That's right my friends, three months until I depart on this whirlwind adventure. Well, technically the three month mark was three days ago (Feb 25). Minor detail. The point is this trip is coming up, and coming up fast.Given the less-than-stellar weather that we've had here in CU, it's hard to fathom that in less than three months I'll be out there battling the elements for 72 days straight, let alone that the weather will be tolerable enough to do so. Sure the Midwest gets cold in the winter, but this year the cold seems to be sticking around for a victory lap. Just when we think it's going to warm up, we get hit with another few days of blustery winds, snow storms and utter misery. I know March is just around the corner, but the thought of training outdoors in the coming weeks seems preposterous and makes the whole trip seem like a distant goal.But the only thing distant about this trip is the mileage between New York City and San Francisco, the start and end points of the trip. There's so much that needs to be done before departure day. I still have a lot of money to raise, still have a lot of work to do on upping my endurance and strength, and still have a lot of bike gear to purchase. It's a little daunting balancing prepping for this trip with schoolwork, jobs and my ever-looming graduation, but it's something that I want to do. As each day passes, I'm becoming more and more excited. I've been going to the gym a lot more frequently (or at least trying to go), and am finally starting to see the results.  I've been eating a lot healthier, running for longer periods of time and have even lost a few pounds in the process. That's a few less pounds I'll have to drag up a mountain come this summer. Woot! I know I have a long way to go, but I feel like I'm headed in the right direction. On top of that, the 29 other people accompanying me across the country all seem incredibly nice and motivated about what we're doing. I can't wait to get to know them better. They make me excited to come to team training at 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning, and that's saying something.I can already tell it's going to be an amazing summer.