Tuesday, July 5 Memphis to Fargo

Well, I’m on my way. No trouble getting up at 5:00 AM and stretching real good. Found a few veggies and apples in the fridge and left them for a neighbor. Betty and Smarty delivered Jean to my house right on time; Shelley drove up right behind them and delivered us to the airport in plenty of time to get thru security (my first time since additional steps have been added). Waiting now to fly to Minneapolis then on to Fargo. . . .LATER: As some know, we originally planned to take Amtrak, but when part of the trip was cancelled due to flooding in Minot, we got plane tickets. I must say that the four hour travel time sure beat two days by train. That experience will have to wait for another day. It’s been a lot of fun meeting up with friends from previous trips. There are fourteen of us who’ve ridden together over the past four summers. We’ve caught up on each other’s jobs and children, etc. As it is with old friends, we’ve picked up just where we left off last year. We all miss our friend, Barbara Minnick, who was killed near Minot, ND, last July.

My bike has been held by the hotel since last Thursday. Today, I unboxed it and put it back together again. That means that I reattached the handlebars and front brake, screwed on the pedals and bottle cages, and reinserted the seat post. Adjusted the handlebars, put the front wheel back on the frame and tightened all these screws down. Tomorrow I’ll take it for a test ride. If necessary I’ll go by the bike shop and let the ‘real’ mechanic fix whatever needs adjusting. Mike at BikesPlus did a great job of wrapping the bike for shipment.