This post is a test as much as a preview, of tomorrow’s 110k bike ride. I want to see if posts from WordPress on my phone end up on my Twitter account, like they do when I post to WordPress from my PC. Since this post is more of a test, it’s less interesting than my other posts, but in this post, I describe some of the, hours of, planning I put into a long ride.

Tomorrow morning, I’m trying my first 110k (68 mile) group cycle ride, as part of my training for the 100 mile fundraising ride in August. In addition to getting my body in shape, the 110k ride tomorrow will let me test my gear. My bike should have a new dynamo in the front hub, which will give USB power. I say “should” because I’m not yet sure if the new hub will be ready, and I’m not sure if I’ll have a battery to store the power, since I just learned that the Amazon delivery person couldn’t get in my building. Planning for long rides is complicated stuff, which is another reason I like using the 110k ride tomorrow as prep for the 100 mile ride, in August.

Another bit I’m “testing” tomorrow is a new riding group, called the Minnesota Rondoneers. Riding with them should give a few fun bits. First, there aren’t many riders who cycle for 110k and call it fun. For this group, 110k is a short ride. They also plan the entire route. That’s a relief because I’ve planned all my long routes for years, but for tomorrow’s ride, I’m still going to have the entire route in my GPS. I’m always finding ways to improve how I use my Garmin, so as usual, I spent a few hours fiddling with the GPS software to get it set up just how I want it.

A final test is that I want to see how well I can post pictures from my phone, into my blog and hopefully to Twitter, so I’m including some pictures below. They show a map, some of my prep, and some of the gear that wasn’t delivered in time for tomorrow’s ride.

This is a map of the route, from the Minnesota Randoneers. Most of the route is on gravel.

This shows the prep I did in my GPS software. It might not look like much, but there’s about 3 hours of work in that picture.

This is the battery that wasn’t delivered because Amazon couldn’t get into my appartment building. The battery would have held power from the new dynamo in the front wheel of my bike, which probably won’t be ready before the ride. As I said, a lot of planning happens before a long bike ride. 
This is a fun camera with gps, which I’ve always wanted. I saved money by buying a used one. Unfortunately, the charger didn’t come with it, which I’m laughing at while I write this.