Departure

Hi, All,

Have you ever felt as if you were stepping off into the unknown? I know you have. That's the sensation I have this morning, after a restless sleep. The good news is that I will get an early start, beating some of the heat. I have not tested my PMR this way so early in the day before, so that will add to the adventure.

Suzanne sent me a checklist of things to remember to bring with me each day--stuff I might forget and leave. Unbelievably, this list includes my helmet, cell phone...you get the idea, it's very possible for me to be forgetful.

Well, gotta get going...I hope to be able to keep up this Blog while on the road through messages sent back to Lynn and Suzanne.

My best to you,

bob

Update:

This is Bob's daughter, Suzanne. He wanted me to write a little update for you about his departure. After a little mishap with his bike odometer (he accidentally reset it and we had to do a mad search around the house for the manual to get it set back to his correct tire size) and then him almost running into my car while adjusting the odometer, he took off! He has everything packed in his various saddle bags, and even has a little note reminding him what he put in each one. I hadn't had a chance to see his bike all packed up before, and it is insanely heavy. It seems that he can handle it all pretty well, but is a little nervous about pulling all that weight up hills. Hopefully that won't be a problem once he's out of Cincinnati and moving through flat Ohio. The weather is nice so far but it is supposed to rain/storm on and off this afternoon. Hopefully he will miss most of that since he got an early start. He was officially on the road as of 8 AM this morning.



He really appreciates all of the nice messages you all have left him - he even printed some of them off to bring with him for inspiration. Feel free to keep leaving encouraging notes and I will pass them on to him. The plan is that he will dictate stories about his experience to me over the phone so there should be new updates about his progress every day or so, including one later today. Keep him in your thoughts!

I have posted pictures of his departure for those who are interested.