Day 1 -1 Week

I’m at the bar while my lady gets airplane snacks. It still doesn’t feel real that we are about to go to Paris. I am not prepared for this trip, let alone my next. The beer is going down too easy, I’ve been drinking too much. I know how I get in Paris, I will continue to smoke too much. The ideal training for a cross country bike trip. A small country maybe, but I intend on biking across North America. New York to Astoria. 

My buddy and I biked from his place to mine two summers ago. Manhattan to Miami. When he asked me about cross country I said definitely, timing provided. I had a few big jobs come up, and pass. I haven’t seen my lady nearly enough. But in the end, it felt like timing was providing. 

Quick chat with my bar neighbor shows me I will again be confronted with many anti-American conversations on this trip. 

I know this trip will be a lot. 3500 + miles is daunting. This maybe the only part of he trip I don’t find daunting. Anything in the thousands is a lot, let alone a mile, made of thousands of feet. Trillions of mil if you want to go metric. But I try to look at any task as a group of small tasks, the smaller the better. Every small step is a victory, every victory leads to a greater win, the greatest win is your final goal completed. Now I know how hokey and self help/ affirmation-ale this sounds, however… so what? I mean if you have to quantify your success, why not do it in a way that is meaningful and helpful to you? One could spend their life keeping up with the Jones’ or show your self how you made some small step towards your goal. 

Now with that in mind, the bike makes it so easy… as you push down on the right, the left comes up. As you push down on the left, the right comes up. Every push leads directly into the next and the next and then you’re somewhere else. 

My lungs are damaged, my gut is huge, my leg is still not quite right after a fifteen year old injury… but this is where I am a week from my trip. I could stop smoking. I could eat better. I could do more rehab. But I leave in a week. 

I don’t know if any of this is relevant or if anyone wants to hear it, but so many people asked about our last trip and this one coming. I am giving in and cataloging this trip. 

It all feels like an over share, so I’m sorry if you do too. 

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MikeDiazTheFirst

Mike was born in Queen, New York to a blue collar family. An avid self educator, artist, and traveler he’s traveled around the globe three times while immersing himself in the culture of 48 different countries and counting.  Read about his journeys and musings here.

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