TAHOE REPORT, DAY 4

So - it's come to this. 160-some riders. 10 crew. 3 staff. An untold # of volunteers. All gathered here in (or at least in the vicinity of) a slightly shabby hotel/casino in South Lake Tahoe. Riders from 35 Chapters. Coaches from 12. Bikes from all over.

I guess we might as well ride tomorrow, huh?

Let's pause a sec here for the weather report: Sunny. No humidity (like none, like Death Valley none!) Low of 48. High of 85. Ooooohhhhhh dang!

Now, as someone that's spent the better part of every waking minute since Wed in a gloomy conference room deep in the bowels of this joint you might be getting the impression that I'm more-than-ready to ride tomorrow.

Very astute.
Did my poker face slip?

To say that I'm hot to ride is akin to saying that Custer misjudged his opponent. That the captain of the Titanic made a slight error, that......well....never mind. Let's just say that I'm dyin' to soak up some sunshine, breath in some of that high-mountain air and leave it at that.

Anyway - today was a full day. Up and @ breakfast by 6:30. In the Bike Room @ 7:30, off to the Coach's Mtg @ 8 and the riders mtg @ 9. Lotsa weird (to us) logistics on this'n. .....only 2 distance choices, 36 or 72 miles and the shorter one involves a trip 'cross the lake on a sternwheel steamer ferry. 1640 non JDRF riders sharing the roads w/ us. No JDRF-specific vehicles, rest stops or tech support. Weird.

Decent % of new riders here. Tim and I kinda split up dinner after a video about Phil Sutherland that Chris from.......umm........Georgia? made. Not the liveliest crowd I've ever seen @ a Ride to say the least. A "tough crowd" you might say. But we did our thing, green and yellow jerseys distributed, BikeFace discussed, applause shared and accepted.

So - the bikes are ready, tired pumped, bottled filled, kits laid out on spare beds all through the hotel. This time tomorrow the 1st Ever JDRF Tahoe Ride will be history and I'll tell y'all about it as soon as I can.

Goodnight from Rm 807.

Coach MC