May 19 - some cleanup

I removed the batteries from the SPOTs, which took a good hour and now they, along with several rider packages, are awaiting USPS pickup this afternoon.  I spent quite a bit of time on the financials, reconciling hotel room and other charges.  There were some mistakes made by the hotels, like charging the room to the rider rather than the master account, and I got those reversed.  I'm still not reconciled at Fort Myers Beach, but we'll get there.  Financially speaking, it has worked out well.

From the rider perspective, it also worked out well.  The following from one of the riders pretty much sums up what we're seeing on Facebook and emails.

Hi Dave,
I would like to thank you and your Team on a job well done for the Sunshine 1200K, you guys did an outstanding job, everything was perfectly executed. The overnight places were fabulous, we saw you a lot on the road, the controls manned by your Team were perfectly located and always welcomed to find, the one on the 41kms stretch on road 31 was a blessing. I was also very impressed when I was looking for my bag at the last overnight and I thought I had left it behind in the room and one of your volunteer told me it was impossible as you had a process control to insure you did not leave any bag behind, it was so good to hear………
One more time, Paramount execution, pass my thanks to your Team
Bon courage for all your next rides
Jean

It's gratifying to get this kind of email, and I have shared it with the team.  It makes the work all worthwhile.

I did get out for a ride yesterday and it was hot, hot, hot.  With a little luck I'll get out again today.  Soon I'll be riding with blackflies ...

This morning I went through all my spare parts bins and organized parts for the trip north.  I've got quite a bit of bike maintenance to do in those rainy days.

I'm working on getting Rus Hamilton's stuff to him and his wife in Fort Lauderdale.  He's the rider from Australia who ended up in the hospital (and is still there) with hyponatremia.  He's ok now but still figuring out what happened.  He doesn't remember a thing after he changed planes in Dallas on the way to the ride ... scary ! 

Onward !