Day 1, Elgin --> Union

All we had to do day 1 was ride 45 flat miles through beautiful farm-land valleys. We didn't set an alarm (the zippers of roughly 1,400 other tents sufficed) and took our time getting ready, eating breakfast and packing up our tent and bags at a leisurely pace.

(Christopher applying sunscreen to his white, white legs. By the end of the week they actually got a bit of color in them.)

Christopher had a bit of a rough start as he realized he had forgotten his cycling shoes. Luckily the Bike Gallery was on hand to sell him a new pair. Very luckily their buyer happens to wear size 13 and so is very consistent about having shoes in Christopher's size. And when the new shoes needed new pedals, one of the mechanics traded with Chris for the week. To make the morning even more memorable, just as we were about to head out, Christopher broke his sunglasses. Luckily he has a very talented and adept wife who tracked down some shipping tape and managed to weld the pieces together for the day while he was getting the pedals adjusted. Even better though was the recommendation from the kids in Union to hit up the Shell station for a new pair.

A good thing the day was short and flat as the new shoes needed some serious adjusting when the fit started to give Chris knee pain. Actually, the shoes and glasses and knee drama helped spice up the day. Otherwise it would have just been gorgeous pasture and hillsides after gorgeous pasture and hillsides and we would have made it to camp before our bags.

(Day 1 and we seem to be having fun and enjoying each other!)