The Big Ride will challenge and reward you in ways you can only imagine. There will be great days and tough days and thousands of indelible memories. However, just to give you a feel for what you will do on a typical riding day, here's a sample daily schedule:
| 5:00 AM | Rise and Shine - the other tent "zipper alarms" are usually all you will need to wake up |
| 5:00 AM – 6:00 AM | Dress for the day, pack up your gear, sleeping bag, mattress, and tent and store it in the gear truck. |
| 6:00 AM – 7:00 AM | Eat (and/or help prepare) breakfast, fill water bottles, review daily route map and roll out of camp. |
| 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM | On the road - you'll eat plenty, including sandwiches you made in camp and at cafes you find along the way. You can ride alone or with a friend or with small groups of riders who ride at a similar pace. Stop and see the sights; make a new friend in one of the many small towns; talk to the cows; listen to the wind over the grass; ride the same hill twice just because you can; call friends at work and tell them what you're doing; fix your own flat tire or stop to help a friend and then think of the thousands of people with lung disease who you are helping as you ride up that long hill. |
| 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM | Take a hot shower, set up your tent, wash out your water bottles, do a little bike maintenance or just chill out till dinner. |
| 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM | Eat, eat, eat. Swap stories with fellow riders and talk over tomorrow's route at the riders' meeting. |
| 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM | Hit the hay and dream about tailwinds for tomorrow. Try to stay awake until dark. |