Meeting day.: Time to hit the road!

June 9, 2016

Summer is here! Time to get the tour on the road. Am I ready? Everyone but me seems to think I'm a slacker this year. Certainly, I did not obsess as I did last year. Then I was concerned about riding Washington and Rainy Passes in one day, 7,500 feet of climbing. Gulp. I trained well and owned the day. This year? Eh. I did a couple of 70 mile days. A couple of 60 mile days. Quite a few 50's. But mostly I had lots of excuses why 30-40 miles was a good number. I didn't do near as much climbing as last year either.

So - here I am. On tour. Hoping for the best.

Can I sleep this year? Yep. This is the first year ever that I haven't had anxiety at the start of a tour. No first night jitters or anything. I don't know what has happened to my Type A personality, but I'm liking this new me. It is far less stressful!

We had a last minute flurry when Jacinto took his bike in for a check over and discovered his drive train was completely shot. He has an old school 5 bolt crank set. No one stocks those now. At least not in our area. End of story, Anthony worked until 9 PM getting Jacinto's bike ready for our departure in the morning. It helps to know your mechanic well. I imagine tipping is also a positive.

Did Jacinto take his bike for a spin after Anthony finished? No. He said it should be good to go - Anthony just worked on it.

We were all packed the night before and I loaded the van in the morning. Perhaps there is a bit of Type A left - I loaded the van myself. I could fuss all I want about how things were placed. We were on the road ten minutes early. A miracle.

Driving to the start of an event is always fun. Lots of chat and anticipation. Our five hour drive (according to google) was actually five hours forty five minutes with one pit stop. Ken called to say he was running late, go to dinner without him.

We arrived almost the same time as Tom, from Tucson. Marty, from Palmer Lake, CO, was already there. We checked in the motel and agreed we were all hungry, we would eat right now.

Dinner was at the Dos Hermana's. Don't bother eating there. It was food, but that's about all. It was fun to catch up over dinner and discuss the next day.

We agreed 7:00 AM was a good start time. Jacinto didn't agree. He thinks 9:00 AM is a better time.

Remember Jacinto thinking his bike is good to go? Why bother attaching the BOB trailer in advance. Here he is using my fancy flashlight and knife from son Luis to use a zip tie to fasten one side of the trailer.

Doesn't everyone think a good time for a test ride is at the tour start, far from any mechanic? Only those with a truly laid back personality . . . .

I was all organized and in bed by 9 PM - I am slipping right back into touring mode. Yay!

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