Where to start.

Day one: 121 km, lost my way 3 times, 1 flat tire, 1 flash flood, 2 busted knees.
The worst day ever. That was until…

Day two: 32 km, 2 worthless knees.

Saturday morning I was filled with optimism. You couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

time to go

okay, bye bye

My optimism was short-lived.
The first 20 km were great. I had a friend escort me out of New York from the Brooklyn Bridge to the George Washington Bridge. I had noticed that The Romic was much heavier than I’d planned on and, like a dumb ass, I started pushing a little to harder to compensate rather than using a higher gear.

oh Brooklyn, I'll miss you

starting line

GWB

Once I got into New Jersey, I got turned around. I had forgotten to print out the map but had written directions. Lesson #1: Never bike with only written directions in a large metropolitan area. I did well the first time–I missed a turn by running parallel and then meeting my next turn, but by the third time I was riding on five-lane freeways and crossing scary bridges that were obviously not meant for bicycles. Then, just when I get my bearings again…

hmm

water as high as the bottom of my bags

refuge

This was just the first flash flood. I tried to power through the second flood, but noticed that I was paddling the water and barely moving. My right knee noticed it too and started throbbing. I had thought maybe I twisted it while trying to keep my bike afloat. Shortly after, I came upon a mountain, which I was expecting but by this time dreading. After the first climb, my left knee started to complain, which made me realize that it must have something to do with how I am riding. Lesson #2: If both your knees start to hurt, stop riding. I kept going.

finally, some country

By the time I got to Sussex, NJ, I was wrecked. Stopped for the night at a dive motel so that I could nurse my knees with ice.

So cut to this morning. I could barely walk. I put in three long hours of super painful riding with bigger climbs than yesterday. I didn’t get far before I started crying a little bit (just a little) and I had to walk my bike for the last mile into Milford, PA directly to the pharmacy for some anti-inflammatory meds. And again, I have spent money on another motel room. What a disaster.

nice

Nice sheets

There is nothing but climbing for the next week or so. If the knees are not better tomorrow I’m not sure what I will do. I’m going to try to get new peddles tomorrow to see if that might help. I really feel like an ass.

It’s crunch time.

I’ve been a little overwhelmed for the last few months. Not only with the big trip coming up- well, sure, it’s mostly with the big trip coming up, but also with the difficult process of closing up shop here in Brooklyn. I’ve decided that rather than spend the money to store all of my things during my one- to two -year hiatus, I could purge most of my belongings, put the rest in a few boxes and send them off with my sister, who is moving to California. (Thanks, Sister.) Besides, I suppose it fits in with the whole vagabond thing. I like the idea that I can fit everything I own into less than ten boxes.

So, what have I been up to? Well, besides the boring stuff such as visa applications, new passport pages, flights, bank accounts, and chewing on my fingers, I have been busy making things. I started out with an overly ambitious list of clothing to construct, but sort of lost steam towards the end.

Here are some of the projects that were a success.

hats

pants

wind breaker

shirts

hoodie

gore-tex parka

gore-tex parka

gore-tex parka

made a gore-tex parka

front panniers

front pannier rain cap

And here is a cool saddle cover I made (the Brooks doesn’t like the rain)

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