17 to Go…

Yep, seventeen days and change till RAGBRAI starts. Let’s see, how am I doing…
I’ve ridden 1775 miles since the middle of March. That sounds like a lot, but in fact it’s really only about one hundred miles a week. Still my average week when I’m not getting ready for something is around fifty miles, maybe a bit more if I do a longer ride on the weekend, so I am stepping up a bit.
In fact this week I’m planning on one hundred fifty miles. I’ve already done eighty-three of them so life is good. Next week I’ll try to get in one hundred seventy-five miles which will be a bit more difficult; not because it’s particularly hard but because time starts being an issue.
Here’s a fly-by of the route from Ewa to town I rode last week…I love these things…

What else?
Laundry.
Yesterday I did my laundry and tossed in a bunch of things for the trip. I don’t wear special bike clothing which makes things easy, but I do have some highly wicking Columbia long sleeve shirts I like for this stuff. I try to keep covered up as I’ve been treated for skin cancer once (very minor) and don’t relish the prospect of worse. These aren’t cycling specific items, indeed they are really base layer clothing for other sports. The good news is they breath, are lightweight, and dry quick.
I’ll be bringing four of them, all a couple of years old and definitely replaceable. The trick to RAGBRAI (or any other long trip) is to bring the old stuff. If it gets trashed, lost, or whatevah’d it’s no big loss.
What next?
I found a few little tears in a few items I’d like to fix up before I go. Being a forgetful tailor I can never find needle and thread when I want them so I continue to purchase new needles and spools as I go. I must have dozens of the things…somewhere. Sigh.
That’s about it for now though. It’s time for a coffee refill and some sewing supplies. Enjoy the fly-by.