ALC5 Day 0: Orientation
Photo gallery (38 pictures, none of me) is here.

OK, now it's real. I spent three hours inside the cavernous Cow Palace this afternoon checking in my bicycle, checking myself in, buying stuff, watching a video, getting a tent assignment, and putting numbers on my bike. It's already a blur, but there was one of those moments at the beginning of the orientation video where the enormity of this journey hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. This is no longer about all those other people I've seen do this before. Now, I am part of this. And the two wristbands that I cannot remove for the next seven days are a constant reminder of that.

Now, my goal is to stay low-intensity for the next three hours. A good filling carb-loaded dinner just up the street in San Francisco, a quick viewing of tonight's episode of "Doctor Who" (if the blasted download ever kicks into high gear), then off to bed with a wake-up call for 3:30 a.m.

It's fair to say that my stomach is tied up in knots in ways I never thought possible. Yes, I know how much training I've done -- as do all the people who have repeatedly told me today that I'm plenty ready for this event. But this is still something unlike anything I've ever attempted before. And even if, for whatever reason, I turn out not to be an "EFI rider" (every f---ing inch), it's still quite an accomplishment -- and I've raised more than $3,900 for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (thanks, of course, to all of you).

Be sure to check here daily for voice-post updates from the road. You can see more coverage of the ride each day at http://experience.aidslifecycle.org -- and that's also where you can send me messages of support that I can read (but not reply to) each night in camp.

Today was the preliminary. Tomorrow starts the unknown.