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 Day -xx  We leave tomorrow

Whether it’s a race or a monumental event, you reach a point where you can’t cram any more preparation into your life.
Ron won the award for first done. He had his bike in its box nearly two weeks before the ride. ( I will go into the cast of characters soon enough).
If I can be frank, I have to ask myself why leave the things I enjoy to go ride with very minimal conditions 650 miles on a bicycle that weighs almost as much as I do?
There’s so many comforts that we will have to put aside to accomplish this journey.
I ponder if the Vikings looked forward to leaving home? What drove them on? What were they thinking,” Oh boy! No more chores. No more fixing stuff. Let’s wander somewhere we have never been. See if we survive. Maybe, just maybe we will find somewhere that the sun shines even during the winter!” Did they consider, no more hugs from grandkids? No dog wanting to play even when you don’t? No nice warm dinner with their wives? No Viking Costco to buy lots of stuff you don’t need?
Did they take all the costs into consideration? Or is my German mind over thinking this?
For some, they cannot wait to get away. But get away from what?
I don’t particularly look forward to the being away part. I’ve lots of fun when I’m here. But the away part is sometimes the cost of an amazing adventure.
Although our day will start at 04:00 on Tuesday, it was only last week that I thought hiking Whitney was ridiculous and we woke up at 01:30. So you could conclude it’s always good to have done something really crazy then that sets the high water mark so that most the other things aren’t as crazy. Of course it’s always more expeditious and less stress to know someone who does crazy stuff making your crazy seem reasonable.
You can thank us later.

The us:
Stu Markey, Retired Commodore. Not stop adventurist.  Stu, Sut's son Bob, my son Matt, we all rode 1000's of miles by dirt moto in Baja.  If it's the hardest thing to do, Stu will want to do it. 4th ride on the Divide
Dale Gauthier, One time boss of Stu.  A man of steel.  Never likes to be second. Willing to do any adventure. 3rd ride on the Divide
Jeff Sobczyk, Despite having a hard name to spell, you can't find a steep hill in San Diego County that Jeff hasnt ridden.  Jeff will ride a day out of the way for a cold beer. 4th ride on the Divide
Ron Kelly, an 'amazing' man of solid character but a poor judge of character to be saying yes to hanging with us.  This will be Ron's first year but Colorado is this mining man's stomping ground.  
Bernhard Winkelmann.  Retired but not retired engineer. He barely survived walking across Spain with his wife in June.  So he is trying his luck again. First time on the Divide.
Of course, me, Jim.  You can see some adventures posted below.  
We all have multiple page "adventure resumes" 

You put enough marbles in a box and give it a shake, somethings bound to happen.  Stay tuned.

Jimbo

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