10/27/2011
I sold my 1969 Mustang Mach 1 today and that reaffirmed my
plans to leave for this bicycle trip through South America.
I am 12 years older than my last ride and I remember some
of the hardships endured on that one. So I am a little nervous
about this whole prospect, I have not investigated anything
about this proposed route of mine. I do not know anything
about the mountain ranges or roads I'll be on. I know there
are travelogues out there but I decided to avoid getting any
idea in my mind of what it might look like. I want to just
go and experience the unknown. There is still a lot to do,
I need to get more gear. My tent is still the same one from
12 years ago! Time for a new one. I will see a friend in Canada
tomorrow that I have not seen in 18 years. We had anthrolopology
together at East Carolina University and it will be great
to see her and her partner. While there she is going to help
me choose some gear for my trip too. I am hoping to meet Gord
on this trip too as well as meet Toni Childs who is in Victoria
recording a new album and has a very unique approach to promoting
her album.
1969 Mustang Mach 1 390 big block car, concours condition
show car
loaded up and will soon belong to a collector in Austrailia
10/29/2011
Got into Vancouver last night and finally met my friend Sheska
that I had not seen for 17.5 years. We stayed up until 12:30
talking and it was great to connect again. We spent most of
today visiting about 5 different outdoor shops investigating
gear.
Driving across the bridge into Vancouver
Sheska and I have a chat :)
testing a lightweight tent
10/30/2011
Today Sheska and I went and looked at some more gear, she
bought an awesome camping knife and then we went to investigate
the tech eqpt for my ride such as the latest in mp3 players
and netbooks. We met Erika at a place where they honor the
dead in a Latin tradition, it was very similar to the Zen
Buddhist tradition I was once involved with called "feeding
The Hungry Ghosts". Afterwards we went for lunch at a
Mexican restaurant as they were helping to prepare me for
the Latin culture I'm heading into.
an alter honoring the dead as well as making a political statement
Sheska having coconut water out of a real coconut
Live Latin music
mmmmmm breakfast
10/31/2011
I left Sheska's and Erika's place this morning, what a fantastic
time. Looking forward to visiting again next year.
I met Gord and his wife for lunch today. I initially met
Gord on my bicycle trip in 1999 when he was playing with the
Canadian band "The Falcons" at the Dawson City Music
Festival. It was good to see him again after all these years.
In a way he is a connection to the last bicycle ride a did
so it was fitting for a visit as I prepare for my next journey.
After lunch I headed for the ferry terminal for my trip to
Victoria.
Gord and I with friends 12 years earlier
The road as I'm leaving Vancouver
View from the ferry headed
to Victoria
11/01/2011
I met with Toni and her fiance Mick this morning for breakfast
at a small quaint cafe. For the first time I got nervous talking
about my trip, I do not understand it but I was really nervous.
Toni was so kind and very encouraging as I am planning this
vision quest of mine. She has such a beautiful soul and Mick
is a lovely man too. The conversation consisted primarily
of the soul work and my focus on moving further from being
egocentric to soulcentric. Toni is finishing up her new album
"Citizens Of The Planet" in Victoria so it was just
my luck that I was in that region while she was there. She
has set an intention to become a ‘sustainable’ independent
recording artist who is able to release albums and tour globally
without the need for record companies, concert promoters or
booking agencies. In order to this she is appealing directly
to her supporters. She made one song from her new album available
for download now. With enough sales of that song, it will
help her finish recording independently.
As I stated in the "about
this ride section", I found inspiration in what Toni
Childs is doing with Wrap
The World In Beauty and while I am only able to do my
part in a small way, it is artists like her who can spread
a beautiful message in a big way. I think that is a wonderful
gift, but no matter how big or small we all need to do our
part.
The ride on the ferry back was
3 hours. I have to respect all those I encounter and do not
want to disrespect conversations told that were never intended
to be made public. During this 3 hours I stepped into a world
through stories that was totally foreign to me. This woman
was a stock trader and shared some stories well worth writing
about, but they are not my stories. She appeared independent,
strong, yet very graceful, attractive, highly intelligent
and extrememly observant. While talking she would say "look
out the window, there's a whale". She seemed to be acutely
aware of all of the surroundings while being totally engaging
in a conversation. I felt much more at ease on the ferry than
I did earlier in the day. Listening to a lot of the stories
helped me forget about my upcoming trip alone, forget about
my lovely ex-wife of 11 years(and now best friend) who will
not be with me and many other stories that has been playing
through my mind lately.
11/01/2011
I just bought my one way ticket to Bogota, Colombia today.
I leave on the 17th and I'm nowhere close to being prepared
yet. I have to finish up some house projects, get the landscaping
guy started on the major renovation at the front of the house
and finish buying the gear I need.
11/07/2011
I took my bicycle to REI and Shane helped me with a bent front
derailleur, replaced the middle chainring which had a broken
tooth on it, and we figured out how the old man maount rack
went on the front of the bike. I just realized the small portable
solar charger will not charge my small net book. So that is
being returned to REI today. I have been considering the purchase
of a small day pack for my trek to Machu Picchu but I think
I will wait until I'm in the area and see what I need and
can buy something there.
You can see the front derailleur is bent to the right in this
pic
10/09/2011
My new panniers still have not arrived, I'm hoping they arrive
tomorrow. I bought a small super light tripod which will be
useful. weighs only 16 ozs and although has a overal height
of 42", it collapses down to 14".
The other big news for today was the
completion of my website redesign. This site was dedicated
to my North America trip for the past 12 years and now it
was divided into 2 sections and lots of cool graphics work
done by www.jennicartoon.com
I bought a Big Agnes sleeping pad which
is thicker than my old one and 1/3 the packed size and 1/3
the weight.
11/12/11
It was a little bit challenging today for me. Things have
been going very smoothly and I've been enjoying my days preparing
for the trip. Today I had to go through all my stuff and make
sure it was going to fit on my bicycle, I also needed to try
out my new stove to make sure I knew how to use it prior to
taking off. Last trip I had a trailer with lots of great storage.
Now I find my sleeping bag takes up one whole rear pannier
and that will not work! There was a lot of sorting stuff out
trying to figure out what will go where and how. I finally
got it set up and looks like everything is going to work beautifully.
Just a bit of fussin' for awhile, but got there in the end.
I did discover that I'm still missing a few items such as
those adjustable bungee cords, H2O tabs, and about 6 other
miscelleaneous items.
all the stuff that has to go on the
bicycle
putting on my new Shimano SPD A530 pedals,
the allow for SPD cycling shoes with cleats on one side,
and is a standard flat pedal on the other side so I can wear
any ole shoe or sandal on this side showing.
Since there are 2 different types of
metals, steel threading into aluminum, that stuff has to be
used or it will
seize up over time and then it's next to impossible to get
off.
I11/13/2011
I got my bicycle loaded up and figured out where to put everything,
here is a short video:
11/14/2011
Wow great things happened today, I was able to meet with a
friend, Marci who graciously agreed to be videotaped with
"the question". She also gave me a mission! Toni
first told me about the Earths Kundalini and Marci also told
me about it. Marci gave me some sacred healing water that
has been infused with lots of healing love and light energy
by a group of women for many years. Drops of this water will
be placed along places in the Andes for healing and help the
Earths Kundalini. This sacred water is filled with feminine
heart energy to help balance the strong male energy that has
done so much destruction to the planet.
Another bit of excitement
is the perfect timing for Jade to be passing through my town
just before I leave on my journey. Jade is a vision quest
guide who helped guide me on my vision quest earlier this
year. She has such a wonderful spirit and a beautiful soul
that shines through. I was blessed to see her as she is a
connection to my past, someone who helped form that bridge
for me to be able to pass from my old life and become reborn
into a new one. I had not seen her since that day I left the
quest and the universe timed it just perfect for this encounter.
I also had great conversations
with dear friends I love very much who are also connections
to my past and I was overwhelmed with the feeling of being
in love with so many people who love me.
