Today I should have been on a ride but spent the day tying up loose ends around the house.  I finally installed the new garbage disposer my wife made me promise to install before I leave. I also took care of monthly upkeep on the back yard (the front was done yesterday), cleaned my computer room, sprayed the yard for bugs, and finished the assorted pages on this blog.  After dinner I plan to fix a broken sprinkler and put in an hour or two of work related work.

Nothing new on the trip or bicycling front.  The only thing I did was remove a couple things from my panniers: a cold weather jersey, a rainproof seat cover, a rainproof bike cover and some bar end shifter parts.

Below is a very random image of the back of the bike.  Looking at yesterdays photo left me wondering how in the heck it weighs 85 lbs.  This shot gives a better idea of the bulk associated with the panniers and shows the solar charger and two rear flashers.  Unfortunately I will have to take the entire load apart to drive to my starting point.

This is my "office" for the trip, with the first days map in place.  The bar end at the bottom of the image were about 5 inches longer before yesterdays modifications.

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