bike preperation

so ive been working to get my gear and bike up to my standards for this trip.

First- the bike.

I will be taking my 2005 Cannondale Caad 7 on the trip. The original picture of the bike shown above shows a picture of what the bike looked like when I bought it. The only thing remaining off the original bike is the frame and fork, as everything else has been crashed, broken, upgraded, worn out or replaced for other reasons. To make a long story short, the 9 speed 105 components were replaced with 10 speed ultegra this winter, the wheels were swapped out for my cyclocross wheelset and i switched the saddle to a white arione saddle to match my white handlebar tape. While not exact, this photo of me racing at Columbia this year is pretty close to my bike and build setup. The biggest difference will be having 2 rear mounted cages, tri bars, and Katie's front light.

I finally was able to pick up both my bike and katie's bike from Bike Junkie yesterday, where they replaced my chain, replaced my bent derailleur hanger and cleaned, fine tuned the shifting, adjusted the brakes, and a multitude of other things that will make the bike run smooth for 4,000 miles. I also was able to have my ksyrium sl front wheel trued, as it turns out I broke a spoke- riding my SL's in the woods will not be a mistake I make again, especially once they come off the mp3 plan insurance.

Stuff that I've ordered online has also started coming in, along with stuff I've picked up from the shop. I've loaded up on spare tubes, an extra chain, assos chamois cream, continental gatorskin tires, powerbars in every flavor. My sleeping bag came in, along with my masterlock bike cuffs which i may or may not take with me. The biggest news came today with the arrival of my garmin edge 705, which has several upgrades over my "old" edge 305. The biggest advantages worth bragging about are having fully routed gps maps for my entire cross country route, and the ability to wirelessly communicate with power meters which im looking to pick up when i return.

Much new bike shwag to play with!