We made it to Yankton a little while ago where we'll kick off the Tour de Kota in the morning. I have to say, I feel for the campers tonight. The temp is low, the wind is only now beginning to relent a bit and it is still cloudy and hazy.
We, on the other hand, will be staying in a nice warm bed, in a big, comfy house with a hot tub. No, it's not fair. But it is what it is.
The only downside for us is that we won't be able to connect with other riders this year the way that we did last year since we won't be doing the full week and we won't be camping at all. The only other day I get to ride is Wednesday and we start about 25 miles from home on that day, so we'll just get up and drive to the start that day.
The chance to get to meet some different people was the highlight of the Tour for me last year and the knowledge that it will be more difficult to do so this year is a bit of a downer, but it does give me more excuse to ride a little slower and meet folks on the road tomorrow instead of trying to power through with the big boys.
I threw the bike on the rack for a quick tune tonight when we got here and made the final pre-ride adjustments. It is a blessing and a curse to be a bike mechanic when preparing for this kind of ride. When I didn't know anything about how to fix a bike, I was inclined to trust that it would operate fine and that there wasn't much I could do anyway, so why worry? Now I can't let the smallest thing slip by and anticipate that I will be making adjustments anytime I meet up with Amy to stop and refuel. Hopefully it won't give me too much reason to worry and I can just get on with suffering through a ride that I probably did not prepare enough for.
I'm hoping to get a chance to check in tomorrow night to recap the first 100 miles of the Tour de Kota, but we'll have to see if there's enough of me left to pour into a chair and punch the keys after the ride.
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