June 7 - Shenandoah

I have to confess that only the Shenandoah is on my mind at this point ...

After I rushed out a blog yesterday, I went to Mass then came back to Stef's. Sandy had, in the meantime, gone over to The Apple Market with Stef's car to check out their plants and do whatever shopping. She came home a little later with a couple of herbs in pots for Stef and some fiddleheads for us.

The rest of the day went very quickly. We had lunch then rushed to get dressed to get to the Baptism. We arrived at the Baptism a couple of minutes late but thankfully we were not the last family to arrive. Four families, 5 kids, all school age ... seems that Lauren was not the only child being baptized just-in-time for school registration. The other four children will be starting school at the adjoining school; Lauren will be going to the school that you can practically see from Stef's house.

The Baptism went well -- what would you expect ? This was the "older child" baptism so there were no babies to cry, just curious kids. I think that the other kids were kindergarten age where Lauren is ready for grade one. Kylie was the official photographer ... I'll post those pictures once we're in Florida and I have time and the internet connection speed to upload the pictures.

After the Baptism we went back to Stef's, got organized and headed north. Arriving a little after 6pm, we found the house cool -- 65F -- and got a fire going. Dinner was lasagna that Sandy had prepared a while ago and had pulled out of the freezer -- it was great. My mom always did lasagna that way -- did several trays and froze them. We ate a little after 7pm so that Sandy could catch the Toni's at 8pm. I was tired ... fell asleep in front of the TV in the basement (very comfortable couch) and Sandy woke me up at 11pm so that I could go to bed ... and then I slept until 5:45. That's not quite correct as I woke up at 3:45 but had no trouble getting back to sleep.

Today I have to get organized for the Shenandoah. I have to clean my bike after Saturday's ride and pack my multiple bags. Since there is a bag drop for the overnight stays, I'll have to organize changes of clothes etc. into each of those bags so that I'm set. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about shoes -- do I have three pairs to bring with me ? Shoes, street-shorts, street-shirt, bike shorts, bike jersey, towel, butt creme, suntan lotion, rags, chain oil, underwear, batteries, pre-packaged perpetuem, carb-boom gels ... I'm thinking "aloud" about what has to go into each of these two away-bags.

One of the away-bags will go to the first rest stop which also becomes the third rest-stop ... somehow they track where we want to overnight, since there is a choice. I'm assuming that we make that choice before we start and then have to live with it. For example, the first overnight is either at mile 226 -- "EMU Maplewood Dorm" in Harrisonburg VA or mile 266 -- "Deerfield VFD" in Deerfield VA. Volunteers run these things; there are no private accommodations; you get to crash for a while on a bed and a volunteer wakes you up at a pre-arranged time of your choosing.

The next choices are mile 402, Pine Tavern Lodge in Floyd VA or mile 448, Knights Inn, Mt Airy NC. Pine Tavern Lodge shows up again at mile 493; EMU Maplewood Dorm again at mile 646; we end where we started at the Comfort Inn in Leesburg VA. That is, of course, assuming that I/we make it to the end without a DNF (Did Not Finish) along the way. DNF's can be voluntary -- "I've had enough of this"; "I cannot go on". They can also be involuntary -- "My bike's broken beyond on-the-road repair"; "I'm broken beyond repair" (accident of some sort); "whoops, didn't make the cutoff time for a Control".

Last year's group saw close to a 50% DNF rate; this year's weather is going to be better (no record heat-wave) but it's still a tough route. I was talking to Henk (Ontario seasoned rider) on Saturday and he was asking if this was my first 1200 and commenting that I'd picked a tough one to start ... well, I suppose that they're all tough. I have not heard of any being "easy 1200's", per se. Should I save a harder one for later ? Am I getting any younger ?

It looks like there will be something in excess of 40 riders. We'll be well strung out. I wouldn't be surprised to be riding by myself most of the time, but that remains to be seen. Total ascent could be close to 50,000 feet, according to the fellow that posted the GPS file. The online tools do not give accurate readings, but then the GPS's have a margin of error too ... don't know for sure.

There will be updates along the way. They won't be from me. One of the organizers is committed to providing on-the-road updates -- the website will have updates and pictures posted. I don't know how often he'll be able to do so or how consistently. My update will come at the end ... the end of my ride or the end of THE ride, depending on how I do. I fully expect to complete this thing, but have to be realistic about my chances -- even seasoned riders of these things DNF sometimes.

Check www.shenandoah1200.com for updates.

My laptop will come down to Leesburg and I'll be updating before I start ...and then will come, hopefully, the longest no-blog-period since I started this mostly-daily harangue. I'll call Sandy along the way; she'll be with Marda who will have her blackberry and perhaps can provide updates ... this will be like 8 days of riding across the country compressed into 3. Yikes.

Before anyone gets any ideas ... no, I don't Twitter !

That's it for now ... my organizing work is cut out for me.