Details, Details

I'm still sitting here at home, over 2 weeks after I originally wanted to leave on my epic adventure. The Wilmington trip was great, and an epic adventure in its own right. Strangely, as I was sitting at work the day after I got back, it felt as if it hadn't happened at all. 4 days? It only seemed like a dream... The only conclusion that I could draw was that it was obviously too short.

So why am I still here? Well, I realized that I needed more space, as I had decided to leave quite a bit of the long term gear I intended to take at home (not that big of a deal due to the clear weather forecast and short duration), so I ordered some front racks and bags. I also realized a few modifications I would like to make to my current gear, like adding netted closeable windows to my hammock sock to allow me to peek out and make sure no animals are going through my stuff in the night without exposing myself to any vicious mosquitoes or letting out too much warm air, or for added ventilation on the steamier nights.

I also needed to take advantage of the free tune up REI gives you when you purchase a new bike from them before the 6 month time limit was up. This was to be the start of a long process of getting my bike into its final touring-ready form. REI had my bike for about a week, which seemed like torture. When I got it back, I immediately gave it to Cycles de ORO in Greensboro to change out the 20 tooth back cog with a 22 tooth one, so that I could have some lower gears for the hills I would be encountering. I ordered the part when I turned my bike into REI, so it was ready to go when I got it back, and the switch was supposed to be done that same day. Unfortunately, my internal gear hub somehow broke (the shop said they had never seen one break that way and that the Alfine hub I have is top quality and something like this should never happen again. Shimano sent the shop a replacement hub for free). This added another week onto my trip departure date. At this point I started feeling like I would never get out of here, and fell into a small depression. Not being able to ride for several weeks, as well as some car issues my family was experiencing which left me stranded at the house most days, had me falling back down pretty fast. I needed to pack and clean and finish my projects, but I just couldn't find the motivation.

My front racks and panniers came in, and I eventually got the call that my bike was ready to be picked up. My high school art teacher, who I am still friends with, took me to go get it, and it was like being reunited with a long lost love: I couldn't stop smiling. Unfortunately, my elation only lasted about a day as I realized I couldn't get the racks on myself and the back brakes were causing just enough friction on the disk to not make any obvious rubbing noises but still make the wheel stop after a revolution or two, and nothing I did to adjust said brake was working. I took it back to the shop (the local one this time), and I left it there for a day to put my racks on and fix the brakes. When I got it home, I realized that some bolts needed to be cut shorter and my brakes were still not to my liking. Back to the shop it went.

After getting it back from Greensboro, I realized that my departure was eminent, and began the last minute sewing projects that I had been putting off, as well as started watching the weather, as a nasty cold front was on its way that would drop our pleasant 85 degree highs down to a chilly 65 and 57 degrees for two days (Sunday and Monday). After that it would be in the 70s: not as high as before, but not as cold as those two days either. Fall is definitely here and I need to get my butt in gear! I went for a 28 mile ride Sunday with my rear panniers full of stuff so that I could hopefully minimize any painful repeat of the 2nd days' difficulties on the Wilmington trip, especially since it's now been almost a month since I've done any riding! My new date of expected departure is Tuesday, the 9th. Better late than never.