July 15th, my departure date, approaches startlingly fast. At the moment I'd say I've gone beyond nervousness and am purely excited, but who knows what'll happen in the days before I finally leave.
In the last few weeks, I've been pruning back my needs. My route is shorter than it was months ago, I've slashed off the loop around central Colorado. I regret I won't likely ride the Rio Grande Trail, or visit the Grand Canyon this year. Among the items I'll have to go without is the rather handy titanium wood stove, a better cell phone + plan, a new camp knife, Trigger-shifters and ergon grips for my bike, and new tires(Without the stealth-camp busting reflective stripe, please!), and a few other things I've banished from mind.
My last few purchases are coming in now - a spoke wrench, chain tool, rechargeable batteries. I'm teetering on the edge of deciding rather or not I should get an eye exam and contacts before leaving, and now I have it in my head that I could really use a new netbook. The old lifebook isn't quite up to the task of running Lightroom. A new machine, as well, would go much further in convincing me to keep up with this blog.
I've also been on three short tours which have gone woefully unrecorded. Two where rather special in that my mother came with me on her wobbly mountain bike. The third was an occasion in which to push myself on to long miles and be assured I can still handle arduous days in the saddle. Hopefully I'll find time, eventually, to go into more detail on those.
