Home stretch

We're in the final week. We'll be on a plane flying over the Atlantic exactly one week from today. OK, I just freaked myself out.

Dave was in Denver this weekend doing some riding in the mountains. He said he had some awesome rides with our friend, Marco. I'm sure he also had some great pep talks as Marco and his wife, Jacqueline, are world travelers. It'll be a good sendoff.

I drove again yesterday - by myself this time - and planned to drive today, too. Practice makes ... better. Still not perfect, but I'm feeling a lot more comfortable. The only thing I can't practice are the mountains and those will just have to be trial by fire. The first part of the Tour is fairly flat, so I'm hoping to get use to the Mo-ho before I have to conquer the mountains. Our good friend, Bonnie Ford, who has been covering the Tour for ESPN.com for the last 10 or 12 years (she's GREAT - read her stories at http://search.espn.go.com/bonnie-ford/last-7-days/19) gave me a pep talk, too. She was a wealth of knowledge and, frankly, I wish we could put her in the Mo-ho with us. We're hoping to catch up with her at some point during the Tour.

I guess all that's left this week is to pack, pack, re-pack (when we realize that the luggage is overweight, overstuffed or just overwhelmed) and then stuff the Honda with luggage, bike, dogs, cat and us for our trip to Green Bay.

The excitement builds...
-Julie