Tour De Friends 2003 - Day 0
Glenn had asked us if we could help out at registration down in Raleigh so I woke up relatively early to shower and leave for the airport to pick up the rental car. Craig met me at the airport, we packed the car, and left to pick up Paul. Once he was packed, Tria called. She, Mark, and Corey had also rented a car so we planned to meet at a rest stop along the way and "caravan" down to Raleigh.
After we met up, used the facilities, and got some coffee from the vending machines, we set off. The car we rented had satelite radio, which has many, many channels with lots of different themes (similar to Internet radio). As co-pilot, Craig was in charge of climate control and entertainment so at my request we tuned in to an 80's channel and proceeded to rock out for most of the trip. Craig and I sang along to most of the songs and Paul had a good laugh! You ain't seen nothing til you've seen a tall skinny kid screaming "We Built This City", "Take Me On", and "She Blinded Me With Science" off-key!
We stopped at the Waffle House for brunch after attempting to find something vegetarian for Tria at Burger King - they had stopped serving breakfast and didn't have anything (imagine that!).
By the time we got to registration after dropping off the car, getting a cab to the hotel, and checking it, it was too late to help out. So we registered and found our bikes without incident. The excitement was beginning to mount, especially seeing all the riders. It was neat.
I meet up with friends Eileen and Gary for dinner and we went to an Italian place that the team had picked out. The food was great and we had lots of fun catching up. We sat with two non-Agrodolce riders who were really fun - Nikki and Bobby. Eileen and Gary drove them back to their hotel and me to mine. I attempted to decorate my helmet with glitter glue but it all peeled off after drying. Apparently plastic is not a good adhesive surface.
Craig, Paul, and I shared a room - the boys got the king-sized bed and I slept on the sofa. We watched some TV (mostly to find out the weather) and then went to bed.