playing with fire
I went to SVC last night and picked up some more stuff to add to my bicycle clothing collection. A lot of my cold weather gear is on its way out due to tons of use over the last couple of seasons. I figured that it would be helpful to have some extras of things like gloves. If we end up with a significant amount of rain, I want something dry to put on before setting out on my last 200k.
The 600k is essentially a 400k with a rest stop, followed by a 200k. How much “rest” you actually get depends on how fast you finished the first portion. There is a 40 hour cut off to the ride and I don’t want to get too close to that. I’m hoping to get maybe 3 hours of sleep or so. It is hard to armchair randonneur at this point though. Everything ends up a little different when you are tired and sleep deprived.
The idea of this ride has completely dominated my thoughts this week. I am anxious for it. I’ve been squirming in my seat all day at work. My legs just want to pedal. I can’t wait to do this.
I seem to have lost my backup light at some point, so I have a very weak backup-backup light. I hope I don’t have to touch that thing. My helmet light problems aren’t going to be any better this time around either. I haven’t yet bought a decent one. The one I have from work is fine but it seems to drain the battery too fast. I’ll be carrying a number of spares this time around though.
The new bike doesn’t have more than a hundred miles on it. Rando superstition forbids riding a ride like this on such a new bike. My thinking is that it is essentially the same bike I rode on the 400k. My riding position is the same, the pedals, wheels, saddle and even handle bars are the same. Only the frame has changed (and no toe overlap this time). Thankfully, I am not a superstitious person. If something is going to go wrong, it will. Short of a tragedy, this ride WILL be completed.
I bought some sleeping aids to help me actually get some rest tonight. On the 400k, I only had 4 hours of sleep to work with, and I’m sure that it hurt me bad in the final few hours.
The weather forecast is looking pretty brutal. The winds have really been whipping around in the city this week. One thing is for sure, it is going to be a hell of a story.
