kentcowgill.org/blog

As far as my training is going, it's ok, but not quite where I'd like for it to be this close to the ride. I rode 51 miles last saturday with a friend I met through my chiropracter - he saw my fundraising poster in the office and asked if I wanted to go for a ride... and of course I did. We went up to the Chicago Botanical Gardens, which I've done a few times before, but at least this time I had some company. It was good to go with another vaccine rider because he really kept me on my toes - not too many rest stops :) The coolest part about that ride was that we left from our neighborhood - I didn't put my bike on my car to get it to the start of the "trail".

The day after that, I met up with my friend Lisanne and her daughter Evelyn and did pretty much the same path, only fewer miles - we drove our bikes to the trailhead instead of riding through the city like I did the day before. Total of about 34 miles that day. We even saw a family of deer on the way back! Starting out that day was ... interesting ... We parked in a parking lot I'd never been in before and decided to do some off-roading to find the trail. No such luck. After going through wood chips, dirt, mud, and over a few fallen trees, we finally landed about 15 yards from where we went into the woods. Oops :) We rode down the road a bit and found a real entrance to the trail :)

And of course, I've finally made all my travel reservations. I'm leaving for Montreal on the 4th of September, and flying back to Chicago on the 9th. Hopefully I'll be able to ease my sore rear into the airline seat! I've got my hotel room booked at a hotel near the airport, and I've made reservations for shipping my bike separately to Montreal. Now I just need to make sure I have enough gear! Clothing, tent supplies, a waterproof gearbag - you name it, I need it! :)