Annapolis, Maryland 2013
Annapolis, Maryland is really beautiful and was so much fun to visit. We spent 4 days aboard Zufriedan, a 37-foot sloop rig with our captain Dave. We were going for our ASA 104 bareboat chartering certification, which we accomplished with flying colors. This trip was a little bit different than our last one to the Florida Keys because it was more about the inner-workings of the sailboat. Yes, we did a lot of sailing, but it was equally important to learn about how to work all of the systems aboard the boat, and maintain them.
We have tons of plans in our near future. We have been climbing like maniacs, sailing and general working-out over the winter, as well as revamping our new “sweet pad”. 
Since I am an avid environmentalist (as you well know), I have decided to use this resource as a sort of online journal to catalogue my training for The Tour Divide. I have put in about 30 miles so far (which is NOTHING!). Went to Evergreen with some friends a few weeks ago to really get my handle on things – I learned some great techniques for riding both up and down trails with rocks, debris, logs, etc. I have found that now I am much more confident riding on easier trails because of this! (Thanks Daylene and Lauren!).
Well its not the official day 1, but it is MY day 1….I don’t know if it is crazy or stupid or whatever, but I was really inspired by an article I read last week on my way to work (on the bus of course). This guy, Justin, from Denver, rode his bike from Canada to Mexico on the Great Divide…that is over 2700 miles of backcountry travel with nothing but what you can carry on your back and your bike…The “Tour Divide” is the name of the ultra-cycling challenge.
