The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Michelle reading the text from the airlines about the arrival of her bike from Toronto.  And to add insult to injury, right after that text alert, she received a request from customer service to give a good review of her experience!

No.  It isn't my intention to start every blog post off with a set of lyrics from my playlist.  It just happens that today is one of those days as we prep for the start of our ride on Saturday.

The Manor House Hotel, built in the 1600's.  It's quaint and just right for the seven of us during our prep days.

James published a
book version of
his 1st ride blog

Everyone is having uneven experiences adjusting to the new time zone, as it relates to getting a good night's sleep.  The hope is that by Saturday, all of that will have passed.

As for the waiting, it's been good news on most fronts.  Laura's bike arrived late this morning. Michelle got a couple of alerts from the airlines that, 1) the bike had arrived and, 2) that it had cleared customs in Manchester.  Now the wait is on hearing from the courier service as to when it'll be delivered here so she can get it assembled and tested.

The rest of the waiting has been in setting up everyone's Garmin bike computers for the daily route downloads.  And, in a bit of "belt and suspenders" back-ups, everyone is also downloading the routes on their phones via the Ride with GPS app.  To use your phone everyday as the prime source of route directions is a major energy suck as opposed to the Garmin.  But it's not a bad idea in case anyone's Garmin crashes (which, apparently, they've been known to do).  And, as a further insurance policy, James just handed everyone a full print out of each day's route map.  I guess that's in case we happen to ride anywhere near a nuclear blast which causes a major EMP blackout?

While the original Parish Church was built in the mid-1100's, the Lady Chapel was added on in 1200.  

View of outline of original
nave ceiling

In the interim, between bike repairs and downloads, some of our team did a bit of a walking tour of Dronfield.  It's not all that big and the major attraction was the local Parish church whose origins date back to the mid-1100's.  Very impressive for a small community church.  And we were treated to a wonderful history of the place by Jean Ruddy, a local woman who works in the church and was oh so proud to be able to show us the inner workings of the church and its colorful past.

While we were visiting the church, Jesse, James and Laura were visiting the bike shop to get an appointment for a significant repair on Laura's bike.  In transit, her front shifter was severely damaged.  Although the shop's mechanics were all booked through the weekend, they did manage to secure the services of someone who can come in tomorrow to do that repair.  And just in time.

After the bike shop visit, Jesse got his first, albeit brief, driving lesson.  According to James, Jesse did fine.  According to Jesse, it's a matter of "don't worry, I promise not to hit anyone while on the road." I think everyone here is more concerned about his mastering driving on the opposite side of the road for the next three days.

James handing over the keys to his car as Jesse prepares for his first shot at driving on UK roads.
Do we still have time to put up warning signs?

Hopefully, Michelle's bike will arrive either later tonight or first thing in the morning.  We're all itching to get on the road and would like to do a shakedown cruise before tomorrow afternoon's rains arrive, both to check out the bikes as well as to start getting ourselves in a mental and physical frame of mind for the ride.  Too many beers during these past two days and we'll be settling into a totally different mindset!

Only two days here and we're all getting a bit too comfortable with the lobby bar and patio out back.  But, hey, the beers on tap are cold and delicious.  And not all the bikes are here to what the hell, might as well enjoy!