Ready or not, Royal 162 approaches

The last bits of my bike set-up will arrive today. I've gone a bit on the "light" side for a long gravel race, but plan to fall back to the Mamasita last minute if need be. I've decided the cx bike is a bit overrated for long distance gravel now that I've seen the light and picked up some aero bars. I've already mounted my gps, computer, frame bag, tri style seatpost bottle holder, mountain feed bag etc., and I'm confident in everything working.

On the other hand- who knows where I am at. I've had some really strong rides recently and have had the brains to back out of a few things too (which is hard for me, but obviously very necessary). I didn't race the Sandwich 50 last weekend and instead put in about 60 miles on my Almanzo rig at faster than endurance race pace later in the day. I felt bad about not showing for a local race, but it just wasn't going to happen for me Saturday morning. If there is one thing I promised myself about this year it was that I wouldn't over do things.

This week I plan to hit the road group ride tonight to further test my set-up, the Eastwood MTB TT Tuesday, the Tuesday Night Ride with Revengeance, but other than that just hit the commutes and rest. I've found if I don't ride at all it doesn't usually make me feel stronger, so I figure riding 5-6 hrs during the week will put me right where I want to be.

Last loose end will be figuring out how to feed myself for this beast. 120+ miles with no opportunity for greasy hot food or red meat may prove to be the biggest difficulty.

Hope your feeling more ready than I am!