T Minus 24 Hours (and Counting)

Phase II of this bike tour will begin in about 24 hours when a good friend loads the touring bike box, one duffel bag and a carry on into a pickup and very kindly drives me to the Portland airport. Then it will on to Missoula, where I've yet to figure out how get all that the seven miles or so from the airport to the outrageously priced Motel 6 where I'll meet the remaining tour members. I'm told there will be a marathon in town that weekend, so perhaps that explains the usurious fee for a bed and bathroom. I try to only pay that kind of room rate at properties where everything in the room isn't screwed into the walls and tabletops. Still, it will be my last few evenings with indoor plumbing for awhile, so I can't complain ("... but sometimes I still do"- Joe Walsh).

I have been doing a few training rides on the road bike to get back in some semblance of condition, but not nearly enough. The people I'll be joining have now logged something approaching 3,000 miles, so they will either be uber fit or exhausted. They did lose another participant a few days ago... homesickness, a shame after being so close to the finish. Still, the tour has to be fun, as many of you have reminded me. So, when I rejoin them, we will number ten, not the fifteen that originally set out from Crystal City, VA.

I would like to again thank everyone for following along and sending me countless messages of support and encouragement. I also want to thank the 99 kind donors, several of whom contributed anonymously (so I can't thank you personally) to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. We're now their #1 active fund-raising team at over $18,200.

So, here we go. Western Montana, the Idaho panhandle and across Oregon to the Pacific, and "Into the Great Wide Open" (Tom Petty) for Leslie, the NOCC, all of you and yes, for me as well. This time I will endeavor to stay upright.

TE