mission statement.

most people that have strapped a tent onto their bike have probably daydreamed about doing some grand tour for weeks or months on end. most probably won't for one reason or another. of course, the older we get the amount of reasons that stand between us and dirt-bagging it across the country start to pile up and the chance of a long tour plummet or are completely squashed. and so it goes...

back in february of this year i made a very important decision in my life, to leave a perfectly fine job that pays very well [by my standards] and do such a tour. like so many other ideas or plans i've had in my life that never go anywhere this one was certain to happen. fast forward 6 months and the departure date is a few days away and i can't be more excited or stressed out. it is happening.

the idea had come to me within the first year of running the bike shoppe. i had told myself that when i eventually close that i'd do the ride then. of course, i closed the shoppe for financial reasons so i had no loot to do a tour... life and finances had gotten in the way. this time i had the foresight to start planning for it well in advance. if i was going to do it i was going to do it right. there's no guarantee i'd ever get another chance so i was going to maximize the time i had in the saddle and i was going to do everything and anything i wanted along the way... and that's exactly what is happening in 2 days. squee.

i do want to state, for the record, that i realize a blog about a bike tour is cliche. these days it can't not be trite and it will be difficult to keep my head out of my ass at all times, but ill try. i acknowledge and accept these things in their entirety. however, this is my tour and i'm going to write about it, dammit. stay tuned.