Well, today's the day that my Medicare card is valid. It sorta slipped up on me but anyway, it's here. At least I can ask for the senior discount at every stop along our route.
After the Marlinton ride I changed the oil in the bike, topped up the chain oil supply, and washed my dirty clothes. Everything is ready for my Friday departure, to include a new pair of Pirelli tires. On my Alaska trip the rear tire only lasted about 4000 miles. I thought that maybe I had too much air in the rear but after talking to Dave Goff this weekend I now think that those tires just don't last as long as I need. Thus, I changed to a different tire entirely and hope to make the entire round trip on these. Having my own tire machine makes these swaps a no brainer, otherwise it's just too painful to take off an almost brand new tire due to the $65 cost to mount and balance each one.
Mark and I talked last night. His wife, Beth, is concerned about our planned 1000 mile day on Saturday. With the 90F+ temperatures between the east coast and Texas it might be smart to get on the road mid day Friday (from Roanoke, I still leave Portsmouth early Friday morning to ride to Roanoke) and put a few hundred mile under our belts. It will be cooler in the mountains of VA and TN so even afternoon riding will be reasonable. That will give us a still respectable 700-800 mile ride on Saturday. On Sunday we want to end up in Amarillo where we will meet up with Bobby.
As an aside, Mark and I are each carrying cooling vests. These vests get soaked in water and then let the water slowly evaporate, cooling us down on a really hot day. He is also taking a mesh jacket for better air flow. I have such a jacket but am resisting taking a second jacket just for the hot days. That's the only undecided in my packing list.
Now the time is dragging by...like a child waiting for Christmas morning.
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