There's Something Going On (110 Miles) (LGD - 24 Days)

Slowly but surely the final preparations for my upcoming US of A tour are completing. Yesterday I managed to overcome the last major logistical hurdle – the small matter of getting my bike case from LA to Boston. The CV will be flying with me to LA packed in a rather natty special purpose hard shell bike case. Following a recommendation from one of my ‘new’ cousins in the Bianchi Owners Club USA company called BikeFlights will arrange to ship the case to my hotel in Boston. Teresa, my contact at the hotel, who has been extremely helpful in answering my queries, confirmed last night that the hotel will be quite happy to look after the case until I arrive. I have been learning the art of “reaching out” and seem to have got the hang of it judging by my results.

With just over two weeks to go virtually all of my preparations are now complete. There are a few small details to resolve but these are all very straightforward. Probably the biggest piece of ‘work’ remaining is hitting my goal of 5,000 miles for the year to date before I set off.

Today was a superb sunny day – the hottest for the year to date. There was only one thing for it. Head to the Suffolk coast to introduce the CV to the Oscar winning doughnuts. As we will be setting off from Hollywood this seemed the perfect preparation. As opened the back door to the garage there was quite a buzz from my Bianchi family inside. I suspect that they had been winding the CV up with the prospect of a doughnut. We set off at a good pace passing through Debenham and Woodbridge under blue skies and warming sun. The CV seemed really eager to press ahead and was a delight to ride.  After a quick detour to Bawdsey Quay we headed over to Orford and the Pump Street Bakery. The CV opted for a raspberry doughnut; I went for a rather nice coconut macaroon with a cappuccino.

Rather reluctantly we left on the 40-mile homeward leg through Saxmundham, Framlingham, Stradbroke and Eye before arriving back at home. You can follow the route flyby here. Yet again I regretted not having the time to tack on a few miles at the end of ride. The CV was certainly keen to keep going. Well, she is an endurance bike after all! And today I have covered 4,600 miles since the start of the year, so I should be able to reach my 5,000-mile goal without difficulty.