Hurricane Sandy has thrown my departure for a loop, and I’ve decided to bail on heading out until she has passed. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise–I didn’t sign up to swim to North Carolina and then bike the rest of the way (although that would be a sick biathlon). Not only did it prevent my mother’s first heart attack, but it bought me some much needed extra time for preparation. I’ve been running around with my head chopped off tying up loose ends for the past week, and I didn’t realize how unprepared I still was.

I was planning on leaving Saturday morning and getting about 60 miles southwest of DC. Then I figured I would wake up early on Sunday and charge hard and hopefully make it to Richmond by Sunday night–just in time for some real shelter before Sandy hit. But that didn’t leave any margin for error or any lost time for snags. Not to mention fallen trees, flooded roads, and debris everywhere.

On top of that, I was planning/hoping to have a riding partner for the first few legs of my trip. My buddy, Sean, had requested some days off and was going to bike with me through some of Virginia. He’s an avid outdoors-man and has done like 27 Ironmen triathlons. He promised he would take it easy on the bike and he’d certainly be nice to have around as I got my bearings on the first few nights. He also works for NYC and was Indian given his weekend/days off because he had to work with FEMA in prep for the storm. So it looks like I’m going solo.

And here’s the kicker: the last two training rides, I have gone with my trailer 100% fully loaded to simulate a typical day on the road. Before then, I had been riding with the pretty-much-everything trailer, and I felt comfortable. But those “last few little things” added up quick, and this was a different story. The extra weight was quite significant, and the distribution of said weight is paramount. I learned these lessons the hard way–after I ate shit flying down a hill and trying to bank a turn.

So, all of the stuff I “wanted” to bring with me on the trip had to go. You should have seen how much I had originally. Now I’m down to the bare essentials: everything I’ll need for riding and camping…and like 1 pair of jeans. I also make sure to put the heavy stuff at the bottom in the back. This has made it much more doable, and it’s going to be a little easier on the old legs.

I’m getting a little anxious, and I’m really Iooking forward to heading out. Maybe it was the right move to stick around and figure out alternative routes in case of flooded roads, but I’m losing daylight and it’s getting colder every night…

For a while there I figured this start would be a great way to put my gear to the test, but if it fails that test, I’d literally have left myself hanging out to dry.

In other news, looks like we got waves!

Maybe I’ll be able to finagle a last-minute surf before I head out. I heard that Mother Ocean and Ol’ Sandy are quite the duo, and we could get some really good surf. Below are some of the chargers who ignored the mandatory evacuation in Ocean City, MD (great shots by Nick Denny). Who says the East Coast doesn’t get surf??

That last one was OC’s best re-enactment of the final scene in Point Break–Bodhi in the 50 Year Storm…Oh, and it’s also not the best day to get caught inside (see the little head in the center of the frame):

In all seriousness, I hope everyone is safe, and that no one is truly affected by the damage.