Carol - Friday night.  It's hard to believe that tomorrow night at this time we will have completed half of our goal.  I slept in this morning in anticipation of not sleeping well tonight (due to excitement).  The rest of the day was spent on last minute errands and packing.  It was not an overly busy day so I had time for reflection upon this journey.
Nineteen years ago I made this same journey with my dad.  I don't believe I prepared well for that ride since the girls were young and I couldn't leave them to go train.  However, I was younger then too so I probably thought it wasn't critical.  I was wrong I know because I haven't spent any time on a bike since then.  When Cassandra asked me to ride the STP with her I really hadn't thought about the consequences.  I didn't realize that it would take a while to feel comfortable balanced on a bike again much less to lock myself on to my bike peddles with clips.  I knew I'd have to train but I forgot about the huge time commitment (Fifteen to twenty hours a week).  I hadn't though about the possibility of falling off my bike. All I really thought about was what a privilege it is to have your daughter want to achieve a goal of this significance with her.  I am truly honored to be riding with her this weekend.
We have cleaned our bikes and chains, filled the tires with air, filled our water bottles, dropped our overnight bags off and carbo loaded at dinner.  Our matching jerseys are laid out with our bib numbers and it's now time to get a good nights sleep.  I'm so glad we have documented this journey so we can both look back in time and remember all the details of this wonderful adventure; the many hours training in our living rooms because of rain, hours on the road alone and with each other, the waggle of the feet when we're getting ready to stop, peeing on the side of the road, and yes I did spit in Cassandra's face (not on purpose).  We will continue to document through our ride this weekend too but for now my hope is for fair skies, no rain, a tail wind, and a safe ending to this wonderful journey where we will be celebrating with friends and family at the finish line.
I love you Cassandra! Thank you so much for wanting to create such an amazing memory with me.
Mom