This has been a moment that I’ve thought about for so long, it seems like it should be overwhelming. While there is a ton spinning around in my head, I must say that it feels the same, emotionally, as any other day. While we don’t have any pictures of us leaving the house, I know that I must have looked pretty laden down. With all the rushing to pack at the last minute, I abandoned all the preparation that I had done the week before and added almost an entire duffel bag of crap to the mix.

I had started one week earlier with a dry run to Potsdam, NY. It seemed to be the perfect distance for a test ride and had been a formative place in getting me to where I am today. The real reason to make that the destination were some friends that I wanted to see before I left. The cool thing for me, is that I felt I was getting over some negatives from the end of college and doing something that moved me in a new direction. It ended up being a great trip. I was able to close some of that negativity and just enjoy the Adirondaks and the positives of the North Country. Drew and Jamie were so great to host me. Heather was refreshing to see and it was great to be surrounded by such easy friends. Whether it was lying underneath a steamroller, riding out a monster storm, or eating some roadkill…I had a blast.

I’ve always thought that my windshield was the wrong size. As a carryover from my experience with Troy City Garage, it was a poorly made investment that I was kind of stuck with. While I’ve gone for some relatively inexpensive fixes to the wind noise problems created by the shield, I’ve always wished that it was just a couple inches higher. And the rest is awesome. Drew has this old Memphis Shades windshield that he had used for his trips and as we were talking about my shield, he says, “hey, you know I think I might have a bigger shield that would fit your bike.” So after pulling it out and finding that it was indeed just a taller version of my Memphis, we swapped. The whole way up to Potsdam I had debated the purchase of a new shield and on the way home, all I could think about was how awesome it was that Drew wanted mine and that his was exactly what I needed.

A lot of people have asked me what the genesis for the trip is. My answer varies based on the company and the time there may be for a story. The core of it is the same every time. I read Into the Wild which ignited my imagination about exploring the country. I loved bicycles but also enjoyed the speed of a car. I knew pretty early on in college that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to end up doing. It was this lack of clarity which made it easy to focus on the idea of a cross country road trip. At some point in there, I told my friend Brendan about this scheme. He told me that not only had he thought about doing something like this, but he was all about making it happen. Here we are today. Thanks go out to the friends that helped give me ideas and fuel the excitement. Thanks and love go out to my family who provided a “dry dock” for me to prepare this trip. Thanks for following along.