This is our final pre-trip entry. It’s been an interesting couple of days. Yesterday we were planning to ride to Everett. Twenty minutes into it we realized that things were still not right with the bike after the recent tune-up. The chain has been skipping ever since then. That usually means worn chain or gears, but those were all replaced. With only a week to go we figured we better get it to the shop. We spent the day with them trying things out and us test riding. Finally bought a new derailleur (the old one had 18,000 miles on it), but that still didn’t fix it. Total “training” miles: 12!

So today we completed the route from the Pacific to official start line, the Everett Boys and Girls Club. We changed our shifters from index shifting to friction shifting (I use barend shifters) and that solved the problems we’d been having. We hope that the sunshine today is a good omen. The 62 mile round trip seemed almost lazy which implies we’re ready. We have a total of 1,875 training miles in from the first of the year.

A few thoughts as we head into this great adventure:

1. This IS indeed an adventure and one we CANNOT fail! Even if we stop, we will still have had an adventure.
2. It’s all “practice”. We’re going to attempt to be in each moment without telling ourselves how much we’d rather be somewhere else (dry, done, on the flats, on a curvy road, out of the wind, in the wind, in a warm cabin, back in Seattle, already to Boston, etc.).
3. No point complaining about it. No one wants to hear it.
4. We aspire to not use the sag vehicle.
5. We aspire to blog consistently as time and access allow.
6. We aspire to have FUN!

One of the wonderful things about life is how much a mystery it all is. We’re going to step into that mystery next Sunday, June 17. Come join us! (Figuratively speaking. We don’t expect you to hop on your bikes!)