My Bike, My Bag, My Goodness

(Posted by Yama)

Here is a picture of my bike, before I took her apart and put her in the box. It's an old steel-framed Panasonic.

I've been riding for a long time with blue Bontrager Race Lite tires, but for this ride I switched to yellow ones. My blue tires still have quite a bit of life left in them, but we're going to be covering so many miles, I decided it's best to go with new rubber and lower the possibility of getting a flat along the way.

Another reason I switched to yellow is that one of my water bottles (thanks, Joe!) is yellow, as is my new saddle. What you can't see is that even my shoes are yellow! Joe claims he can't stand riding behind me because my yellow shoes are so bright that they blind him...

About the only thing missing from the bike in this picture (besides a person to ride it, of course!) is the headlight. In other words, what you are looking at is what I'm going to be riding and living with for two weeks! I told you in an earlier post that we are riding light and I wasn't joking. The other three "legs of the table" (Joe, Jody, and "Jack") will all have a similar set-up.

What's in the bag you ask? Not much.

I have some clothing, such as arm and leg warmers, a spare pair of socks, a pair of underwear, a T-shirt, shorts, and a wind breaker (plus those shoes attached to the top of the bag).

I have some supplies, such as a few wrenches, tire levers, a spare tire, and an inner tube.

I have some miscellaneous stuff, such as aspirin, plastic baggies, batteries, and my camera.

And I have my credit card and a toothbrush.