In my March 3, 2011 post, Quest for self confidence where x never marks the spot, I introduced my blog readers to my summer cycling journey from Pittsburgh to Annapolis. I am joining my weight loss surgery cycling buddy, Chuck, on self-supported 7-10 day ride across Pennsylvania and Maryland to Washington D.C. and the Chesapeake Bay. It is a monumental challenge that I find so important for me to accomplish at this time in my life.

During our early planning, Chuck and I decided that we will be journaling our trip in a blog. We have been working over the past month in getting that blog up and running. Today, we are happy to announce that Crossing Mountains, Chasing Rivers (crossingmountains.com) is up and running. We have the look and feel all set and have begun posting to the site. I invite you to stop over and visit us today.

What can you expect on our blog that you won’t find here? In the coming months, we will be posting updates on our preparations for this trip. We plan on including photos and videos that bring our planning and training to life on the website. Some of the posts will come from our mobile phones as we practice video and photo journaling that we plan on using on our ride.

Once we begin our journey, you can expect some real time updates. Crossing Mountains, Chasing Rivers links to our social networks on Twitter and Facebook. We plan on tweeting and sharing Facebook updates about our life on the trails. Due to the remoteness of certain trail sections, we may be offline for a few hours or a day. We want this blog to be a hub where our friends, family and followers interact with us.

Crossing Mountains, Chasing Rivers is symbolic of more than this journey. It is about overcoming obstacles and achieving goals. Chuck and I plan on expanding the focus of the website after our ride. I don’t know what shape that will take. I believe our ride will dictate the future of Crossing Mountains, Chasing Rivers. There is no question that Chuck and I will have a good bit of time on our hands to talk about this and how it comes to life post-ride.

I believe that Crossing Mountains, Chasing Rivers will somehow involve Chuck’s vision of promoting fitness and my theme of living a healthy happy life after weight loss surgery. Chuck is an avid runner and cyclist. I am an avid cyclist and wellness blogger. We have often spoken on how we can motivate others to become more physically fit and active in their post surgery lives. Look for Crossing Mountains, Chasing Rivers to focus on these themes.

I invite you to surf over to Crossing Mountains, Chasing Rivers. Click on the icons to like our Facebook page, follow our tweets, and subscribe to our blog posts. Visit us often. Interact with us. Most importantly, follow us from June 25 – July 4 through blog posts and social network updates. It is going to be the “ride of our lives”.