29 hours until we line up. Or until Sam lines up. We've gone through the book and decided that it's best for Sam to start. This will mean a slightly longer opening shift for him but because the first 30 miles is with all the other racers - there is a parade that leads out to the actual start - it should be more of a warm up than anything else. We're looking for our first exchange to be around the 19 mile mark between Time Stations 1 and 2, just after the point at which follow support is granted. This gives the first big climb to Sam, the first big descent to me and then a nice flat, slightly downhill time trial for me; the perfect capitalization of our respective skills.

The crew - with our newest member Lorie front and center - is out in the parking lot getting a basic bike tutorial from Dave. This is to ensure that the bikes are handled with the utmost care by everyone so that they suffer no unintentional mishap. Lissy and I had a good chat this morning about team dynamic and I gotta say that I am blown away by all this stuff and am eager to immerse myself deeper in group think and management when I get back. We have a good team, check that; we have a GREAT team and part of what makes it great are the myriad brilliant and peculiar personalities and their attendant gifts and quirks. The difficulty lay in making sure everyone keeps a rein on their nuttiness while keeping active all that makes them great. It's a rather delicate process but a fun one to try and figure out.

In a half-hour or so Sam and I have to go talk to the group to give them an idea of what we're looking for from this and to give them our ideas on how best to manage us. I'm going to check in with myself before I do that. I'll be spending a lot of time in bed today, resting and hydrating, so I'll be back to the blog before too long.

Until then - strive.

Best,

Christopher