Getting closer

Five weeks from today we will be dipping our tires in the Pacific Ocean and heading toward Alpine, CA.  It will be the first riding day of this great adventure.

Yesterday we got the hotel list - the names, addresses and phone numbers of all the places we will be staying.  Most of them are mid-range motels, but there are a few that are very nice, delightful looking B&Bs.  There is even one that has been nicknamed the Bates Hotel by riders on previous tours - it's a no-star gem that everyone seems to enjoy experiencing while being glad that there aren't others like it.

So now, not only do we know we are going, so do they.  They have rooms reserved for us and expect us to be there.  Since bikes are our only transportation, we will have to ride - we wouldn't want to keep those nice people waiting now, would we?  We can tell friends and loved ones exactly where we will be on any given night, or even arrange for care packages to be sent ahead of our arrival.

We also got a letter that more precisely describes our first and last days.  The logistics of getting people and bikes all the places that they will need to be is pretty complicated but the WomanTours folks seem to have it all under control.  They have been doing tours since 1993 and they have gotten the hang of it.  

Today, as I rode my trainer, I watched Changing Gear.  It is a New Zealand videographer's documentary about the 1999 tour.  The emphasis isn't so much about the riding as it is about the women and what the tour means to them, what it taught them and how they feel about it.  I am just hoping that we don't have to ride in as much rain as they did that year.