Ready or Not

Well, everything is packed for the third or fourth time so I guess I am as ready as I am going to get. The idea of this trip and its many challenges have been daunting as it has approached (ok, down right scary at times). Today as the time nears to head down to Albuquerque to begin the first of three plane rides I feel a mix of anticipation that soon I'll be "out there" finally doing this ride; sadness at leaving Nola for three plus long months; and general unease that I may have fogotten something I need or that something will "go wrong." None of this is surprising but it does have my stomach churning.

As anyone who has done a long tour, backpack trip, etc. has experienced, packing is an exercise in repetition. My shtick (sp?) this time is that I have too much stuff. So I have made some modest efforts to leave a few things behind. Some are silly--no q-tips for me; others not--I am taking only one paperback book, not four and will buy more as I need them. I am sure everything I am taking will fit in my panniers or on my rear rack...the problem is I have no food to pack yet!

For those of you that I have not seen or talked to recently but who are checking out this blog, here is some background about this trip to bring you sort of up to speed. I am leaving today (Sunday, 11/2) from Albuquerque, NM and will fly to Los Angeles then Sydney, then Adelaide, which is on the southwest coast of Australia's eastern "lobe." I'll start riding from Adelaide probably on Thursday, basically north with about 3 days of towns and relative civilization before I enter the "red center" where towns are hundreds of miles apart. After passing Ayers Rock and Alice Springs and possibly visiting Darwin on the far north central coast, I'll eventually turn west and head down the west coast to Perth. From there its east across the south coast back to Adelaide then to Melbourne and finally Sydney. If I do the whole route I'll be pushing 8,000 miles riding. My tentative return date from Sydney is February 17 meaning I'll have to ride at least 80 miles a day to make it in time.... We'll see!

Well, time to try to add a photo to this post then hit the road. When we speak next, there will be no more miles, farenheit, or greenbacks...and we'll hopefully have a new president elect. Cheers all.