Arrived In Kalispell last night about 9. My bike was here, so I got it to my room and put it together, then connected to the internet on my little machine. This morning at breakfast in the hotel lobby I began to meet my fellow riders, as usual a mixed lot. Mostly married men, mostly in their forties and fifties, but some in the sixties. There are 44 people, maybe 6 or 8 women. Several of the ´¨crew¨ are the wives of riders, but there are also two guys who crewed on the central transcon ride I did in 2005. I´ll do a statistical analysis of the riders another day. After finishing putting my bike together and taking care of various other things, I took a two hour ride with Dan Aaron, an anesthesiologist from NY, just to make sure the bike was working...... and the legs! WE rode uo to Whitefish and visited the world headquarters of Hammer Nutrition, purveyor of nutritional items and supplement sot the endurance athlete community. This is an evangelical, data`heavy organization, which issues fifty page magazines four times a year touting the sceintific basis and proven efficacy their products (which I like and use). You´ll probably hear more about that when I describe a typical day of eating later on in the trip.

WE have a few long distance luminaries on this trip, in addition to Lon and Susan, our hosts, both winners of RAAM. Steve Born, the only man to double the Furnace Creek 508, Cassie Low Born and Anna Cat Berge, both RAAM winners, and Marc Leeuw, finisher No. 1 On PBP. Stong wheels to suck, that is, if I ever see them after the first hour.

My roomate, Joel, is a fifty something from LA who composes music for film and TV. WE´ve been gabbing away, and have made a pact to eat at good restaurants every night! Especially after the uninspired ´banquet´we had tonight, marking the opening of this tour. Pizza at the Moose Saloon, followed by dessert at Dairy Queen. However, I can recommend Mirror Pond Pale Ale, ìt just beat out Moose Drool. Yep. Hopefully we´ll see a moose, but not from close enough to get drooled on.

DAy 1 tomorrow, 150 miles to Missoula. Night, all.