As I mentioned on the opening page of this year’s documentary, this year’s ride was going to have a unique flavor for me. 

I didn’t train near as much this year as in past years, due primarily to all the remodeling work I’ve been doing in our basement. I accumulated just over 150 miles training, all on my newly acquired trainer, leading up to the ride.  The new trainer works well and is very quiet.  It is from 1up USA and is referred to as a centrifugal resistance type trainer. See their web site at http://www.1upusa.com/.  Because of the remodeling effort in the basement, I set my trainer up in the family room, as you can see in the top photo to the right.

One of the unique aspects of this year was that I wouldn’t be able to share a tent with my brother Jeff.  In all previous years when we did the tent camping thing, I shared his tent.  He was going to be bringing Anna with him this year, meaning his tent would be full.

A week or so before the trip, I went to Gander Mountain and bought a tent, sleeping bag, and folding chair. I have a sleeping bag somewhere at home but we were unable to find it because we still haven’t unpacked everything. The folding chair is something I wish I had every year but never have done anything about.

Of course I felt I should set the tent up at least once before going on the ride, just to make sure all the pieces were there and that I knew how to do it. Several photos at the right show that exercise.

Stacey and Joe agreed to pick me up on the way down from Neenah, WI, and then to bring me back home after the end of the ride. That worked out very well. The plan was to use their van as the support vehicle during the week. John was bringing a trailer which could be hooked to Joe and Stacey’s van, so we would have plenty of cargo space for camping supplies and bikes.

Stacey and Joe picked me up about 5 or 6 PM this afternoon.  We stopped at Walcott, IA at the Iowa 80 truckstop for a bite to eat, after stopping at some exit in Illinois for gas.  The van has an issue with the gas gauge.  It works OK till it gets down to about 1/3 full, then it quits going any further. Joe and Stacey keep track of their mileage since the last fill and base their decision to fill up on their estimate of the mileage they’ve been getting.

We must have arrived in Altoona at my parents house about 10 PM. Scott and Diane were already there.