Quick update
Work has kept me really busy but I've been making some progress on several fronts.
Training
The last 3 weeks I managed to get in (each week) a hill interval ride with a loaded bike, a "general" ride (supposed to be a 2-3 hr easy ride but haven't got the time for that, so ended up being 1 hr tempo rides), a run or two (from 30 min to 1 hr) and 3 longer rides on the last 3 weekends:
73 mi, 5.5K ft climbing, 6:43 hr riding time/ 7:58 hr total time on fatty.
76 mi, 4.4K ft climbing, 7:50 hr riding time/ 10:35 hr total time on loaded fatty (54 lb w/o water or food).
80 mi, 6.2K ft climbing, 6:38 hr riding time/ 6:54 hr total time on loaded Air 9 (40 lb w/ water and food).
I'm now riding the bike that I'll take to the trip (last long ride), except for some changes to come in a few weeks. I will be changing the wheels since I'll be running a dynamo on the front and the rear wheel is not up to the task. I might change the aerobars too since I can't find a good position on the ones I have now. The installation of the cables from the dynamo to the usb charger, light, etc. seems to be a real pain in the ass and I need to get it exactly right.
Gear
I have most of that on hand or ordered. I'll post some pics soon. Also, I need to start figuring out where everything will go and how to pack it. Right now I have a bit box with a bunch of little loose items that I need to put in zip locks, or organize somehow.
The tent is en route so I'll give it a try next week.
Race planning/navigation
Now I need start "planning" the race. Basically, just looking at distances between towns and getting info on camping grounds, gas stations, bike shops, etc. into my Garmin. I'm not liking the eTrex 35t at all but that's what I got so I'll have to figure out how to get it to work.
That's it for now. Looking to finally clock 100 tomorrow. Of course, now that I say it something will get in the way...