Well, it's only 2-1/2 workdays and counting until vacation begins and we embark upon the 2005 edition of Ride the Rockies. For those of you not familiar with it, Ride the Rockies is an annual bike ride held in June which traverses different routes across the beautiful state of Colorado. This year's ride starts in Grand Junction and winds 405 miles over 7 days to Breckenridge. You can get all the scoop at www.ridetherockies.com.
I'll be taking the lovely Princess Lisa with me along with our two trusty pals, nephew - Jace and grandson - Ethan. Hopefully, I'll be able to entice Princess Lisa to entertain you, our world wide web audience, with her infamous Princess Diaries. This will give you an idea of what the adventure looks like from outside the world of a hard-core bike nerd.
Today was spent packing and prepping for the trip. As you can imagine, there are tons of things (work and personal) to wrap up before you leave for 10 days. Packing centered around selection of bicyling clothing and gear. In hot, summertime Texas, getting ready to ride is a simple deal; put on shorts, jersey, and sunscreen. Drink lots of H2O and try not to ride past noon.
Colorado, on the other hand, creates a little more logistical planning. Generally, you can expect to start riding when its 45 degrees (arm warmers, tights and vest); noon could bring 85 degrees and sun (see Texas riding, above); and the ride into the arrival town could be accompanied with rain and sleet (rain cape, shoe covers and full fingered riding gloves). Needless to say, I need to pack pretty much everything that I own in order to cover the gamut, clothing, tools, supplies....you get the picture.
This is where the challenge begins. Princess Lisa puts some pretty severe packing restrictions on yours truly, so I can't take the entire house inside her Lexus. Anyways, today was spent squirrelling things away in bags and getting the most critical things stashed. Just in case!
I'll check in on Wednesday evening from beautiful Amarillo, TX on our way to God's country. Talk to you then.