Memorial Day, Almost Packed

It’s Monday, I fly to San Francisco on Thursday, and feel oddly serene. I’ve packed the bike, put my household affairs in order, and made sure my students are going in the right direction at work. I’m almost finished packing *me*. Imagine packing for 52 days. I need “bike clothes,” both fair weather and for the rain and cold. I need civilian clothes. Finally, there is bike stuff to be packed: cycling shoes, inner tubes, an extra tire, tools, an extra chain, water bottles, my mini repair stand; you get the idea. Oh yes, several pounds of sun block, butt balm, and assorted toiletries. The kicker? It all has to fit into one duffel bag, not more than 35 pounds.

Here’s your game for today. Identify as many things as you can in the top and bottom of the duffle. I’ll get you started. In the top, the regular cycling clothes are on the left, the cold weather ones on the right, and civies on the middle. My helmet is squished in. Now for the bottom. (Remember how you learned to make images bigger by double clicking on them? Now is probably a good time to do that.) In the bottom, can you find: a spare tire, a spare tube, cycling shoes, an extra set of cycling cleats, prescription medications, butt cream, band aids, a bungie cord, toothpaste, and a disposable razor.

How many did you get right?
10, you should be doing the ride, not me.
9, you know your cycling gear, but missed one of the hard ones.
8, a solid “B” you probably thought the thing labeled “Continentals” was a dead snake and wondered why I packed it.
7. what can I say? In “The Science of Food,” this might be a “B.” Especially if you did something “nice” for the professor. = : - o No, not that! I was thinking of something academic like putting that really illegible lecture into PowerPoint. (So many to chose from).
6, Congratulations, you identified all the noncycling items. It’s not your fault that you don’t know what cleats look like.
5. Ok, you need extra credit. Go back to the top of the back and correctly identify three items. 3+5 = 8, you’ve gotten a “B”. (You can express your gratitude by bringing me cookies or something.)
Less than 5? I’m sure that none of you got less than 5.

After lunch, I’m going to take my beater bike and ride the canal’s tow path. As you know, I’ve ridden next to the canal dozens and dozens of times. But I don’t think I’ve ridden the actual tow path all year. It’s totally shaded, in some places has the river on one side and the canal on the other, and one can’t ride very fast on it. That will be good for me.

Added in Edit How fast and how far don't matter on a day like today. It was an absolutely glorious day on the canal. Everybody knew it and everyone was there. Kyaks of every color, extended families hiking or walking, lovers hand in hand eyes for nothing else, fat ladies wobbling by, city kids blazing by on their WalMart Huffy's, people on horse back, little kids with training wheels on their first bike, maybe their first ride. If so, it will be hard to beat.