From Sea to Shining Sea: Good Vibrations

Good news all round: this is the final blog update before I actually start pedallin' and stop wonderin' what on earth I was thinking of when I dreamt all this nonsense up.

Massive thanks for your sponsorship...just amazing.

Actually, the really good news is that the sponsorship totals are looking a little more healthy so I owe you all a beer. In some cases, it's more like a case, hah-hah! On a selfish note, every donation is a boost to self-belief, determination, positive attitude, call-it-what-you-want...and I know that there will be more than a few occasions during the next month when I will draw-down on that.

Having a bad day on the bike? Think again.

Last week I had a donation to Combat Stress from someone who I don't know, which is always a surprise and a boost. Anyway, turns out this fellow had served in The Falklands and had good reason to help the charity as two of his mates had taken their own lives because of the damage wrought by PTSD.

More than that, according to the South Atlantic Medal Association, a greater number of veterans have taken their own lives since the war ended than actually perished during it. Brings you up pretty short, doesn't it? When you factor in other invasions/conflicts/wars then you get an idea of the scale of the problem and the help needed, and deserved.

If you agree and can spare a couple of quid/dollars/dinarii and want to help then please click on here on THIS LOVELY LINK, THANKS!

Uncanny: they've even captured my lowly speed.

Due to the solo nature of this tour, at the end of each day I will be able to award myself the much coveted Maillot Jaune, or Yellow Jersey...the leader of the tour gets this accolade. A handy by-product will also see me win the Green Jersey for most consistent rider, as well as the Red Polka Dot jersey for being 'King of The Mountains' (yeah right...). If there is any difficulty in getting a beer that night then I may well win the Most Combative rider award too, hah-hah!

No repeat of this please, thanks all the same.

Fingers crossed that the travel Gods look kindly on my plans and both me and m'bike arrive in Seattle around 11.30am local time on Saturday. Of course then I have to convince the TSA & Border Control peeps to let me in...still, one thing at a time, right?
And while we're on the subject, here is today's useless piece of information for you: photo hasn't aged too well, though.

So, you flew there did you Mr. Gates? Slackers...bunch of MS-DOSsers etc.

Just time to give Bloodwise a further shout: there are a ton of life-stories and blogs that I have read recently that have proved beyond doubt that they are helping a lot of people to recover and manage to live full lives after developing blood cancer, of whatever type.

To that end, please see if you can spare a couple of quid/dollars/dinarii and visit THIS EXCELLENT PAGE, THANKS!

Right, all being well, I'll update this cobblers on Saturday at some point. Whether you believe in good vibes or not, who cares: just send some my way, hah-hah! Actually, if you could make with the vibes *and* a little donation to the causes then that would be even finer. Cheers!