The big moment had arrived - it was time to hit the road. Before I left, one more formality needed to be observed. Given that my closest companion for the next few weeks to months was to be my bike, I felt that I should at least name it, even if it wasn't going to talk back to me.
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| Blue Steel, or Derek for short. |
For those unfamiliar with the creativity with which Australians name things, one need look no further than the mountain range in our great southern land which looks a little blue from a distance. It's called the Blue Mountains. I suppose the presence of the nearby Rocky Mountains means it's not just an Aussie thing. In any case, I dubbed my blue, steel frame mountain bike Blue Steel in this tradition, whilst, of course, referencing perhaps Ben Stiller's only useful contribution to cinema.
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| The road and a lot of zeros. |
With formalities observed, it was time for the rubber to hit the road. I was a little excited to see all those zeros on my odometer, and that road in front of me. After never having ridden a bike more than the 10 or 20km to and from work at home in Australia, I started what was to be an over 1000km trip from San Francisco to San Diego on December 20th 2012. In what was perhaps a sign of inexperience, I started riding north.
Oh Hugh, you are too funny! I also have a 180-degree-in-the-wrong-direction-problem, unfortunately, mine seems to be permanent. I just saw a post for your blog on FB and started at the very beginning. This is a totally amazing thing you're doing, I'll be trying to catch up and following every turn of the wheel with much anticipation, and will show Morgs too - he'll be really interested. Stay safe! Marcie
ReplyDeleteThanks Marce! What do you mean yours seems to be permanent? Are you going in circles?? Yeah please let that facebook-avoiding man of yours know.
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