Third pre-ride post: preparations continue. This week, I ordered Remy's Emotional Support Dog vest and bought a flag for my bike, to which I sewed rainbow flag streamers. I hope it doesn't tag me in the upper mountain states as someone who deserves to be hassled. The intent is quite the opposite. But either way, it feels like the right thing to do, so I've done it.
And that seems to be true of a lot of things these days. I'm functioning at what might seem to some to be a non-rational level. I would call it "following that still small voice." I often find myself second guessing that still small voice, because what it's telling me is so not what most people would do; but then I remember that doesn't matter. That inner knowing has never let me down, and the rational, "what if" has often.
I am likely not going to get nearly as much for my house as I had hoped. The location isn't good enough to make up for it lacking a garage and only having one bathroom, apparently. Still, there will be plenty. I will just have to be a bit more frugal about where I stay on my travels in order to have some left to invest in another house, should I choose to do that, when my trip is done. I may consult a retirement investment person, in order to make the best choices about what will be the largest sum of money I've ever had.
I still don't know for sure if I have SAG (support and gear) for the trip. I will make the journey, either way, but I hope to know soon so that I can plan accordingly. Some differences in planning: with SAG, I can take a cooler for food, more clothes, a book or two, my usual CPAP machine (rather than a smaller, lighter one); and I will have a person built into the trip with home I can connect at least twice a day. Without SAG, I will pull a trailer, pack much lighter, and have to set up evening phone calls or text or FB conversations to have something social with loved ones to look forward at the end of the day -- something I've discovered will help me psychologically. Also, if someone will drive my car as my SAG person, then I'll have my car when I get to Seattle, and I can continue down the coast or wherever I wish. If I go alone, I'll need to return to Michigan to get my car, unless I want to continue riding further around the country. Another thought is to sell the car here and buy another one when I get to my destination.
The Spoke Folks (Jay) offered a basic bike maintenance class on Wednesday evening, which I took. There was only one other student in the class, which made it possible for us both to get all our questions answered. I (finally!) learned how to adjust my brakes, change a tire (properly), and change a chain. I hope there won't be too many other difficulties; but I know I can walk the bike if necessary to get to someplace where I can get more help. Jay also had lots of suggestions about how to pack and what to take. I'm going to meet him there tomorrow to try out the trailer that his wife used when she and some friends rode around Lake Ontario, just to get the feel of it and see if I want to buy one like it. When we talked about clothing, Jay highly recommended wool -- wool socks, a Goodwill wool sweater in case it's cool and wet. He also recommended some of the high tech fabrics, but I'll have to see what I can get and what I can afford.
It's been a productive week as far as preparations go, but I'm still concerned about not riding enough. I guess if I can't get all the miles in that I hope, I'll be training on the early legs of my travels. But as the weather improves and the house is in better shape, I hope to be able to devote more time to rides around the Grand Rapids/West Michigan area. Those will show up on my FB Strava posts. I hope I get to have a ride with friend Jane Van Hof on Sunday -- weather permitting.
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