Since watching videos of other people keeping promises to themselves wasn't going to be enough, I got dressed in my Hammer Nutrition kit and prepared to leave.

I wanted to be out of the door by 3:30 so that if I had any problems on the road, I could still make it on time for the start of the event in Mt. Vernon which was about 55 miles from here. That glowing you see is my safety sash. You'll see in other "dark" pictures just how much I believe in reflective touches to a bicycle and rider. Once after telling Carmel about a driver nearly hitting me in the dark, she said, "They either hated you personally, or they hate Christmas Trees, 'cause that's what you look like in the dark. No way they didn't see you."