Day 0 - Tire Dipping!

Sunday in California.  Day two on Vanguard University campus.  This place is beautiful.  And the people I'm meeting on the tour are loads of fun.

I didn't post yesterday, but it was a pretty chill day.  Brendan and I rode up to visit Jesse at Adrenaline Bikes - the guy I bought my bike from back in April.  He had a few spare tires for me, as well as a new saddle, and I wanted to meet the man behind the emails and phone calls that led to the new bike.  What was supposed to be an easy ride turned into a 3-hour, 70km trek with stops at two other bikes shops and dinner at In-N-Out Burger.  Not a bad way to explore Orange County and Costa Mesa.

Saturday after dinner we had our first peleton meeting, learning some basic rules of the road and expected etiquette as we ride and represent the Sea to Sea organization.

Today, we started with a leisurely breakfast, followed by a short safety briefing, then we had time to tweak our bikes, mingle and participate in a quick safe bike-handling test.  I took this time to snap a few pictures of camp life... although this really is luxury camping.

This is home base in parking lot: the camping trailer on the left will follow us and serve as the home base for tour organizers.  The center trailer is loaded with a big water tank for essential hydration in the dessert and will haul misc gear.  The gear trailer on the right is where all our clothes and camping gear get stored and transported from our morning site to our evening destinations.

My life for the next nine weeks is stuffed into two laundry baskets.  Cycling clothes on the left, casual clothes on the right.  All other accessories stuffed somewhere in between.

After lunch today, we had a worship service led by a local church's praise band, then rode en-masse down to Newport Beach to have our "Tire Dipping" ceremony at the ocean.  Here's me getting my feet wet.

And a shot of the Canadian crew - representing the Great White North.  (From left to right: Sara, Stephen, Karel, Ava, Karyn, Matt, Zach)

Tomorrow we get this show on the road.  After six months of talking and countless conversations about what to pack, how hot it will be, and how the steep hills will be impassible...  it's finally time to ride.

The plan is to get up for breakfast at 7am, organize gear, and hit the road by 8am.  Our route for tomorrow (and the rest of the tour) can be found at ridewithgps.com/groups/Sea-to-Sea-1.  This late start time is a luxury, however, as we will be leaving camp by 7am on Tuesday, and by 6am on Wednesday to allow us to beat the heat through the scorching dessert days ahead.

Please continue to pray for us riders and volunteers as we begin riding...  things get real tomorrow as dangers and trials will bombard us from all sides.

And just a reminder - this tour is about raising awareness and raising money for poverty relief.  If you would like to know more about the tour, check out the Sea to Sea webpage.  To donate, please visit my personal donation page.

I would also encourage and welcome your prayers for my friends and neighbors in Bowness and other areas of Calgary where I understand they are seeing river levels recede and are beginning the difficult task of clean-up, drying-out and repair.  There are plenty of opportunities for the folks around there to be the hands and feet of God in the upcoming days.