The riders meeting was held Friday night.

The race participants were briefed and all last minute things were taken care of.

The Angeles National Forest was closed which placed restrictions on the team support vehicles for the first sixteen miles.

I got out of work on Friday around 1:00 pm to meet at Doug's house at 2:00. It was good to get going; I have been excited about this adventure since commiting to it last week. I am not actually riding in the event, I am part of the support for team Polar Bear.

Support involves making sure vehicles are in the right spots at the right times and that the riders get what they need sooner than possible, whatever it may be.

We finished up with packing and got on the road. It does not take long to drive from Orange in Orange County to Ventura across from Magic Mountain, even with early rush hour traffic. Everyone is very excited though the texture of the excitement is different between riders and support. We all ride so we know a little of what the riders will experience tommorrow and  can sympathize with the butterflies they all have.

Susan helped make sure nothing blew away on the drive up.

We got checked into the hotel and moved all our stuff inside, don't want to leave those bicycles outside, no sir !

We met a lot of the other riders and supporting teams. The scene is a little different from what I have experienced when doing 100 mile rides. There are a lot of people and they are all very friendly and focused on the task at hand. Three types of people: riders, rider support crews and event personel. I often recognize someone at the century rides; not here though. The Furnace Creek crowd is comprised of people who start with the 200 mile rides and end with the people who do the RAAM and Paris-Brest-Paris.

We grab some snacky food at the local restaraunt as we need to get to the riders meeting. This meeting is the first chance to get together and take care of any last minute stuff. With 119 riders and everbody else, the room was full and the feeling is electric. This ride makes use of animal totems to identify teams. I am a member of Team Polar Bear; with luck I will be able to get him to write the story behind the name.

The meeting was supposed to start at 6:00 pm. but 6:30 was close enough. A few extraordinary people were recognized.

All of the teams and riders were recognized and we will all end up on the Furnace Creek 508 web site.

Team Polar Bear sat in the back and soaked it all in.

Our stomachs were starting to growl so we were glad when the meeting ended.

Marriane was there too. Chairs were limited so she made do with what was available.

Dinner was, well dinner. The company was grand, the food was passable. Then off to bed for that most important item: sleep.

This was the last time available to get some quality sleep. Over the next two days we would be racing and sleep will come in small pieces if at all.