One day to go

My sister, Mary Jo, and her husband, Don, have arrived from Ohio, and Mary Jo has picked up her bike from the Counterbalance Bike Shop along the Burke-Gilman trail. She took it out for a .7 mile test ride, found the front brake a bit tighter than she is used to but other than that, it's running fine. 

We are off to dinner and a play tonight and have agreed on an 8:30 a.m. departure on Saturday. John, our other riding partner, has arrived from California and says he is ready to go.

Big thanks to Counterbalance for the help on getting the shipped bike together. Also a note of thanks to Sprocketts Recycled Bikes in Seattle for my new derailleur and to the 20/20 Union shop for suggesting, selling and installing my new Schwalbe tires, which they say almost never go flat. Hope that's true.

As far as getting the rider ready, a big thanks to Matt Hill at the Seattle Athletic Club Northgate. Can't say that I ever want to see that weight vest again, but it won't be your fault if I don't ride all 700 miles.

Tomorrow we ride.