Donate to the EFF

One of the reasons we’re doing this ride is to raise awareness of issues facing the Information Security community. JP and I both feel very passionately about information security, the importance of education and research in this field, and the need for researchers to have the latitude necessary to perform their work.

Over the years, security researchers have often found themselves in difficult situations due to the nature of their research. From cracking weak encryption algorithms to disclosing vulnerabilities in important infrastructure, performing security research often means putting yourself in harms way. Thankfully, through it all, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has been there to provide guidance, advice, and (when necessary) legal defense for those who need it. The staff at the EFF have been great supporters of the information security/hacker community, and for that we owe them our great thanks.

We also owe them some money 😉 The EFF is a non-profit and relies on folks like you for all the funds that keep the lights on and the legal briefs flying. So, we humbly ask that if you’re interested in supporting us on our ride across the country, please do so by donating to the EFF. If you’re so inclined, we’d love to hear in the comments below that you donated on our behalf. Every donation helps motivate us… which is particularly important as we we climb hills in Kentucky and (more importantly) ride through Kansas, the land of straight lines and wind.

About 10 Weeks Out…

Woof. Just about 2 and a half months, and we’ll be on the road. Craziness. Training has been going well, but I’m afraid I’m trying to make up for lost time over the winter. Definitely have a few more aches and pains than I’d like but nothing alarming. I definitely have new bike lust going on (a new bike would be the perfect way to prepare for the ride, right?) but Heidi is helping me keep that in check 😉

We should have a sponsor packet on the site this week for potential corporate sponsors to see what they’d get for their sponsorship. Also, we completed our first trial trip in the Cycle Override Mobile Command Center (ie: our new Airstream Interstate). For the most part it went very well, but I definitely need to fabricate something to organize the bikes and gear in the back a bit better. Also, jersey orders will need to go in soon so I’ll start getting the art ready for that. Going to be a crazy few weeks…

The new start location is Yorktown, VA on June 18th. We’re officially starting at the end of the TransAmerica Trail and taking that all the way to the Western Express. No more Georgetown to Garrett County via the C&O canal *whew*. For those who aren’t familiar with the TransAmerica and Western Express, take a look at the Adventure Cycling routes. They’re a great org, and if you do any distance cycling, it’s worth joining.

There are a few folks meeting up with us in Utah to ride the final few days in to Vegas. If you’re interested, drop us a line and we’ll get you the details. I know Jim has already identified a bike shop in Washington UT to drop ship bikes to so that may be a good place to plan on joining up. That’s two 85 mile days ride in to Vegas… Mind you, we’re going through the Valley of Fire State Park in late July so we’ll be hitting the road early, like probably 4 am, to beat the heat. You may want to have an LED light or two for that stretch.

That’s it for now. Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@cycle_override) for updates.

Getting ready for the big ride

Well, it’s been a while since we’ve updated the site. However, we’ve been pretty busy behind the scenes. JP has been training like a rockstar all winter long. I’ve been slightly less diligent (I packed on the ShmooCon 5 it seems) but the weather is turning and I’m back in the saddle.

There’s been a lot of interest from folks looking to cruise along for parts of the ride. To give you an idea of timelines, we’ve pulled together this draft schedule. (COR-xCountry-2012-v3) It’s by no means final, but the starting location and date is probably fixed. The rest of it should give you and idea of our best guess of where we’ll be throughout the ride. Obviously, we haven’t completed the route all the way to the Pacific, but getting to Vegas is 90% of the battle.

If you’re interested in hooking up with us for any of the ride, email info at cycleoverride dot org or leave a message in the comments.

Next up, transportation, jerseys, sponsor updates and more. Until then, keep the wheels down 🙂

Review: 2012 Gran Fondo New Jersey

To paraphrase Homer Simpson, the term “Gran Fondo” gets thrown around a lot these days.  Last decade’s Century Ride is this decades Gran Fondo. But while calling your organized ride a Gran Fondo comes with some pitfalls. The term implies something more than just picking a course and inviting a few local cycling clubs and buddies to do a ride. A Gran Fondo is supposed to be an Event. There should be lots of riders, lots of food and events, and a real sense of excitement.

So a few days ago my wife suggested I sign up for the 2012 Gran Fondo New Jersey.  It’s been a busy training year so a quick look at the course indicated I had nothing to worry about. So I figured “what the hell” and signed up.  I just got back a few hours ago and decided to write up this ride report while everything was still fresh in my mind. Did the Gran Fondo NJ live up to its name?  Read on to find out.