Getting Started

Hello. This is my first attempt at blogging.

The reason I am trying my hand at this is that I am currently training to travel the Lewis and Clark Trail from Astoria, Oregon (site of Fort Clatsop) to St. Charles, Missouri (Route map in photo) during August and September of 2006. My plan is to travel to Portland via Amtrack and bike to Astoria and turn around an begin my way back to Missouri.

I live in Liberty, Missouri which is right on the route.

A little about myself. I am 39 years old (will turn 40 while on the trip). I teach ecology at a small liberal arts college. I do research in Puerto Rico and Hawaii and enjoy bicycling. As an ecologist, I am interested in taking this trip because it will be interesting to see the landscape change as I move from the west coast to the Midwest and it will also be interesting to compare the current situation to the descriptions of the Corps of Discovery. To facilitate this, I will be taking The Lewis and Clark Journals:An American Epic of Discovery edited by Gary E. Moulton to accompany me on the trip. I will post excerpts from my cycling journal in the next few days as I look back on my training efforts up to this point.

Cheers.