What shall I do this weekend?

Hey, guess what, its going to be the Poor Student 200 again! Its easy to get to the start (1 hour in the car to Oxford), I know the route, I love the route, and its (now) do-able in less than 12 hours. So that is the plan for tomorrow. I have a final bit of fettling to do with the saddle, its not quite right yet. Oh yes, and I need to replace my wireless with a wired mileometer (the dynamo interferes with the wireless).

Other than that, I feel almost ready for LEL. Last night, I marked up the route sheet. The next thing is to work out my bag drop content. Bag drops are a luxury. You leave them at the start of the ride and the lovely organisers will drop them off at dedicated controls (we're allowed two). Then you get to, say, Thorne, tired, wet, cold (hope not!), where your bag awaits you with a mat to sleep on, with clean dry socks, dry gloves, your favourite piece of cake, spare batteries, etc. I experienced a bag drop for the first time on the Bryan Chapman Memorial ride - not appreciating its value beforehand. That bag drop saved me (apart from the angel Mel)! And of course, unless the bag drop is at the turn-around point, you visit the drop twice.

If I'm riding well tomorrow, I'll take some more pictures. You see, there has been a camera discussion in the house. Sarah is going to be my weight monitor, so as to make sure I don't overpack with unnecessary things on LEL. She's arguing that I shouldn't take the camera. Taking pictures will be valuable minutes wasted, and its extra weight. But I've been pleading! ... I'm nearly there. When I've been riding without camera and I come home without pictures - its just not right.