It's the night before my departure on Shota's Great American Tour. I quite my job, and have been unemployed for one whole week, the bags are packed, the bike is fueled. Now there is nothing left to do but make point the bike north and make tracks.
One might ask how does it feel? are you ready? To be quite honest, I am not sure I can "feel" anything just yet. My first week of unemployment, felt much like any other week except I spent a little more time around the house. The stress, the non stop going and going has been ever present. At the moment, I am not convinced it will ever go away. There is a part of me, that thinks that maybe this just how I am wired. Perhaps its just that I have had the same routine now for the better part of 6 years. My first FUN-employed week was about as routine as weeks go for me.
Monday - Computer work, figure out how my week is going to play out, and go for the Monday night MTB ride. Tuesday - get everything that need done, done before I head to Phoenix. Wednesday - drive to Phoenix for a meeting, and go for a Mid-Week Papago MTB Ride. Thursday - Helped my dad with some stuff, computer work, visited an Ace Hardware Store drove back to Tucson. Friday - Frantically catch up on everything that didn't get done while I was in Phoenix.
Anyhow, check back in a week or two and maybe I will have found a new groove. People keep telling me that I this trip is going to change me for the better, god I hope that true, only time will tell.
As far as being ready, I am not a big believer in "being ready" historically I am a "ready as I will ever get" kind of guy. That being said, I am pretty darn ready to start riding! If I learned anything from getting ready for this trip, its that I will push the limits on what I can get done in the time allotted. The reality is I could have probably left at any time in the last week, but with each passing day I discovered something that "needed" to get done. This week it was install new luggage, mount new tires, install a new sprocket. All these things that didn't need to be done, but since I had the time to do it, they became "needed" to be done things. Remember folks, "Ready as I will ever be" is just fine, that's where the adventure is.
Shota
T - 12 hours before Shota's Great American Tour
Tucson Az
