September 7, 2020
All Systems Go
No more vacillating. Decisions have been made. We are pushing all our chips into the middle of the table, calling everyone’s bluff, and declaring Thursday, Sept. 10th as the revised launch date for the ride. A multitude of weather apps seem to agree that to be the sweetest spot available. Cold we do not mind. Rain we cannot abide.
That question settled, we are spending all of today dialing in final preparations … gear, timetables, reservations. Everything must have its place, because once we climb on board the SS Badger car ferry, any forgotten items will be become something between a minor irritation to a complete deal-breaker. Left all the snack-size bags of Planters Peanuts in the pantry? Pfft! Pop into a convenience store and load up. Buy some Twix bars while you’re at it! Forgot your cycling shoes back in Wisconsin? Son, you’ve got big problems. Our willingness to pay close attention to detail has increased exponentially these last two days.
The plan is to curate our large piles of gear today, make cold-hearted cuts to the “roster,” and then do a full-on test pack into the panniers. If it looks good, we will declare victory and sleep like babies tonight.
If you’ve read all these pre-game musings we thank you! Anyone willing to grind through the non-ride postings is a saint, and will surely be following the ride itself, so thanks for coming along. We’d love you to send us any questions, observations, or generally buoyant comments while we’re out on the road. It’s fun to hear from folks, whether they be old friends or people we’ve never met. Here’s how to do that:
(Ha!! Editor's note: Having been banished from the CGOAB site for having the audacity to make a post in the CycleBlaze forums I have to shake my head in wonder at the following paragraph. Until Neil Gunton revealed his true psychopathy I felt kindly toward him. I'll leave the next paragraph intact as a small internet artifact and cautionary tale. I'm sure many of you had the same whipsawing experience with Neil for breaking an unwritten rule of his and being banished from the old site) ...
From any page of our blog/journal you can leave us a message via the guestbook function. Look up at the top of the page and you will see a variety of links. The “Guestbook” option is in the 2nd row, between Author and Printable. Using the guestbook is the most direct way to send us a note. When you click it, you’ll be guided on how to send a message. You will see that you are welcome to register as an official CGOAB user, but you don’t have to do that. You can simply send a message by providing your name and email (I believe). Rest assured this site does NOT sell your information nor pester you with spam. The site has been run and maintained by a single person for near 20 years, Neil Gunton. He has a near religious fervor in his refusal to “mine” his web visitors for their data. So, you are safe here. But again, send us messages!! Don’t be shy! It doesn’t matter if you know us well, or not at all. We love getting communications while on the road.
And, sadly, this is the last night for the Clumbers to sleep at home for ten days. Think of them, and hope they can keep a stiff upper lip and carry on. They should be naturals at that sort of unruffled stoicism. They are an English Breed after all. Here they are, unaware ….
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See you in Michigan tomorrow!
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