Day 1: Emeryvile -> SFO -> MSP -> Roseville, MN
My day started at 3:20 when my alarm went off, after tossing and turning in that way where I’m asleep for up to like an hour, but then I wake up for some reason, and feel like I haven’t slept at all. Just nerves, really. I got ready and before I knew it my car had arrived to take me to the airport 15 minutes early. Sophie had asked that I not wake her up, so I was surprised when she opened the door to the bedroom to say goodbye. And then, I was off.
The ride to the airport was with one of those drivers that doesn’t hold the gas steady, instead pulsing it for some reason, causing the car to sort of surge and slow down. But also he was driving hella fast and got me to the airport in record time. Dropped my bags and cleared security with no trouble; at 4:30am I was the line, practically. Got to my gate, ate breakfast, boarded. I scored a first class upgrade for about what I would have paid in baggage fees for the two checked duffle bags when I booked the ticket, so for once I wasn’t packed in like a sardine. I am a large person, so it was really nice.
Flight unremarkable, 3 hours and change so I was earlier than I thought I’d be. No problems with the baggage, or getting a car to come get me and take me to the shipping depot. I got the bike into a parking spot and started loading it up. Took about half an hour to transfer everything from the duffel bags to the panniers and the one bag I wanted to tie over the back. As I was standing there in the heat, looking at my stuff, I thought: I should just chill tonight, and get moving tomorrow morning. I searched, and there was a hotel just across the highway, so I booked it.
I got it all rigged up, everything loaded on the bike and as soon as I got on the bike realized: I’d overpacked. This is not the end of the world; I just needed to cut out all the stuff that was non-essential, pack it up, and ship it back home. But first, gas. Then Hotel. Then: the errands. Gas station was fine, got 2.5 gallons. Hotel check in was great; the guy noticed my motorcycle jacket and offered to put me in a 1st floor room where I could park and be able to see the bike.
Came in to the hotel and culled all the stuff I didn’t need. Got rid of a few tools (which even though they don’t take up space are steel and thus pretty heavy), my spare pair of riding jeans, both of the big duffels, a backpack that I only needed on the plane, an extra puffy layer that I’m pretty sure I won’t need. I think that will help with the space issue, at least; the 60L duffel bag took up too much room on the seat. Cutting the weight of all that will also help.
Anyway, once I had the stuff to get rid of gathered, I ran to a shipping store and sent it all off home. Then I had dinner (a Jersey Mike’s right next to the shipping store), and then I went to a cycle shop that happened to be close because while I was loading the bike at the shipping depot, my helmet fell from where I had it on the handle bars to the ground, landing on one of the soft aero parts that help airflow and prevent the wind from whistling over the vents. So I had a whistling helmet to deal with, one way or another. The cycle shop didn’t have the part to glue back on, but they did have something even better: a new helmet.
I had thought about getting a Schuberth C5 before the trip, decided I didn’t want to spend the money, then some money came my way for my birthday, but of course by then it was too late to get it in time. Then, I walk in to a random shop in a random part of minnesota and they had my size and the color I wanted (bright ass yellow, as pictured). Schuberth’s are known for being the most quiet helmet you can get (although I’ll still be wearing earplugs also, hearing damage is fast and permanent), which is not something my old helmet was great at.
Then I hit REI for the last bits and bobs; a can of fuel for the backpacking stove, a hydration bladder, that sort of thing. And now I’m here, in the hotel room, writing this. As soon as I stop typing, I’ll go edit the photos, export them to jpgs, and send all this out. Get up in the morning and head west. Nominal destination: Oakes, ND.
