It's Finally Here.....

I don't remember when I signed up to do SAGBRAW, a bike ride in Wisconsin, but I know it was before the first price increase... Wait, I just found my confirmation printout. I registered for this ride last November. I've been looking forward to this ride for 8 months, and it's finally here.

Originally Rozmo and I were going to go, split the driving, and use the "indoor camping" option (sleeping on air mattresses in gyms). Then Hubby spoke up and volunteered to drive the RV (he really, really did volunteer, whether he remembers it that way or not), eliminating the need for two middle-aged women to sleep on gym floors. Score.

Then Rozmo had to cancel, and it never crossed my mind to do so. I've ridden before in rides where I didn't know anyone else there, and it doesn't bother me. Hubby still planned to go, and then we found out that unlike on BRAG, we can't run the generator at night because of the noise. Since the generator provides the electricity I need for my CPAP machine, and I've grown fond of breathing, I thought we were going to have to change our plans.

What we decided to do, though, is to camp at nearby campgrounds instead of staying at the schools with the other riders. While that will take me away from the camaraderie associated with cross-state bike rides of 1000 people or more, since I don't know any of them anyway, I won't let that bother me. The SAGBRAW folks are kind enough to publish GPS routes beforehand, so I've been able to upload them, edit them so that I end up at the chosen campground for the night instead of the school, and save them to my GPS. In some cases it means I shorten the day's route by a few miles, but then I have to tack it on to the next day's ride, so it all evens out. I think.

I have a sort of hare-brained idea of how to ride in as many new states as possible on the way TO Wisconsin, and Hubby is actually going along with it. I'll provide the details for that only if it comes to fruition. There's a chance I'll chicken out, but that's not really in my nature.

I'm a little nervous, having never done this ride before. Also, I've never combined the two entities of riding my bike for a week AND camping in the RV with Hubby and Gus. As a matter of fact, we've never been anywhere in the RV for a whole week. I keep saying to Hubby, "I don't cook when I'm on a bike ride." I envision a lot of sandwiches in our future for next week.

We're heading out very early in the morning, and I THINK everything is ready. I need to pack up the computer, though, so it's time to call it quits for tonight. Expect another week full of blog posts about cycling, and I hope they won't bore you to death.