We leave home tomorrow

We are now fully packed, and will leave home in a few hours, drive to Banff, and start riding on Sunday.

I realize that people are reading this blog for different purposes. Some of you are reading every GDR trip report you can find because you plan to ride some day, and you want to glean all the info you can. Some of you are friends and relatives and don't even own bikes. Unfortunately, I can't tune the content to make it interesting for everybody - but I'll try to keep things brief so you don't have to wade through too much stuff.

Fires. One thing we may encounter that could cause us to change route, or otherwise cause grief, is wildfires. http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/lg_fire2.php
As you can see from the map, there are many fires up in the area we'll be riding through. Climate change or not, the past few summers in the northern rockies have been particularly warm.
Heat. Chances are we'll have some very hot riding weather. Forecast high temperatures for the next week in western Montana are in the 90's. Yuck.
http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sectors/northrockiesWeek.php
Gear. We're completely packed now. All the last little decisions about what to bring are done. We have our final list, and our final weight.
The two bikes, with everything that is attached, weigh 35.5 pounds each. (that includes racks, odometers, compass, bells, water bottle mounts, handlebar bag mounting bracket, and so on).
Everything else weighs a total of 50.1 pounds. So the total of everything is 120.1 pounds. That includes helmets, shoes, panniers, etc. That's 10-20 pounds more than we would have liked. As I mentioned in a previous post, we've never done this kind of thing, and we've been a little cautious about what we do and don't need. When the trip is done I'll debrief about the gear - so those of you reading to research your own trip will get an update in a few months.
Excitement vs Anxiety. Up until a couple weeks ago, I was 100% excited and not anxious about this trip. In the last couple weeks, as it gets closer, I've gotten more and more anxious about all the things that could go wrong. I'm so eager to get rolling so I can stop worrying about everything and start enjoying it.
Mechanical failures. I've read many trip reports reporting only very minor mechanical problems, and other trip reports that aborted due to failed gear. This is another thing that could cause us grief. One reason our bikes are so heavy is that we when making a trade-off between durable and light, we always chose durable. Riding up the hills will be harder, but hopefully we won't get stuck on the side of the road with a broken seat-post.

Stay healthy, and enjoy the rest of your summer. - Amy & Jim