I”m off..and sore!
When I awoke this morning I still had no handlebars, so to say the least I was a little uneasy. So Richie and Ro calmed my nerves with a big Mexican breakfast. When Bernie’s Bike Shop opened at 10am, I was the first in the door! I was looking for a new stem, or new bars, but he had a better solution, SHIMMYS! WE wedged those suckers in the stem and started to pound it with a mallet, and it worked!
Oceanside, 1:45am-My good buddy Ron from Boulder came down from LA to wish me well, and play cameraman! Thanks dude! I got the bike together, did a few test laps in the parking lot and started making friends with the real RAAM riders. They all seemed pretty psyched on the cruiser and one nice old guy was so inspired that he handed me a $20 bill and said to get a good lunch!–By the way, these guys will finish the race in SEVEN days, whoa! I’ll be a few days behind 
The race started at 2pm, and I was off like a bullet!! Or a dude on a cruiser. The racers smoked me in minutes so it quickly turned into solo Ryan time, which I better get used to.
I only went 30 miles today and it was tough, up and down mountains on a cruiser hurts, and tomorrow there will be more!
My camping spot is nice, I’m in a strawberry patch off the side of the road and my belly is once again full of beans, nighty night!