17 Days to go!

With 17 days left until I get on a plane, its beginning to dawn on me that I may have under trained and completely under prepared!This morning started with a quick trip to work to pick up my bike, a swift 12km ride home, a very rushed half breakfast and a a dash to meet the SD riders for the Sunday spin. 8 strong, we comfortably managed the 75KM or so of fairly flat terrain to Ripley and back, the ride however, was not without revelation. As is too often the case, it was observed by my fellow riders that I may have let my bike drift from 'optimum' condition. Apparently, when a bike gets stuck in one gear, constantly skips and has a front tyre that can't keep more than 70 psi, it needs a service! Riding with the club mechanic has left me with a list of urgent orders: 2 x new tyres, a rear cassette, new chain and potentially (but hopefully not) a new big ring. Great.Still, the ride felt good and the coffee after was even better!On to the trip. Having to buy all the above got me thinking about what else I haven't yet procured and in fact, whether what I have even fits in my chosen bike bags. I've got a total of 17.5 litres, so probably worth checking! Below is my first attempt at a bare bones pack:

The good news is it all comfortably fits, the bad news is that there are so many things missing I can't bring myself to write them down.... Lots to order, I'll have to try again next weekend once it all arrives!I've also had to start thinking about day one, I land in Seattle at 11:45, so by my optimisitc recconing, I should be out of the airport by 13:00. The sun sets in Seattle at 20:33, so I've decided to remove my arrival/rest afternoon and go straight for a 100 mile day. How hard can it be after a 10 hour flight?So here it is, my first day in the saddle: Day 1 (101 miles, a ferry, 4,360 ft ascending and 4,675 ft descending) According to Google it is going to take 9hrs 21 minutes, so I guess I need to find two hours somewhere or I'll be riding in the dark. Winner.