T-1 day: Orientation and get organized!

 May 4 - For our Star Wars geeks out there: May the 4th be with you. 

We had a great day today as we prepare to leave tomorrow. I think we adjusted quickly to the time zone change. Stuart knows this area since his daughter lives in Burbank, and he guided us on a cool ride to make sure our bikes and legs were ready. We rode a leisurely 31 miles checking out some of the legendary surfing beaches: Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, Marina Del Rey, and Santa Monica. Bill said it best that it was "sensory overload"...too many bizarre things to see, and some that I would like to 'un-see'. Below is a picture Raff took of Stuart, me, and Bill near Manhattan Beach, where we will start tomorrow:

Here is the famous Manhattan Beach Pier (flowers in the foreground to curry favor with Gina):

Last photo of the day is from breakfast at The Cow's End (smoothie and egg bagel is amazing). I am a simple being and believe that a bulldog standing in line with me is a positive omen for the journey ahead. Go dawgs...

We had our orientation session after the ride and got to meet the rest of the folks doing this trip. We also ate tacos and spent time with a nice guy named Luca from Italy that we thought was doing the ride; it turns out that he just wanted free tacos and to see if Stuart's Spanish could sound like Italian - hard to make this stuff up. We have a great group of folks from Phoenix, California, Ohio, Boston, Minnesota, NJ, Maryland, Chicago, Indiana, Florida, and Washington. It was really cool to hear everyone's story on why they are doing this ride, and it confirms what we have all said many times - we are so fortunate and grateful to be able to do this. We are also ready to stop talking about it and get going! The folks that put this tour on are very good, and we all feel great about the decision to hire out versus doing it ourselves. 

One of the cool things about retiring last year is being able to read much more and for pleasure. I read most of the time that I am on the bike with Jawbone earphones. I read the Tolkien trilogy last summer, and a classic quote that makes me giggle came to mind at the meet/greet today. This was from Bilbo's birthday party in The Fellowship of the Ring, and he said "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." Yes, I am a child in adult clothes. Wheels up on Sunday - let's go! Thanks for all the messages...I can see short text messages on my Garmin while I'm riding, so be brief and be witty.