Thanks for your interest and support! It has largely been due to the encouragement of my fellow CycleBlazers that I've decided to soldier on and take a shot at it, rather than abandoning the idea without ever turning a pedal "for real".

I'm glad that the last little outing went better for you and happy to hear you have decided to go on your big tour.
Looking forward to hearing all about it.

"You are never really ready. Go for it and anything after that is bonus."

That's a GREAT perspective!

You are never really ready. Go for it and anything after that is bonus. From past memory, the first week or two is adapting to the daily routine and after that it gets fun.
Post office is always happy to mail home extra gear. :-)

Yep. So many things seem like they'd be nice to have when viewed from the comfort of home, but when it comes down to it you find you can do perfectly well without them.

I've already carved six pounds out of my load, and think I could find four more without resorting to extreme measures. That's a reduction of between 15 and 20 percent of what I set off with on my mini-tour on Memorial Day.

Hey Keith - After our failed, first attempt of a tour this spring, we were surprised with how many items were eliminated from our gear after we returned home. We would like to eliminate more but it's hard to give up what you think you might need.
Looking forward to reading about your tour once it gets going.

Yes that's a possibility. The great thing about long tours is that they can be postponed: the countryside will probably still be out there later on.

The flip side of that, of course, is that postponement and delay often lead to never making the attempt. Circumstances and priorities change; opportunities missed or not taken may never come again.

I have three weeks to make the go/no-go decision; as Team RacPat have noted, it's best to give yourself at least a little time after a setback, before making a big choice about the future.

It might be too soon, but maybe not too late. Maybe you could scale back your ambitions to something shorter this summer and build up to it?

I wish the text formatting options included a strikethrough feature. I'd have used it liberally here, along with the bolding.

Thank you for the easy to see bold black updates. The voice of experience is a wise one. A shake down is a wise idea.

My first helmet mirror came with a helmet I bought (Skid Lid, c. 1980) and I've been habituated ever since. They're no distraction to me.

I have more bikes than helmets so I find it easier to equip the helmets with mirrors.

My limited experience with bike mirrors has been frustrating because the reflective surface always vibrated so much the mirror was rendered nearly useless. But it's been so long that things may be different now.

I have never been able to figure out helmet or glasses mounted mirrors. I use an Ortlieb mirror that attaches to the handlebars. Since I never use the drops, I attach it at the curve in the drops. On my Sequoia, my Cross Check, and my Bike Friday. I can tighten it so that it doesn't move or leave it a little loose to avoid breaking it if my bike tips over.

My recumbent has Grip Shifters so I can use a bar end mirror. I have a big round one (Miricle or some such name) and it works very well. (I used to have one mounted on both side but it made my bike too wide for urban biking.

One thing I agree with you on is that mirrors are worth their weight in gold. More than once a mirror has saved me from catastrophy.

Hi Kelly-

What'd you do with the tape? Wrap it around the bow of the glasses to give the mirror a bit more to grab onto? Or something else?

I used some electrical tape to keep my mirror correctly placed on my sunglasses. Functional, not stylish!

Da Brims are popular in Tucson -whatever it takes to keep that baking sun off your neck. I don't have a brim, but a do use a Salamander brand fabric visor. It's actually made for snowboarders. I've used one for ~20 years and never had it come off my helmet on a downhill.

Thanks George. I hope not to disappoint.