R17 34 Interim Now We Go to the Expo

Haven't left yet

And then we went down to the Expo. We had to ride our bikes. Ugh. That was horrid. It was hot, the traffic was crazy, but we all managed to get there together and park our bikes in an alley before anyone disappeared. 

Then, everyone disappeared. I walked around with (I believe) Bandit and Masinga. We did some shopping, picked up a few gifts, and checked out what is cool and new in bike apparel. We saw some folks we knew and some people we wanted to avoid:

Danger 

I thought I needed to buy new tires. My Gatorskins were looking pretty beat up, but I had been busy in the summer and hadn't gotten around to it. Actually, the tire with the dollar in it from 2016 was still on the bike. I hadn't had a flat since, but there were gouges and holes, and I didn't want to hold the team up changing flats all week, so, I walked over to Rasmussen's and the mechanics were super nice. I bought the last set of Gatorskins that they had.

Olzen Style 

Then I got in touch with the team and joined them over at the stage where the band was getting ready to play. I ran into a few people I knew and ran some interference for Steven who had gotten in over her head with creepers who wanted stickers. 

Then a very pretty girl came up to me said said hello. 

"Oh, hello," I said. 

"Do you remember me from last year? You guys named me Karen."

I blinked in rapid succession. I had no recollection of any of this. 

"My name is Elyana, but you guys called me Karen." 

"Oh! Karen!," I shouted, pretending I remembered. "How are you doing?" (Better just to go with it in these circumstances. We chatted for a bit and then the band started and they were terrible, and it was hot and Luke wanted Emily to come back to the house, so we all found our way back to the bikes and back to the homestead. 

It wasn't long before we were unrolling our beaver bed rolls and tucking into our sleeping bags. I decided to get some privacy by sleeping in the storage room. I had a new sleeping pad, so I figured I'd be fine. I applied my lotions and potions. Found my sleep mask and shouted a good night to the beavers in the other room. 

And then I was off to another fitful night's sleep before ragbrai. 

Tomorrow, it would all begin!