IN THE LAST POSTING, I WAS GOING ON about my 76th birthday and some of the wisdom collected over all those years.
I hope you were bored out of your minds. We oldies do tend to go on at times.
Just about all my energies have been directed into the painting of the external walls of the house and being around for the remodel of the upper bathroom. We have had some beastly hot, humid weather around the time I chose to paint the outside walls (good choice, Robert!), all of which I found extremely enervating or, in plain terms, very capable of producing a 'whacked out' state. Of course, I had to become accustomed to being up and down a 24 foot extension ladder and this occasioned some interesting moments of very active anxiety management.
Still and all, I was reasonable faithful in gym attendance and kept up with my aerobic routines but I do admit to letting go my strength stuff for a week or two. Working that ladder almost made up for this. Thankfully, the weather has eased off, cooler and dryer (hooray!) so that I have had the energy to get back on my cycle for increasingly longer rides and more hills. This is in preparation for The Great Northern Rockies Bike Ride early next month.
If you have not had any sense of my occasional bouts of insanity, this will bring you up to date on my state of mind. The plan is to ride from Midway BC eastwards over the Rockies and then turn South to reach the eastern entrance of Glacier National Park in Montana. The last day will take us through the Park and, with luck, we will catch the train late evening down to Seattle from the Western Entrance to the Park, via Amtrak
The route has proved to be concertina-like, alternately longer and shorter. Right now it looks like ten days of cycling over approximately 550 miles, which might sound horrific but resolves into some longer rides along flat terrain with other days of 45 to 55 miles over climbs that might be a grunt at times.
Who are 'us'? Well just the two of us, Brian and me. Brian is an old friend, first met in 1978, when I was a Lecturer in Psychology at what is now the University of South Australian, then the South Australian Institute of Technology. He was, sort of, as student of mine then. Nowadays he is a significant administrator in the the BC services for disadvantaged folk. More importantly, he is an avid and talented video movie maker and excellent photographer. What this means is that, via the Internet, you will have the chance to see what we are up to. Most days we will be able to use the Internet so expect a bulletin every so often to keep you up to date on our adventures, if any. We do not expect to see many grizzly bears, as we will be mainly on Highway 3, or Crowsnest Pass Highway that is part of the Trans-Canada Highway and bears prefer to keep away from traffic, or so we hope.
The first couple of legs we will stay with friends; after that, it is the friendless wild where we may meet new friends and ride endless miles, discovering the Zen of cycling. The first two weeks in September...watch this space!
When I get back, I have the task of re-inventing myself, metamorphosing from the fellow who thought, dreamed, lived and breathed work on The House and little else. I do not have much interest in "rediscovering Robert". With maybe 20 years left to me, there remains much to discover and learn in life so, no doubt, Ulysses-like, I will set sail to seek that 'far margin that fades forever as I move'.
Sorry...no pictures this time. More on The Ride next posting. Adieu!
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1 comment:
Thanks for your encouragement, Glenn. With much of the work on the house now done, as well as the planning of the trip, I have time to work on hills. Luckily, the local terrain has some rides with hills very like small sections of the climbing segments on the trip. A week from today I will be in BC, late evening. Hard to believe it is all happening!
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