And she plans to carry out that promise next year, on the seat of a bicycle.

Olson, of Minnetonka, is one of approximately 250 riders participating in a one-year bike tour around the world. Odyssey 2000 is a six-continent, 20,000-mile tour of the world that kicks off Jan. 1 in Pasadena, Calif.

Olson’s drive to pedal around the world was fueled by several considerations.

In 1995 she participated in a cross-country bike tour. Many people asked her what she would do to top it, jokingly suggesting she bicycle around the world. But with the Odyssey 2000 trip already in the early stages of preparation, she gave it significant consideration. And in November 1995, she signed up.

Other considerations convinced her she was making the right decision. Olson’s father died when he was 42. And Olson, who will turn 40 during the trip, recently lost a friend close to her age. Those deaths affirmed that she doesn’t want to bank on retirement before embarking on such an adventure.

“Let’s do it now while I’m young,” she told herself.

So for the past four years she has been planning for her year of unemployment. The registration fee for the trip is $36,000.

The fee covers meals, transportation by boat or airplane between countries and continents, a new bicycle, roadside support and transportation of gear throughout the year.

In addition to paying for the trip during the past four years, Olson has been purchasing equipment, such as a tent – which will provide the roof over her head about 60 percent of the time next year – and a portable e-mail transmitter, which she will use to send reports back to Minnesota. A friend will maintain the Web site she has created and distribute her e-mail updates to those that subscribe to her online mailing list.

Olson has been earmarking about $1,000 a month for the trip since she registered, and recently quit her job as a computer systems analyst for the Federal Reserve Bank to finish her preparations for the trip. “I don’t miss working,” she said.

She’ll miss a few weddings and other special events during her year on the road, but she won’t miss housekeeping or cooking, she said.

With the exception of a back injury she sustained two years ago, Olson has never doubted that she’d be participating in Odyssey 2000. “Since I discovered I could do it, there was no turning back,” she said.

While the trip covers six continents (Antarctica has been left off the itinerary) more time will be spent on some continents, such as Europe, than others, such as Africa, where riders will only visit two countries.

The riders will pedal an average of 385 miles per week, and ride an average of five days per week. The trip is designed to give its participants several days to see some countries, such as France, and will take them to Sydney, Australia, during the 2000 Summer Olympics.

With the exception of Canada and the Caribbean, Olson has never been outside the United States. Of the continents on the itinerary, she is most eager to see Asia, she said.

While the riders will have summer-like weather during most of the trip, there is a chance that the conditions will be less-than-desirable at times. “At the top of the Alps you’ll never know if it’s going to snow,” she pointed out.

Olson has been participating in distance-cycling events for about eight years. Her training for Odyssey 2000 included trips west to ride the mountains and one-day rides that exceeded 200 miles.

The 1978 Minnetonka High School graduate has already garnered lots of attention for her effort, and enjoys sharing her dream with others. “It was a fun thing to tell at my 20-year reunion,” she said.

Two other Minnesota riders are participating in Odyssey 2000. Olson has met both of them, but didn’t know them before signing up. And while the rest of the riders come from 31 other states and several countries, Olson already knows about half of them through online correspondence. When the participants gather on New Year’s Day in California, it will be “more like a reunion than meeting a bunch of strangers,” she said.

The group has been invited to lead the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena on New Year’s Day, and may end up in the 2001 parade, since the trip culminates in California.

Besides e-mailed updates, Olson will be sending film back to Minnesota for use on her Web site.

She has already departed for California with her mother, Marilyn, who recently moved from Excelsior to Olson’s Minnetonka home, which she’ll occupy and look after during Olson’s trip.