Friday 1/8/10 Cherry Hill, New Jersey
I’ve been back home for five weeks now, visiting friends and family I haven’t seen for the past two years. The visit has been amazing. My mother’s tuna fish salad has managed to somehow become even more delicious since the last time I had it. Tomorrow I leave to head back out to Uganda.
The other night my dad showed me this video. It was surreal watching it. It shows the first few moments of the bike trip, when I pulled away from my parent’s driveway in New Jersey with thousands of miles of uncertainty ahead of me. What you can’t see in this video is my nervousness. I was nauseous with anxiety, trying all the while to keep a smile on my face and confidence in my words. When I started the trip, I did so with no past touring experience and next-to-no bicycling experience. On day one, I was weak with fear and self-doubt. I imagined being robbed of bike and cash. I thought about tropical diseases—stuff like this—and wondered how I’d survive in places like Mexico and Colombia. I believed in the deepest parts of me that I had gotten myself in too deep, that I pledged to complete something I obviously couldn’t complete.
I nearly drop the bike in the video. Foolishly, I hadn’t ridden with the trailer fully loaded until the morning of my departure.
Enjoy.
That is some quality video footage. How special that your dad thought to record that moment in time, and even cooler that you get to look back on it now and reflect on what you were feeling that day.
I found it funny to read that you hadn’t ridden with the trailer fully loaded until the morning of your departure. I wonder if that is a common experience amongst people who embark on cycle tours? That was my exact experience when departing for my cross-Canada bike adventure… After assembling my bike together in the Whitehorse airport, I hooked my bags onto my pannier rack fully loaded for the very first time, pushed my bike outside, climbed on, took a deep breath and hoped for the best (secretly hoping that no-one was watching)! Thankfully it worked out, and I managed to figure out the balance thing without any embarrassing spills!
By: Heather on January 9, 2010
at 2:56 am
You forgot to check the tire pressure
How to say in English – it gives me the creeps? my blood runs cold? – I can imagine how you felt. And I still admire the big step you took and just did it, started riding. It was a big step for us too when we left home but compared to your situation…
By: Pius on January 10, 2010
at 12:06 pm
Pius,
I know, I know! I forgot to check it!
I know you can understand how scared I was in this video. Starting a trip like that is such a scary thing. When I pulled away from my parent’s house, I remember thinking, “Ohhhhhhh man, this trailer feels SO heavy. How the hell am I going to make it to Argentina with this thing?!!?!?”
I hope you’re doing well,
Happy new year,
A
By: andrewedwardmorgan on January 13, 2010
at 8:55 am
wow that’s so cool..I am an amateur cyclist and long to do sth like that~
By: yueqing on February 24, 2010
at 9:06 am