{"id":463,"date":"2016-07-25T09:03:39","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T09:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jwstworldbicycletour.com\/?p=463"},"modified":"2016-07-25T13:34:51","modified_gmt":"2016-07-25T13:34:51","slug":"july-22-reflections-on-stage-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jwstworldbicycletour.com\/?p=463","title":{"rendered":"July 22: Reflections on Stage 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello everyone. It has been a LONG time since my last post, but I hope to get caught up in this post. I can summarize the ride from Colorado to Alaska in 3 words:<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t die.<\/p>\n

That was my main objective, and I accomplished it very well. Seriously, though, this was the most incredible journey I have ever taken. Just imagine the most beautiful, scenic drive of your life (like through the Rockies) and have that continue for 2,500 miles. That is what this journey was. Just a day or two outside of Calgary, the prairie gave way to evergreens, lakes, rivers, mountains and abundant wildlife, and this was all still going strong when I stopped in Fairbanks. If I had continued north, it would have begun to die down a bit as the arctic tundra took its place. Awesome!<\/p>\n

I hope some of you get a chance to see this part of the world, especially the Alaskan Highway. But if you do, make certain that you treat the highway itself as a DESTINATION, and not just a road to get somewhere. I was passed by hundreds of people in RV\u2019s everyday who just sped through it all, on their way to some other place\u2026 driving past lakes, rivers, incredible fishing and interesting people. I hope wherever they were going was worth what they were missing to get there. Whew!<\/p>\n

I have been meaning to post a blog entry for so long now, and kept putting it off, I am now actually in Gibraltar getting ready to start the second stage as soon as the airline decides to send me my bike. Yep–I arrived here but my bike did not. This is not the sort of thing you want to happen on a world bicycle tour. Lets hope it is straightened out tomorrow. I am not sure what I would do if the bike were permanently lost. Probably have to pack it in. That bike and I have been together for so long, it would seem strange to tour without it.<\/p>\n

I have a lot to get caught up on, so I am going to just write a short narrative about certain key things.<\/p>\n

Stage 2
\nI mentioned that I am now in Gibraltar. My plan is to look south and to the west of Spain, then cycle up the east coast, through part of France, then Switzerland and Southern Germany. In the city of Freiburg, I will turn east and follow the Danube River all the way to Belgrade. Once there, I have three options: (1) continue along the Danube to the Black Sea, (2) turn north through Romania and the Western Ukraine, or (3) cycle through Bulgaria and into Istanbul, Turkey, wrapping up Stage 2 on about October 10th. My plans are to go to Istanbul, but I will keep an open mind about it.<\/p>\n

I know that many of you may think heading to Turkey right now would be a bad idea. Apparently, there is some disagreement about who is running the country. But, you have to look at this from a cyclist\u2019s perspective, not a politician’s. You see, once you get comfortable with the idea of semi trucks zipping past you at 70 mph, 2 feet from your head, 8 hours a day, anything you might hear on the evening news just doesn\u2019t matter much. Political issues aren’t a big deal unless they lead to an increase in petty crime, worse drivers, or an inability to get food or other services.<\/p>\n

As a completely hypothetical example, let me put it this way. Imagine that, next November, I were to cycle across the United States. And\u2014now this is just hypothetical\u2014suppose that the people in the US were to somehow elect as president a very charismatic, but otherwise irrational, narcissistic and unstable person. (I\u2019m just saying\u2026) Well, that would be really bad for the United States, right? But for me, cycling along our nation\u2019s highways? It wouldn\u2019t matter at all. Same thing with Turkey. In fact, yesterday in JFK, I passed a long line of people waiting to get on an airplane bound for Istanbul.<\/p>\n

I never want to minimize the tribulations that ours or other countries are going through. But, as a cycle tourist, I am more concerned about finding a place to camp for the night and meeting interesting people, than I am about who is in charge of the government.<\/p>\n

Speaking of cycling through the US, that is my plan. Assuming I can find my bike, on about October 15th, I will head SOUTH from Boulder to Florida and the Caribbean, and then finish up the tour with a ride across Australia. I really wanted to finish the tour in Boulder, but that would complicate a lot of things. So, I will have to make my grand return to Colorado via an airplane and not a bike.<\/p>\n

Oh\u2014one more thing about the ride across Europe. My flight to Gibraltar took me through Casablanca! I had several hours to kill, but did not want to leave the airport. I looked all over the airport, and could not find a single Gin Joint. How do you go to Casablanca and not walk into a Gin Joint?<\/p>\n

I also had a long layover at JFK in New York and spent a few hours visiting the 911 memorial. A very moving experience; the memorial was done right in every way. I hope you get a chance to visit and pay your respects.<\/p>\n

\"911

911 memorial<\/p><\/div>\n

My heartfelt thanks<\/strong>
\nSo many people helped me through the first stage of the ride, and have been so generous. Words will be inadequate to express my appreciation, so I will only use a few of them. But the feelings behind them are 100% genuine.<\/p>\n