Haven't Started Packing Yet.....

I'm leaving tomorrow right after school to go ride a tandem bicycle with my sister for 3 days. I use all of my personal days every year for bicycle rides, and this is the first one this year. I've known for 3 months....actually, longer than that..... that I was going this weekend, and yet I haven't started packing yet.

I was going to put the tandem rack on my car tonight, while hubby is here to help me. But it's pouring rain, so I'll have to do it in the morning. In the dark. Oh well, at least I don't have to load the bike. I'm picking that up from the bike shop on my way out of town. Lord, I hope I don't forget to pick up the bike....

I have brought the tent and my air mattress up from the basement, along with my largest duffel bag. We're actually hoping to "camp" inside, but I'm taking the tent just in case.

I really like the weekend rides, because there is much less pressure in the packing department than for the week-long ride. I'll have my car with me, so I can pack just as much as it will hold. And since it's an SUV and my sister will be coming down Friday morning, I've got LOTS of room. And if I forget something, we can always go to town and buy what we need.

One year I had to go to the local Wal-Mart and buy: underwear, sports bras, a hairbrush, and a boombox. I had stopped on the way to school that morning and made sure I had batteries for the boombox so I could listen to the UGA game on Saturday afternoon. Then I forgot the boombox.

We'll be on the campus of a semi-small college (or maybe it's officially small; I'm not sure), so I'm hoping they have wireless internet. Otherwise we'll have to trek to town and search out a hot spot just so I can post my blogs tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday. Oh yeah, and so I can check on my online students and grade their work.

You never know what the weather is going to be like this time of year for this particular ride. It could be 90 degrees and sunny, or it could be 60 degrees and rain all day. Another thing I like about the weekend rides as opposed to the week-long ride is that we start and end at the same place every day, doing loop rides. That means we can choose anywhere from 12 miles to 60-something. Actually there's the choice of a "century," but we haven't done 100 miles in a single day on the tandem yet. And I don't think we'll be starting this weekend.
Here we are at the end of BRAG last year, along with Sweet Girl who came up from Jax to see us at the end of the road. We had just ridden 400 miles across Georgia in the blazing heat, and we're smiling in this picture. Further proof that we are insane. BRAG ended on Flag Day, hence the flag jerseys.
We always wear matching clothes on the tandem, because.......just because. I think it's a rule for tandems, or maybe a law. I'm not sure. Of course, it just makes people think even MORE that we are a......couple.......instead of sisters. And we don't care. Our shoes don't match in this picture because that's the year I went off and forgot my cycling shoes. (For you non-cyclists out there, you can't just wear sneakers either. Cycling shoes have cleats on the bottom that snap into the pedals, keeping your feet attached. I call them suicide pedals.) Katydid just happened to have her cycling sandals in her car, along with her regular cycling shoes. Luckily we wear approximately the same size. This is NOT the same year I forgot my bras and underwear. Good Lord, hubby may be right about me being scatter-brained.

We are probably smiling in this picture because that was the day that our route took us by the Oreo Cow Farm near Madison, Georgia. The owner greeted us at the gates to his farm with free Oreos......and beer.
But the picture below is my all-time favorite cycling picture. I took it of Katydid from my bike while we were riding on the Withlacoochee Trail in 1999, the only year we did Bike Florida. I took this on a whim, while I was riding, with a disposable camera.