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Riding my bicycle across the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route
Where’s Francis? Follow along daily on my map: https://share.garmin.com/FrancisDavis (ask me for password)
Long day of driving, almost time for bed. We left Cleveland around 1PM today following my final day of U.S. History class (another story). Driving for 7 hours to New York was not the most enjoyable, but naps always help! Tomorrow we forge on to the White Mountains and Rumney, NH. Unfortunately another 5 hour drive is not high on my list. Posting (hopefully more substantive than this) will continue in force now! Bike riding starts Tuesday.
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Yikes! I can’t believe in about a week I’ll be on the road again! First we have to drive to Maine. Dad, grandma, and I are stopping into the White Mountains, then continuing on to Acadia National Park, where we’ll hike for a few days. The park will also serve as the dart point of my ride back to Cleveland along the Adventure Ccling Northern Tier route. Next Tuesday, I’ll head down the Atlantic Cost for about 160 miles to Portland, ME where I will meet up with my partner in crime for the next couple weeks, Mark. From there we will cut West away from the coast, into the heart of Maine, and before we know it, New Hampshire. So far, I’m feeling great! The trip is still far enough away where I can feel a sense of irreverent euphoria without the anxiety. I haven’t really started to pack yet, I have my list, of course. Tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be packing en masse. I feel fairl prepared, I’ve even doing a decent amount of riding these last couple weeks in Cleveland, although I won’t lie, I’ve missed more than a couple planned riding days! Before the summer started I was concerned I would have way too much time on my hands these three weeks every afternoon. In fact quite the opposite has been true. Bus, busy, busy. In fact, we’re hosting four very experienced bike tourists cycling around Lake Erie right now. They’re ending in Oberlin, OH tomorrow. Their stories and position have made me yearn for life back on the road, in the saddle, at the mercy of the elements. Lckily I know I’ll be getting my fill soon. My media presence I’m planning as follows, taking strategies from two of my previous tours. I’m going to try for daily written updates on here, Summit, as well as short videos on the Summit and my personal Facebook. I have this new-tangled foldable keyboard for typing on the phone; it’s not bad! I will get back to the world either this week, or at the least, during the drive to ME. Enjoy yourself!
I miss Fayetteville. It's been barely 24 hours back in Cleveland, but I'm already yearning to be back. Sans drama (school, family, life), but in a sense filled with more meaningful drama or eustress: being scared on a rock climb, physically decimated after a long day climbing, scurrying about the makeshift kitchen trying desperately not to burn the scrambled eggs on the ramshackle propane stove. It's these moments and more that really make a trip like this. A departure from the humdrum and mundane into a new reality, one immediately more real than it's Cleveland counterpart.
But for now, here I am. Class starts tomorrow from 8:30 - 12:30. I've quickly realized that I have completely filled my afternoons until July. Primarily consisting of biking, biking, and more biking. I am resolved to be in tip-top shape for my trip in 3 weeks. I was also hit this morning with the cold realization that as per usual, I have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. As of now, I am not overwhelmed by all of the activities in the next three weeks, but I cognize that it could get that way if I slip into procrastination. I tell myself, "Francis, you have to stay on top of this". This involves schoolwork, planning /packing for the bike trip, and of course hours in the saddle just to prepare for even more hours in the saddle. Madness! I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end! |
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