No Turning Back! GONOGO is a GO!!

My fitness level is not exactly where I would like it to be, but I am confident it is good enough for this ride. I saw my doctor for my last 'pre-flight' check-up, and she gave me a green light. My blood screen looks good again and I am no longer anemic. Without a riding buddy, now the lodging will be twice as expensive, so I will take a shorter trip and terminate at my brother's place in Philadelphia. That should be affordable. Key West will have to be a future trip. My brother also agreed to go and pick me up and rescue me if something unforeseen should stop me during the ride, so I have a contingency plan in place. I cannot see any stop signs. So yesterday, Friday, September 6, was my final opportunity to make a GONOGO decision and GO it is. I spent the prior day packing and boxing my bike and some of my gear. And yesterday I hauled by boxed bike over to Fedex and shipped it to Bar Harbor, Maine. So, there is no turning back now. My bike is out in front of me and I have to go catch up with it in "Bah Hahbuh". Next Monday, September 16, I fly to Bar Harbor. The following day, I unbox my bike, assemble it, and hope nothing was bent or broken during shipping. And then on Wednesday, September 18, I start pedaling south.

Boxing and packing a bike for shipping can be interesting. I have done it a couple of times when I took my bike with me to Malaysia when I used to work at Intel. I go to my favorite bike shop and get them to give me one of their shipping boxes. Then I take the pedals, bars and wheels off and let the air out of the tires. Then wrap the frame in pipe insulation, protect the derailleur, and slide everything into the box, and fill all the open spaces with riding gear and tools. Tape everything up and haul the box to FedEx. If you are curious, it cost $88.00 to ship 60 pounds of bike, box and gear to Bar Harbor from Albuquerque with 4-5 business day delivery. So my bike should be waiting for me at the Moseley Inn in Bar Harbor when I arrive, if all goes well.