Detaching

Step 1: Detach from home where my husband cooks, there’s a water flosser and a laptop, and familiar mess.

Step 2: Detach from own vehicle in Middletown NJ, selecting ONLY stuff I can carry on my bike, body, and backpack.

Step3: Detach from rental vehicle in Rio Grande NJ near the ferry to DE and move stuff entirely onto bike.

I’m on the verge of starting a one-week shakedown ride before, and I hesitate to put this in writing lest I jinx it, the bike trip across Europe! Yes! Hoping third time’s the charm. Booked end to end and cancelled in 2020 and 2022, this is as close to the departure date I’ve gotten without a crisis intervening. My friend Callyn and I fly to Oslo on June 17 to make our way to Nordkapp, Norway, the northernmost point in continental Europe for a start with the midnight sun on the solstice.

This shakedown will test my set-up for riding self-supported in Europe, the largest challenge I’ve given myself. I rode 1000 miles self-supported with friend Brenda Mueller from Kansas to Canada in 2019. Without that experience, I’d be writing myself up as nuts to attempt this. Still, Europe is four times the distance in twelve foreign countries. A lot of things have to go right.

It’s a real shakedown, not a simulation at home. I’m jumping in on the final week of Dave Goodrich’s East Coast ride from Key West, Florida, to Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Read Dave’s blog here:

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=3d2&page_id=670969&v=1

I’ll be writing my blog on my phone so please be patient with messy. I can’t figure out how to make the font black instead of pale gray.

My bike got a thorough work over at Les Welch’s bike spa in Harrisonburg on Wednesday. Still, I check a couple of things the night before anyway – brakes (check), tire pressure (check), electronic shifter charge (nothing). I put them on the charger, but nothing. An evening of texting with Les but nothing he could fix remotely. We think there’s a loose connection somewhere.

My bike on the operating table.

(c) 2024 Lynnea C Salvo