Gettin' Real - Blue Ridge Parkway End to End (BRPE2E) - CycleBlaze

June 5, 2022 to June 30, 2022

Gettin' Real

By George


Josh and I are excited to have you follow our big adventure along the full length of the Blue Ridge Parkway- all 587 miles and 62k feet of climbing in 7 days.  We're only 2 and a half weeks from our start date (June 23rd) and our final big week of training is upon us before a week of relative rest and packing.  We're blessed to have an amazing support crew, featuring "Team-Mom" Danielle, Josh's wife, and their daughter Annabelle.  And I've coerced my daughter, Madeline, into joining us too.  We anticipate needing their full logistical and emotional support to pull this ride off.

I teach Middle School and Josh is a Physician's Assistant in Raleigh, NC.   We've  only been riding together for a few years now, but we've become fast friends.  A year or so ago Josh texted me a picture of a bicyclist on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I texted him back the picture at the top of this journal entry.  It's a wooden sign that you can buy at some of the gift shops along the route.  Josh asked why I didn't own it and I told him I had made a pledge to myself long ago that I'd buy it one day, after I'd ridden the whole thing. 

I want to put this out there right now- the energy behind actually doing this ride is Josh and Josh alone.  This guy makes things happen.  He went from our conversation about a wall decoration to having planned this whole thing out.  I feel lucky to count him as a friend and teammate.  Thanks for all your hard work in putting this challenge together Josh!

So I'll sign off for now, but will post again soon.  Thanks for your support.

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Scott AndersonLooking forward to following along and revisiting this magical road. We biked north from Blowing Rock to Philadelphia up this and the Shenandoah Parkway years ago and have wanted to return ever since.
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1 year ago
George PreissTo Scott AndersonThank you for the support, Scott, as it will help motivate me in both riding and posting the journals. I checked out your entries/pics and feel inspired by them!
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1 year ago