be sure to put Participant ID: 150474715 in the memo so it will be counted towards our goal.
Mail them to: Lance Armstrong Foundation PO Box 1150Austin, TX 78716-1150

If you have a question ask......if not leave a comment and let us know you stopped by. We had 3 comments last week you guys are catching on. (grin)

53 days till departure -- What a ride

Tour of Springtime Rural Vistas a 200 mile ride over 2 days. We went from Quincy,FL to Albany, GA and back. It ended up 208 miles -8 bonus miles I guess. We did over 5400 feet on climbing over the 2 days. The rides went very well and we (Bernice, Derek & I ) felt great --- so I guess all the training is paying off.

I did have a little problem - at mile 22 my rear derailleur (shifter) cable broke and we were unable fix it. This meant I only had 3 functional gears instead of 30. It made it interesting but not unbearable.
There were 375 people in the event and we were able to meet some really nice folks.

This week we crested the $13,500 mark in our fund raising.
If you have not had a chance to donate yet -- Be sure to click the link on the top left -- "Help the Miller's Fight Cancer"Or you can send a check-made payable to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Be sure to put Participant ID: 150474715 in the memo so it will be counted towards our goal. Mail them to: Lance Armstrong Foundation PO Box 1150Austin, TX 78716-1150

If you have a question ask it if not leave a comment and let us know you stopped by.

60 days till departure ... great week of riding

This week we crested the $13,000 mark in our fund raising.

If you have not had a chance to donate yet -- Be sure to click the link on the top left -- "Help the Miller's Fight Cancer"Or you can send a check-made payable to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Be sure to put Participant ID: 150474715 in the memo so it will be counted towards our goal. Mail them to: Lance Armstrong Foundation PO Box 1150Austin, TX 78716-1150

This week included a few shorter rides and then an 84 mile ride on Friday and a 52 mile ride on Saturday. We had some very windy conditions; which are good for improving our stamina. We passed some old Florida Cracker houses like the one above. I got the chance to pet the baby horse pictured here it was only 6 days old. I saw the lady and asked her how old it was she told me and said if you want pet it go on in the paddock. I was over that fence in a flash.

Next weekend we will ride a 200 mile ride called Tour of Rural Scenic Vistas (TOSRV). It will go from near Tallahassee, FL to Albany, GA (100mi) and then back the next day. Derek will get to ride with us; unfortunately it is too close to finals for Michael to ride it with us. There will be 365 of us riding.

Thanks for reading .... Please leave a comment so we know you visited.

68 days till departure .... Happy Easter

It is hard to believe the days are now numbered in the 60's. We made our final payment this week and purchased trip insurance so things are coming together. I have some ask about the route. To the right is the overall map. You can see the states we will cross. In Wisconsin we take a ferry across Lake Michigan then cross into southern Ontario. We come back into the United States from Canada at Niagara Falls.


This week we had an excellent riding week with a nice 72 mile ride into the horse country north of Ocala. There we can find some hills (we covered 1985 feet of elevation on that ride) and some canopied low traffic roads.
Derek had Friday off from school so he was able to join us. It is a nice time to ride in the horse farms because this is the time of year when the baby horses are abundant. It is fun to watch them learn to run on their new legs.
We have what we call the invisible hills this time of year here in Florida. It is the wind which is sustained most days at 15mph. When you ride into the wind it simulates climbing and aids in conditioning. I can tell we are making progress in that arena because it does not seem like a ride unless we go over 50 miles and 70 to 80 feels perfect and a century (100 mile) ride leaves us pleasantly tired not exhausted.

On today's 48 mile ride we stopped briefly at the traveling Vietnam War Memorial. It was a sobering site to see the flags, the Marine guard, and the 58,000 names of men and women killed during that war. Thanks to all those who have and are serving our Country.

Our fund raising is now up to $12,926 and rising. THANKS to all who have given so far. If you have not had a chance yet -- Be sure to click the link on the top left -- "Help the Miller's Fight Cancer"

Or you can send a check-made payable to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Be sure to put Participant ID: 150474715 in the memo so it will be counted towards our goal. Mail them to: Lance Armstrong Foundation PO Box 1150Austin, TX 78716-1150

Since you stopped by .... Please leave a comment. Just click on the comment button below this post. Trying to get you in the habit as they will be a source of encouragement this summer

74 days till Departure.... Spring break

This past week was Spring Break for Derek. We were invited by some good friends of ours to share their time share condo with them in Eden, Utah (just outside of Ogden). We flew out Saturday(3/24) and back yesterday (3/31).We did some hiking along the Ogden river on our off day.

We had 2 days of spring skiing when we first arrived then as shown in the picture to the right winter came back and we had 2 great days of Utah powder skiing. That was at Powder Mountain and the last day we hit Snowbasin. We had a great time and logged 121,959 feet of vertical in 5 days of skiing. That is 22.9 miles straight down or 255.7 miles altogether. So though we were not riding our bicycles-- we were not loafing. I think it was good cross training. We even skied in the aspens a good bit looking for the untracked powder which was easy to find. Derek made nice improvement in his technique this trip.
This week it will be back to work and cycling as we prepare for the final 74 days till we leave.

Our fund raising is now up to $12,876 and rising. THANKS to all who have given so far. If you have not had a chance yet -- Be sure to click the link on the top left --"Help the Miller's Fight Cancer" Or you can send a check-made payable to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Be sure to put Participant ID: 150474715 in the memo so it will be counted towards our goal. Mail them to: Lance Armstrong Foundation PO Box 1150Austin, TX 78716-1150
Since you stopped by .... Please leave a comment. Just click on the comment button below this post. Trying to get you in the habit as they will be a source of encouragement this summer.