My plans for my first post-retirement tour were simple: ride south until I run out of road. On the east coast of the U.S. that means Key West, Florida. All I'd have to do is roll down my driveway in Northern Virginia and turn right. What could be easier? There was just one minor complication: the weather.

Hurricane Irma, a category 4 storm, was making its way across the Caribbean. Yesterday, two days before my departure, Irma smashed into the lower Florida Keys. Over the past week the track of the storm prompted me to make plans for a different tour altogether.  I had mapped out a plan to do a big loop up north. DC-Pittsburgh-Erie-Niagara Falls-Burlington (or Albany)-DC. I even bought maps for the Pittsburgh to Erie section.

I checked the weather up north and let’s just say that even in mid September it’s a tad brisker than Florida. Another interesting twist was that the track of Irma after it hit the keys was forecasted to be toward Saint Louis. I figured I’d have a better chance of meeting up with Irma’s remnants by riding to Erie than if I followed my original plan. And with hurricane Jose marking time near the Bahamas, it looked like I would get good weather for a least a week if I headed south. Throwing caution (and eventually my bike and myself) to the wind, I would head south.

I spent the day packing and checking out my bike. My newly installed rear tire had a hop in it. I deflated it and re-seated it. Hopefully that will take care of things. There is a possibility that the rim is messed up. If so, I will literally hear about it when the tire blows off the rim.

Once I re-seated the tire, I loaded up the beast. It’s a lot of stuff. Tent. Sleeping pad. Sleeping sack (a thin sleeping bag), sleeping bag liner, clothes, rain gear. Tools and tubes and a spare tire. Food (granola bars out the wazoo), chargers and batteries and other electronic junk), toiletries and other assorting stuff. Somehow I neglected to find a proper paper journal for recording memorable events. I’ll pick one up en route.

That’s right. I leave tomorrow as originally planned. I have no idea how far south I will get. Maybe in 3 weeks the east coast of Florida will be ridable. Maybe not. What’s a bike tour without a little adventure? The worst that could happen is I get to a point like Jacksonville or St. Augustine and have to turn around.

So today I tested road the fully loaded Mule. It rides better with a load than without. Don’t ask me how this happens. Also, I installed lower gearing on the beast over a decade ago. I hope they are up to the challenge of the hills over the first four days.

As is usually the case, I have butterflies in my stomach. Based on past experience, they seem to go away after a day.

My tour will be called the No Way So Hey Tour. This is because when my son was a toddler that’s how he said No Way Jose.