I'm nervous, but like I've never been before. My stomach is full of steak, butterflies and anticipation. My head keeps thinking of 'little things I probably forgot' so that I don't have to think about the 'big thing which is impossible to ignore'. My heart's been beating faster all day as I try to hide my excitement. My muscles ache from the week of training behind me, but my thoughts know that it was nothing compared to the week ahead of me.
Or the week after that, or the week after that, or the week after that...you get the idea.
But I'm as ready as I'll ever be.
I had a fantastic dinner with my family tonight, and then loaded up the bike (who, in the past week has been dubbed with the name Gladys; even though I'm not touching trains and going nowhere near Georgia). I figured before I head out, I should probably take a rip around the neighbourhood.
I had a fantastic dinner with my family tonight, and then loaded up the bike (who, in the past week has been dubbed with the name Gladys; even though I'm not touching trains and going nowhere near Georgia). I figured before I head out, I should probably take a rip around the neighbourhood.
I'm guessing the bags fully loaded likely added 20-30kg, but the only indicator I could really notice for the extra weight was the extra compression in my rear tire (pay attention, because I'm sure I'll curse this later with flat tire after flat tire). I was easily able to keep up my target speed (see right) on flat ground.
Of course, I'm never one to simply leave well enough alone. After keeping a steady 25km/h pace around the block I cranked 'er up and tried to see how fast I could get going on flat ground.
Let's just say if there were any police around, I could have been given a ticket. I'm still a touch afraid of what she'll do on a nice downslope.
So now, I write my final post before the cycle begins from the comfort of my sister's house in Calgary. It's hard to believe that just 12 days ago I was frantically packing my life up in Oxford, and that in the past week and a half I've been in 5 different cities, crossed an ocean, cycled over 400km in training and eaten enough beef to make a herd of cattle nervous.
The last thing I want to mention was a nice touch I had from Thursday and a great reminder of why I'm glad to be back in Canada. Anthony at Primal Screen was kind enough to print my cycling shirts in exchange for a small logo, but for him, apparently this wasn't a good enough deed. In addition to doing an amazing job on the cycling shirts I'll have for the trip, Anthony also printed me a fantastic hooded sweatshirt and gave me a really cool Primal Screen shirt. I realize that it may not have been much of an inconvenience to him, but I truly appreciated the extra effort and am very glad to have had a chance to work with Anthony. Thanks again!!
Now I lay me down to rest
I pray my bike be at it's best
If it shall hold for 6 weeks straight
I know my journey will be great
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