It's Not About the Bike (well maybe just a little bit)...

So I’ve been wondering where this is going now.  My last post was teeming with adrenaline from my freshly purchased ticket and the all the excitement of seeing my unedited words published instantly.  It was a rush knowing that my words would hit the information superhighway at the speed of light and be seen by millions, potentially, or at least my four faithful followers.

As of the time that I am writing this there are officially 133 days 13 hours 30 minutes and 23 seconds until I get on the plane in Newark, NJ.  Now that’s boarding time for old people and babies, and I always try to get on a little after that, so, more like 40 minutes 37 seconds.  Who’s counting anyway, right? Me, I guess….

What exactly am I going to do for the next 4 months?  First thing is to build a bike.  Well, I finished that.  I thought it was going to take longer.  I guess I was pretty excited.

Before I go off on how great my new bike is, I need to preface this.  While I was building, I was all over various Internet forums and these things are full of people who spend way too much time fawning over their bicycles.  While it was a great help to someone who needed advice about which parts here and what setup there, it got a little nauseating.  Apparently, there’s a lot of people out there who, it seems, have nothing better to do than take pictures of their bikes from every angle possible and write about how other people should buy the same bike.  (With a face like this, could you believe it?)  Plus, their bikes are always clean.  They must not ride them, or else they degrease, powerwash and re-lube everything after every ride.  After all that, they still have time to post 6 pictures and 3 pages worth of commentary on their epic singletrack adventure of the day.  I have to check myself before I become one.

On that note, I tried a little photo shoot with my bike yesterday.  I didn’t get very far at all before real life called me back.  My roommate, Sebastian, kept trying to escape.

He’s working on a Houdini-esque act where he flattens himself against the driveway and slips away unnoticed to freedom.  We really would let him explore, except he doesn’t quite get the concept of a car.  Let's see him unflatten himself out of that one.

So I tried again today, with clearly amateur success.

Here's a pretty epic shot.  I think i just went off a jump or something.

And here’s one of my handlebars.  I know you were interested.

I still maintain that I am not one of those people.

After much deliberation, I settled on a Surly Troll.  I really like the Surly brand: my research tells me that they make strong bikes and I love the attitude of the guys.  They are big proponents of the adventure cycling movement.  They are pushing the lines of what you can do with a bike.

The Troll is their do-everything bike.  I’ve built it up as a touring rig, but you could theoretically even do a single speed on it.  Its got horizontal drop-outs, mounts for disc brakes or cantilever brakes, and enough eyelets to… uh… attach lots of things to it.  I plan on trying it out in a couple different modes this summer.

So, ya, a bike.  And now I only have 123 days left till I pack it up and take off.  I need to find myself another hobby.

The Beginning...

So it begins... but where did it start? Who can say really?  Back in 1940-something when Ross was born? Maybe. The first time they all got on bikes together in Burlington? Perhaps. The Ross Guberman Memorial Wave Goodbye Ride? Could be.

The more likely scenario....
We have known Ross for a little while now, and it's been long enough to realize that, someday, he would leave us, and probably from the seat of really small bike.  Ross has toured extensively on several different continents, so we really weren't that impressed when told us he was going to the Erie Canal.  "Look out buddy! Careful of the slow moving boats!"  But when he started soliciting us for riding partners, more than a couple pairs of frozen Vermont ears perked up.  West Coast? National Parks? Warmer climes? It took a little convincing (and a few too many Duff Beers one Monday afternoon) and I found I had bought a plane ticket to Oregon.  Prior commitments for the summer prevented me from leaving this spring and heading West with Ross, so I'll start my leg of the adventure from Portland.  Christine and Brittany claim to be in, and I think I believe them, but I won't bet on it until they have similar poorly thought out travel plans like Ross and me.

I wanted to start writing down my Thoughts and Ideas about the trip for a few reasons.  First, I think it will help me get some sleep at night; its been 2 and half weeks now since I bought my ticket and I really need a way to vent some of my excitement. Second, my good Friend Phil Fandel from Burlington did a similar thing, and I really liked that he had a journal of his fun from the very beginning.  Also, I have had lots of requests from friends and family for something along these lines.  Plus, it'll give me a chance to write again, a hobby that hasn't been exorcised much since UVM.

As the primary author of this, it'll be mostly my own Thoughts and Ideas, but I'll try to solicit posts from my fellow riders, too.  I'll also try keep track of Ross's trip west, just in case we need to gather a search party at some point, and Britt's and Christine's preparations from Vermont, as well.

So instead of starting with a bang, it'll be more like a slow and anxious series of anti-climactic clicks; a freewheel coast here, a ratchet there, and lots of late night typing about a really long bike trip that hasn't really even started yet.