Catching up on blog for past few days...
Orientation meeting
Registration desk
Assembly mechanics with riders
Long descent into SFO as seen from rear of hotel
Orientation meeting
Saturday, June 2, 2018
The past few days I’ve been trying to keep on Eastern time. I do this so I can more easily rise early on riding days to get ready for daily routine of breakfast, making sure hydration pack is filled, get snacks for the road, suiting up, check bike gear, pump tires, pack and bring bags to truck for loading. Even today I rose 5:30 ish and did a load of laundry eating breakfast in between wash and dry cycles. For me, having a routine helps me to remember things I used to forget on my earlier tours. And keeps my anxiety levels in check. After all, I’m here to relax and enjoy the riding. The fewer speed bumps I put in my way, the better the cycling can be.
Before lunch, went for a walk along the bay behind the hotel. As we’re on the south perimeter of SFO, it was pretty cool watching incoming and outbound jets along the walk. Added bonus was scoring some Gatorade for tomorrow’s departure at a reasonably priced Gas Mart.
Another quick walk into downtown Burlingame with John and Matt to grab some sandwiches at a middle eastern shop. Getting warm in the sun, actually hot. Glad I put on some sunscreen before heading out. On return to the hotel, I overheard a rider asking one of the staff if they had a cable for him to charge his front light. Since I can be such a busybody, I offered help as I had taken a spare cable that did just the trick. He in turn showed me his radar and heads up display.
The heads up display unit attaches to his sunglasses with an arm that projects his Garmin bike computer's data (speed, power, cadence) on his eyeglass lens. The data appears as if it's 10 feet ahead so he doesn't need to change his focus to read it. The radar unit attaches to the seat and senses the speed and distance of a car approaching from behind. It will flash a color (yellow, red) depending on the car's speed and proximity. Pretty cool stuff I had read about in the different "Bike Toys" magazines but have never seen it in real life.
The orientation meeting went from 5:00 to 8:30. As expected, the 18 folks who are starting this ride each were given time to give short introductory remarks on why they are riding. I feel like I'm in with a group I was afraid I'd be in on my first tour. A majority of riders are veterans of multiple big rides and I outweigh almost everyone by a good 30 pounds. This is going to be a heaping dose of humble pie ride. The meeting was long. We did break for a Panera catered meal of sandwiches and salad in the conference room before we reviewed the route we would run tomorrow.
Tomorrow's ride will be fraught with narrow bridges, 10% climbs within first couple miles, and traveling Sausalito known for ticketing bicyclists for speeding. I'm more than a little intimidated. But I'm ready to get rolling. Going to shower up and hit the sack. That's the best I can do for now.
The heads up display unit attaches to his sunglasses with an arm that projects his Garmin bike computer's data (speed, power, cadence) on his eyeglass lens. The data appears as if it's 10 feet ahead so he doesn't need to change his focus to read it. The radar unit attaches to the seat and senses the speed and distance of a car approaching from behind. It will flash a color (yellow, red) depending on the car's speed and proximity. Pretty cool stuff I had read about in the different "Bike Toys" magazines but have never seen it in real life.
The orientation meeting went from 5:00 to 8:30. As expected, the 18 folks who are starting this ride each were given time to give short introductory remarks on why they are riding. I feel like I'm in with a group I was afraid I'd be in on my first tour. A majority of riders are veterans of multiple big rides and I outweigh almost everyone by a good 30 pounds. This is going to be a heaping dose of humble pie ride. The meeting was long. We did break for a Panera catered meal of sandwiches and salad in the conference room before we reviewed the route we would run tomorrow.
Tomorrow's ride will be fraught with narrow bridges, 10% climbs within first couple miles, and traveling Sausalito known for ticketing bicyclists for speeding. I'm more than a little intimidated. But I'm ready to get rolling. Going to shower up and hit the sack. That's the best I can do for now.
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