A break in the action
Summer has come and after 5 plus months of biking across the country I have opted to take a bit of R&R. While my body felt fine, I found my spirits were becoming somewhat drained from the extended solitary nature of my trip. The long trek across the southern states was very cold and definitely isolated. I don't think I camped a single night with another individual for more that 3 months. While there were times that I would cross paths with a West-to-East rider, these encounters only served to highlight the solitary path I was travelling on.
The trip up the west coast was somewhat better becauase I at least had friends along the way that allowed me to make short stops and find some much needed human interaction. However it was still to early in the biking season and I still found myself largely camping alone, riding solo, and craving some socialization. I think that my stay in the Portland area was the final straw, where having spent about 10 days enjoying the company of people and friends I found myself no longer looking forward to the solitary road.
So, today I sit with friends, taking a break and recharging my physical and mental batteries. I will get the opportunity to paddle some beautiful waters and explore by bike some amazing seaside towns. The goal will to take smaller trips over the summer and flush out my ultra-light mode of travel. I have also really worn down my gear, some of which has been with me for over 11,000 miles of travel. It is in need of replacing and that will require some money and some new sponsors. The downtime will also allow me to go back and edit my image archive and put up some of the video I shot. Video is so time consuming and is such a storage hog that sitting still will allow me to finally get things organized and edited.
I will announce my 2011 fall plans and my 2012 winter plans shortly, but suffice it to say the Bike Around America trip is not over, and if anything will be bigger and more adventurous than ever. The Salsa Fargo will play a big part in my future plans as will a Salsa Mukluk and my NDK Explorer. For 2012 I have some really cool ideas in mind and would love to have others join me for pieces and parts. Stay tuned for details and more musings from my past 6 months of journal entries.