Two Weeks!

Location: Seattle, WA

"Wow, the clock is ticking, and this thing is really going to happen."

Since that realization has set in, I've started preparing myself and my bike for the trip ahead. Over this Memorial Day weekend, I went out and replaced my tires with kevlar-lined All-Condition Armadillo tires from Specialized. Hopefully that will stave off most potential flats this summer. They're a bit slimmer and have red sidewalls which look sweet on my bike. The coolness factor is really important, of course. I also took a little time to swap out my stock brake pads with some Kool-Stop pads. Now I can stop.

While I've always tried to fit rides in, they've been shorter than I'd like. But today I went on a pretty nice one: a 50-miler around the south-end of Lake Washington (through Renton) and back up to Kirkland, then back to UW across I-90. It was gorgeous and warm, and all-around satisfying -- except for the part where I ran over a squirrel on campus. (Please join me in a moment of silence...thank you.)

I'm a little behind on my fundraising still (not counting the $1200 coming in through UPS though), but I feel like I'm ready to take on the world. And I'm excited to start with the United States.