Last Monday Becky the Bike's odometer rolled 4,000 miles, which means an average of 500 for each of April and May.

I'm going to miss cycling greatly for the next two weeks, although we've just signed up for another 100-mile ride in September, about three weeks after the one in August. This new one is called the Lighthouse Century, and runs along the coast by Hearst Castle. My goal is to do three centuries this summer, and help Shelley through her first.

I'd consider taking my bike abroad if not for the photographic equipment that I've got to take instead. Speaking of which, we finally found a decent bag for the rest of it.

The soft golf travel case was too inconvenient and floppy, so we shopped some more and found a really nice large, wheeled duffelbag-like piece, which has pack-away padded straps that turn it into a large backpack.

It should be the ideal solution because it holds the golf caddy very well, and has lots of space left over for clothes, rain gear, shoes, etc. Being able to carry it on the back and pull another large case on wheels will be nice.

I just hope Italian cars are big enough!