Hi all: Thanks for hanging out with me -it's been a blast! I'm working on the summary, now, and will post it within a few more days. After that, I'll really be done (holy shmoly!) If you have any questions, please do let me know, and I will answer them in the trip FAQ.
Until we meet again, happy trails, and may the stars shine down upon you!
Cheerios! (crunch, crunch)
;~Don
12 comments:
CONGRATULATIONS
Glad to see that you made it in one piece. Reading your adventures brought back memories of my tours. Maybe, I'll have to think about a circular tour some time.
I'm staying put till around mid-February of next year. Big event will happen during next year's ride. I'll be passing the 200,000 mile mark of touring since 1993.
Hi Rev Johannes: Thanks - it's great to be back. Whoa! 200K miles - that's incredible!! ;~Don
Cool! Cool! Cool! I've enjoyed your blog very much. Glad you are home but selfishly sad as well.
I am curious to know how much baggage you carried (weight, not emotional :) ) on your trip.
Don-
Missed you at the MCHGA meeting Thursday! You must have forgotten how to drive...
Bob Reiter
Hi Liz: Yeah, it was such fun - 'twas a shame it had to end. I'm happy to have done it, though, and glad you liked the blog. The promised 'final post' is almost ready. ;~Don
Hi Rob: I just plain forgot about the meeting, but I have to admit; I'm not quite as competent a driver as I was before starting. I have to get back in the groove of powered conveyance. ;~Don
How about hosting a conference call, or online chat, were we can ask you questions about your trip and make suggestions for your "blog recap" or book?
It would give you an insight as to what "others" would find interesting and the reasons they would buy such a book and also give us "blog followers" an opportunity to interact with you and learn things that are currently on our mind after following your blog before too much time passes.
Hi Don!
Please excuse me handing out congrats to reach home so late... never signed up as a friend and posted only one comment - but hung out hours before the screen and read your blog completely.
Ever since I found out on ICE's webpages I followed your blog and though it's not a John Steinbeck travelling the US in the 60ies, I generally had a blast! Great stuff for some poor souls nailed to the office desk and whisked by whitty Windows. Besides being entertaining, the blog was also sort of educational:
- got a preview of a QNT being tortured => feel reassured to get one (want one for about two years, but never found time and/or money). Even if I tend to switch over to a HP Veleotechnik Scorpion folding(!) trike.
- saw, that someone can survive on Subways (never counted entries of "Subways" and "meal deal" in the blog's total, but they should give you some sponsering)
- learned, that I do not necessarily have to confine to campgrounds if ever touring the US again.
I also credit Don with bringing me in touch with warmshowers.org. I signed up as I think of the themed idea of ws as more valuable and less likely to produce surfing coach potatoes... see me as TheGhostThatNooneSaw on ws.
One more particular scene to get rid of: I occasionally search for US towns with names related to places and towns around here at the immigrant's root turf. I never found something for my long-time homebase of Luebeck, besides a Lubeck Highschool in KY. Reading Don's blog, he led me to Lubec, ME - quite a different spelling - and wikipedia says that this place was named for "my" Luebeck. A full hit for me ... thanks! Even more cool about it is, that Luebeck is famed for it's rotten streets and failed finances - and Lubec is quite the same, only about 200 times smaller than the original.
Ride on Don!
Marc
Hi Jeffrey: Well, hmm, that's a great idea - thanks! I would prefer the chat session, as I believe you can set that up with Google Talk for free. Let me look into it, and I'll see if I can set it up. ;~Don
Hi Marc: Thanks for the congrats. I'm glad you enjoyed my blog so much. Yeah, actually, I was planning to write a book that was half story, half how-to manual. Interesting bit about Luebeck/Lubec; they both have bad roads? Heh - funny! Ride on! ;~Don
Don!
I just discovered your blog via the ICE web site. It is an inspiration for my own desires for touring! Many belated congradulations on the incredible accomplishment.
I especially enjoyed the days' entires for the Gulf Coast area as it brought back many memories of my life there before I moved to Sweden 5 years ago. There was bitter sweet laughter at your discovery of the dreaded deer flies which were the bane of my existence through much of childhood!
There is a cycle route here in Sweden that I've ridden parts of around the city I live in. It criss-crosses the whole country and even into parts of Norway. Your adventures gave me the itch to cover it all. Now, just how to convince my husband to do without my company for the better part of a year??
Thank you again for this blog!
P.S.
I have a Trice QNT '06 model that I bought directly from ICE after trying one where they mostly hand-craft the things in Falmouth, England. An awesome bunch of guys who I can still call for advice and they STILL remember 'Terii, the American from Sweden'.
So, the fact you did so many miles on your Trice was a definite interest to me! It is great to see a fellow Tricer!
Hi Terii: Thanks for the congrats, and glad you liked my blog. Yeah, those Gulf Coast deer flies were something else (Ouch! Demitol!)
Yikes! I can't imagine cycling the cold of Norway! I found out on this trip that I generally preferred to be hot rather than cold. Both were uncomfortable, but at least when you're hot, you don't have to deal with a lot of clothes, and I could sort of get used to it. Layering while cycling is a pain-in-the, uh, bunions. Stand still, get cold, put on layers, start cycling, get hot and sweaty, stop, take off layers, get cold again, but get used to it, stop, get too cold, put on layers - aughh! It was *cheaper* though - I didn't have to keep buying drinks all the time, like when it was hot.
Anywho - I hope you do get a chance to do your long distance ride someday. It's a wonderful thing, when it's not being torturous. Strangely, I can say that I was able to leave the torture behind, but the wonder stayed with me. Cheerios! (crunch, crunch) ;~Don
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