After breakfast we were instructed to load everything up on our bikes to test our gear and ourselves. We made PB & J sandwiches for lunch. I wonder how many I ate over the duration of the tour? : )

I was loaded in no time, being the type A worry wart person that I am. I am a fan of the Ziplock baggie system. I buy one gallon and 2.5 gallon heavy duty zipper bags to keep my things in. This not only keeps stuff dry, but organized. The 2.5 gallon bags are very hard to find in my area. I put winter clothes in one of the giant bags. Summer clothes are small and lightweight. They will fit in a gallon size bag. Toiletries go in one. Odds and ends - such as my extra glasses, books, clothes line and pins all get lumped together in a bag. That was it for clothes and 'stuff'. I don't know how my bag weighed so much with so few things. I took a couple of extra bags in case the originals weren't up to the rigors of the road. With my good organization system it was quick to hook my trailer up and load the bag.

Remember when my goal was 20 pounds in the bag? That did not happen. Understatement of the year. I was fretting as I looked at everything I had piled in the bedroom before we left home. I spent a serious amount of time debating how many clothes pins I should take. Really now, how much difference could that make? But I couldn't leave clothing home - I was already limited to one of each item. How could my bag weight so much? I refused to weigh it before I left, afraid I would psych myself out. My bag was so full that I had to place the mostly empty bag in the trailer and then load it up. It took several days to get the exact placement of all of the items down. I had an annoying rattle for several days. I finally deduced it was the soup pot. I had my sleeping bag (in it's sack) stuffed perfectly inside of the soup pot. The pot went in the corner of the BOB bag. I finally discovered that if the pot handle was placed to the outside of the bag, it would vibrate against the rail of the BOB. I kept the pot in the same location, but rotated the handle to the top. That's one of the little tricks I learned repacking the BOB daily for a month.

After much waiting around for the men to get organized (isn't it supposed to be women who take so long?) we were finally ready to roll.

We followed a bike path to Giant Springs State Park where we ate our lunch only 7 miles later. We were hardly hungry! We watched a wedding party take photos and walked around looking at the spring water. There were many, many geese who left their calling cards all over the ground. I worried for the bride in her wedding gown . . . .

Recumbent John and I stopped at the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center on the return trip. John had a homemade cable and lock with him. It was very small and lightweight. John allowed that the cable would keep a casual thief away, but anyone with cable cutters would have their way. He also pointed out that anyone with cable cutters would get through a much thicker cable. I expressed great enthusiasm for his cable. I typically do not carry a lock, hoping that my strange, long rig will keep away the thieves. John later gave me his cable. I was touched. I used the cable and lock all through the trip and still use it at home.

The Interpretative center was very interesting. We walked around and looked at the exhibits. I listened to a talk on trade beads. Red and blue were the favored colors by the native americans.

John and I rode the seven fast miles back to the hostel. Most of us spent the afternoon sitting around telling more war stories.

We were divided up into cooking teams of two by Guy. He escorted the cooks for the night to the store to help them with the task of buying food for twelve people. We were allowed $10. per day per person for food. It didn't sound like much money, but we were always under budget and had extra money to add to 'the pad' for those little splurges.

Tom and Christian set very high standards for the rest of us with a roasted chicken dinner. Delicious!

I retired early, wanting to be well rested for the first day of my long awaited adventure. I wasn't too nervous. Our first day was supposed to be a manageable 50 miles.

Heart

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