Jess and I woke early in the morning, trying to give myself enough time to gather all my things. The night prior I had installed my new pedals (Shimano T105) and a cycling computer (Blackburn Denali) and roughly gathered all my other extraneous gear together. It was still dark out, with just a slight silvery outline forming over the distant objects outside our window. I love mornings, but I despise waking up. Probably some of the best views I have ever seen have been in the morning, but sleep is a hard thing for me to shake off. Jess was up with me even though she didn’t need to be, and decided she was going to go on a run. I steadily gathered all of my things, double-checked the mental list I’d been going over for the last couple nights. Eventually it came time for Jess to leave on her run. We said our goodbyes and she was off into the waking world. Soon my friends arrived and we loaded up the car with my items.
We were off and running! The trip went smoothly with only the necessary stops for gas, coffee and restrooms taken, we pulled into Seattle in the mid afternoon. It was warm and we could see a storm brewing in the distance. We headed for lake Union to await a friend who was taking us out on the lake in a sail boat. While we waited for him to get off work, we strode to a nearby coffee shop to relax.
About a half hour later, we arrived back at the boat yard to go on our watery ride. During this time, the distant looking storm had moved in closer, presenting itself with flashes of lightning and booms of thunder. With the weather looking ominous, we decided it prudent not to sail.
We went out for some tasty happy hour nachos at a local pub, meanwhile the weather calmed. We came back to the boat and motored out into the lake. The wind was exceptionally calm, which meant the sail stayed down and we just meandered around the lake. We were show the “Sleepless in Seattle” house and a few other local attractions. After boating for about an hour, we headed back for land and then headed off to grab some pizza.
We eventually headed to our temporary lodging and settled in for the night as the next day was a big one. As I laid on the floor willing myself to sleep, I started to think of what was in store for the next day. I mulled over the simple truth that I wasn’t prepared for the ride. I had only ever ridden 50 miles, half of the distance I would travel the next day. Sleep came to me quickly, but not at all soundly. I tossed and turned most of the night, waking periodically to check the time.
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