So, I’m riding my first ever century bike ride tomorrow at Palmsprings. I know it’s gonna be lots of fun, but I need to be prepared for it. I had months and months of long mileage training so physically I know it’s not gonna be too tough. Also, people tell me its a generally flat course. Pace-lining should be tons of fun!

So to prep up, I need to clean and prepare my bike. Here’s how she looks like since her last shower:

It looks gnarly in person. Dried gatorade, sweat and road grime. (But a well used bike is a happy bike)

So I gave her a shower. Cleaned everything that I can, including the drive train. Pat dried and lubed her chain.

Still dripping wet but much more cleaner than previous. The white bar tape is turning off-white, oh well.

After the bike wash, I head inside and prepared stuff to wear/bring. Here you can see what I’ll be bringing/stuffing in my pockets: food, keys, wallet, phone, money and an extra tire tube (rest of flat kit goes into saddle bag). It’s gonna be my first time trying out the chamois butter; I never had to use it, but for a 100 mile ride, I don’t want to take any chances, hopefully it keeps my backside happy.

So stoked, can’t wait!