Cycling in Russia

Hi Judy.

And good morning.

I'm leaving for Russia tomorrow, or is the next day? Yes, it's the next day, Sunday, that I'm leaving for Russia.

Russia seems so far away, and there has been so much to do in the last month to prepare for going to Russia that I'd almost forgotten that I was going.

I'm taking my new prescription Nike sunglasses. I've never had prescription sunglasses before. They cost a bloody fortune-- they're polarized of course--so I hope I don't lose them the way I've lost every pair of cheap sunglasses I've ever bought.

And a sleep mask! Lea Ann bought top-of-the-line sleep masks at CVS Pharmacy on Clement St. His and her sleep masks, now that's luxury.

We'll need good sleep masks as we'll be in a part of the world known for "white nights." Which means it doesn't get dark, that there's virtually no nighttime during the summer solstice months. Thinking about it I don't know which is worse or which is better, 24 hours of light or 24 hours of darkness? I could venture a guess but that's all it would be. Maybe I'll sleep with my new Nike sunglasses and a sleep mask.

Did I tell you that we're cycling? Yep. 1600 miles from St.Petersburg, Russia to Bratislava, Slovakia. I know, it's borderline crazy. Most of the trip we'll be camping out, sleeping under a tent in our REI zip-loc sleeping bags.

30 days on the road, through 5 different Baltic countries. I'm not bragging, you know me, you know I'm not like that, but what we're doing is pretty remarkable, even if we haven't done it yet.

The bikes were boxed up last night and are sitting in our living room all ready to go. I'm taking my Trek road bike (pictured above) my favorite. It's custom fitted by a guy at Sunshine Bikes shop over in Fairfax, Ca. where I did a lot of my training rides. Some of the ride through the Baltics is over gravel, 70 or so miles, and I was concerned that my 25c width tires were too skinny, but Mike at D&D Bikes in SF says they'll be fine, and whatever Mike says about bikes is the truth..

Judy, there's so much more to tell you but I've got more packing to do and all the other stuff that comes up when you try to leave town for more than a day...cancelling the NY Times, getting a haircut, delivering copies of new IF SF books , "Past & Presently" and "Monsieur Ambivalence," to the people who want them, etcetc.

Keep reading this space, Judy. I've got a special chip that will allow me to send dispatches from coffee shops in Estonia and Latvia, if they have coffee shops that is and if those coffee shops have wi-fi.

As my golf buddy Marc Maisano likes to say, "bye for now ."