Part One: The Idea

So I spoke earlier in my posts about a bike ride my good friend Grady and I did from SF (actually Half Moon Bay) to Santa Barbara last May. I am going to try to remember and write about our little adventure, how we planned for it and how it all went down.
This will be the first installment in the series...

The Idea:
It all went down on my birthday last year at a sushi place near Grady's apartment off Divisidero street in SF. Somewhere between the shots of sake, the sushi and the relative inability to hear each other speak over the blaring techo beats, we both decided we were going to do a long(er) bike ride. You must understand one thing though, getting Grady to commit to ANYTHING is one of the largest challenges I have ever faced in my short existence on this planet. Being tied down to a date, an obligation is just not part of G-Money's existence. However, with the help of the sake and a desire to actually follow thru, we both drunkenly agreed we would do it. A 300-400 mile bike ride from Grady's house in SF, to our old stomping ground, Santa Barbara. Our route would be right down Highway One, with nothing but (hopefully) the wind to our backs and the open road to explore.

How were we going to follow up?
When would be the best time to go?
Could we do multiple long days in the saddle?
What gear would I get to buy/sneak by my wife?

So many questions to answer. As far as timing, we initially thought late March would be a great time to head out. It was over 6 months away and would give us plenty of time to get the gear to together, plan our stops—hell, maybe even train a few days! The more we thought about it though, March could be questionable, especially concerning the possibility of bad weather. Further discussion led to our date, sometime in late May/early June. Summer would be right around the corner, the weather should be warming up and we'd have longer days to cover any time in the saddle.

We had now crossed our two greatest hurdles, getting the decision and choosing a date! I couldn't help thinking, "Damn, this might actually happen". Actually, I KNEW it was going to happen and just that gave me a great feeling of anticipation and happiness of a great journey to look forward to.

Next up, the planning...