Here we go again . . .

Last summer, I took a four-month long, 27,000 mile road trip, taking a wildly inappropriate bike into places it was never supposed to go. I posted about it here, and ended up wrapping all my blog posts into a single PDF for people to download for easier reading http://home.comcast.net/~tsaven/Linearblawg.pdf . Since then, I've been killing time in Chicago, working some proper 9-5 type jobs and generally trying to be a productive member of society.

It turns out that I'm not very good at that, so fuck it. I'm going back on the road.



I'm leaving today, and this time on a much more appropriate machine; my black '04 Wee-Strom. I spent the last week doing the usual wrenching on it; valve check, chain and sprockets, tool tube, etc. Compared to my Virago that I did my previous trip on, this bike has so much storage space I don't quite know what to do with it all.

Fall is almost over here in Chicago, so my goal is to get south as soon as I can. I want to get over to the Blue Ridge Parkway before it closes for the season, and then head down the Natchez parkway before heading across the South to the Trinity test site, and then to Death Valley. By this time, my money will probably have run out, but if I can I want to also make it up to the Giant Redwoods forest, because I <3 giant trees. At that point, I'll sell the bike (if I can. 75k+ on it, some trackdays and a couple of at-speed laydowns do not a good resale value make), and fly back to Chicago.

I can't describe how powerful the urge to get back on the road has been, and I'm jittery with excitement to get back to living on my own terms. This will be a short trip, only a month or so. I've got a new job starting on the other side of the world on December 16th, and I'm flying out from Chicago on the 14th, so I am a little bit constrained by time.

Alrighty, guys. I've gotta do some last minute bike adjustments, and then it's back on the road again (THANK GOD!).