Day 1 is finally here!

Today is ‘day 1’ of a 55 day trip back to LA.  Even though we aren’t officially riding today, it is the first day we gather as a group and go over things with the tour leader.  Linda drove me from our friends house to the bike shop in Evanston where my bike was before she headed for the airport.

I was to meet one of the shop owners who is also going on the ride and we planned to ride from Evanston to downtown Chicago to the hostel together.  It was a nice 12 mile ride down the edge of Lake Michigan

The weather was beautiful.     We got to the hostel, got checked in, met the rest of the crew, and spent several hours reviewing all of the trip details, logistics, cooking duties, etc  Tomorrow is Day 2 and is our first official ride day. We start just a little ways from the hostel

at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park and head south.  We will ride about 55 miles and end up in Joliet. Route 66 actually takes a different route out of Chicago but it’s not a route that is safe for bicycles. We will actually join up with Route 66 outside of Chicago on our way to Joliet.  Weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow!  Here we go!