Back in Chi-town

And boy, is it good to be back. For a bit. Less than two weeks now, I suppose...
So, I was planning on hooking up with Karli (arlikay.blogspot.com) and her possee. Unfortunately, I somehow failed to realize that they were biking an entirely different route than the one I had planned to bike. This proves to me that you truly do only hear what you want to hear, sometimes.

I think though, that I'm back to the plan of going solo, and hoping to hook up with other cyclists enroute. I'll probably post an ad on adventure cycling's website, though it's a bit late in the game. You never know.

Anyhow, so, this weekend, I'm having a rummage sale. Next weekend, my roommates are throwing me a going away brunch... and I have vague plans of leaving the following Tuesday.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading! Bob, thanks for the encouragement! Karli, thanks for catching my mistake!

The Longest Post Ever/The Last Leg of my Wisconsin Trip

I started to post last night, but I was in a hurry, and it was disjointed, and I was starting to use bullet points... Okay, so this may be disjointed, but I will try to avoid bullet-pointing.
I spent... four nights in Appleton. I hung out at the co-op (RIP, Hulbert House), where I saw old friends and met new people, and--I'm so bad with names, but will remember a face forever--finally attached Clare's face to her name... I got to sit in on the beginning of a house meeting, and personal share was just as I remembered it. Ah, nostalgia.
I hung out at the Greenfire house with Christine, Allyn, and Nissa/Djordj my first night in town, and babbled about my life post-Lawrence over cheap wine and a hookah.
My second night in town, after a wintery-spring day, Keith and I made hot chocolate and stayed up chatting, after which I took a hot bath before bed (yay! hot baths before bed!)
Monday, we rode out to this awesome bike shop in Kaukana, The Recyclist, and found out that they had a nifty machine that could measure me and tell me exactly how my bike should be adjusted, but they couldn't do it until Tuesday. I had been planning on leaving Tuesday morning, but I decided that I could stay another day, and realized that I was relieved to have an excuse to stay a bit longer.
Later that day, after dinner at the co-op, Emily T, Keith, Julia, Leslie, and I formed the "Gelato Possee"--aka, "The Gelassee"... and went for gelato at Brewed Awakenings. Joy met up with us after they closed, and Emily and Leslie went off to be students, and Keith, Joy, and I went back to the co-op, where we schemed about making a movie about... how the new fire chief in town is laying down the law, and consequently, no big parties... but the end scene has a crazy big party. Ha, ha, ha, guess you had to be there... In the midst of this discussion, I taught myself how to play the saw. And subsequently mastered the saw. I mean, really, can you master the saw? I feel like I made some pretty neat noises come out of it, though I couldn't have planned any of them...
Anyhow, post-that, we went to The Nickel to help Mike and Christine celebrate their birthday. Happy birthday, Mike and Christine!
Then, Keith and I left and watched The Triplets of Belleville, which, if you haven't seen it, you definitely should, but, expect the theme-song to get crazy-mad-stuck in your head...
Tuesday, back to the Recyclist. Was it worth it? Meh. Hard to say. The only thing they really adjusted was my seat, which I subsequently re-adjusted, back to where it had been. But, they gave me some things to think about, and I'm still troubleshooting how to make my hands and wrists as comfortable as possible.
Tuesday evening, I got to see Jamie! Keith and I had dinner at Jamie & Justin's place, and I got to see some of Jamie's recent-ish photography, and visit for a while. She even was kind enough to take us out to Woodman's, where I stocked up on bananas and clif and luna bars. Side note--Clif and Luna bars are made by the same people, and for biking, I've decided I prefer Clif bars, because they have twice the carbs. End side note.
Wednesday, after not enough sleep, Keith and I headed out of Appleton. He was planning on biking with me for an hour or two, then heading back. For whatever reason, he decided that Chilton would be a good place to part ways. We left Appleton around 8:30a.m. We didn't part ways until 4:30p.m. Granted, we stopped for somewhat extended periods of time a couple times, but largely, the headwinds were awful. Which leads me to another point of consideration/troubleshooting. The trailer that I'm pulling is designed to pull a kid or two. It loads up with equipment easily enough; the trouble is that it's creating way more wind-resistance than necessary. So, I might need to find a new trailer... Also, Wednesday, I was feeling very woeful, and thinking things along the lines of, "Maybe I should just hitchhick/craigslist/ride the rails out east." Luckily, I'm not there any more; I just wanted to let you know that I was there.
Thursday, I headed south a bit, then decided to take a bike path due-east to Sheboygan--I was so sick of dealing with southerly headwinds. It was a very pleasant ride, and a very short day in the saddle. I knew I was going to camp at Kohler-Andrae State Park, a couple miles south of Sheboygan, so I decided to just chill out for a while. A jogger gave me the name of a local coffee/sandwich shop, The Weather Center, but not the most clear directions. Luckily, I happened upon Sheryl and Sue, who not only rode with me to the coffeeshop, but stayed and had coffee with me while I had a sandwich. They were awesome! Sheryl just got her master's in Art Therapy, and was home in Sheboygan for a graduation party, and Sue teaches all kinds of dance. They're both travelers, and we have plans to go to India in 2009. Okay, they have plans, and I'm hoping they'll let me tag along.
Friday, I rode pretty much all day. The coolest thing I saw was a fox on the path ahead of me. I was like, "What is that? Is that a cat? Is it dead?" and then it got up, and was, very clearly, a young fox. Wowsa!
On my final stretch, I stopped at Rochambo, my favorite east-side coffeeshop, and Broad Vocabulary, Bay View's awesome feminist bookstore (I heart you, Broad Vocabulary!).
And then! I didn't crash, but went out with my friend Joe, and met a bunch of his friends, one of whom (Saad) had an awesome new bike, which I went outside to admire and pet. Yay bikes!

I feel like I've gone on and on without saying much that's important. I briefly mentioned my serious self-doubt... I remember at one point, saying out loud (yes, I talk to myself when I'm biking, and other times, don't you?), "C'mon buddy--self--You can do this. I have a great deal of faith in you," and immediately wondering if that was true.

Leaving Appleton

For various reasons, I decided to stay an extra day... so I'm hitting the road tomorrow morning. This time, I'm hoping to make it to Milwaukee in two days, rather than three. (eeeee!) Wish me luck.
Mom, happy birthday!

Appleton, WI

So, I left South Milwaukee Thursday morning, as planned. I hadn't really been training... I think I hadn't recently biked more than 15 miles in one day, if that. So, I was a little nervous. However, I made it about 50 miles that first day, and camped at a State Park along Lake Michigan. It was really cold along the lake, and I was exhausted, so I went to bed with the sun. I woke up a bit in the night, but otherwise, slept well enough, and woke up to the sun rising over Lake Michigan.

Friday, I biked about 45 miles to Manitowoc. I arrived there around 3:15p.m., and hung out in town while I waited for Johnie and Julie to return from Appleton. I got a new bike seat at the local bike shop (what I haven't yet mentioned was that the major pain in my ass from the first two days of biking was my not-so-awesome seat). I went to the local libarary and started reading The Red Tent by Anita Diamont, and when that closed, hung out at a coffeeshop for an hour or so, journaling and playing solitaire.

When Julie and Johnie returned, I got to have a bath(!) and eat a delicious meal, and have good converstion, and generally feel more human again. For those of you who don't know, Johnie and Julie were my photography professors and mentors in college, and remain two of my favorite people. You can check out their work here. I crashed on an air mattress in their studio, and for the second day in a row, woke up before 7:00a.m. After a lovely breakfast, I left the studio, and headed west. I stopped a few places along the way out of town in search of banannas, and left Manitowoc proper around 9:00a.m. I was a little concerned with the soreness in my knees, and resolved to attempt to give them as much of a break as possible. However, this was difficult, because I was battling a sometimes fierce westerly wind. Around 11:00a.m., I somehow lost my route. Around 11:30a.m., I realized that I might have lost my route, and called J&J to consult their more detailed map. I headed off, pleased that the wind seemed to have changed direction, and rode on steadily for about 10-12 miles, zooming down hills with the wind at my back...
I'm sure you can see where this is going, and I suppose it's a good thing that I stopped when I did--to consult my map to see how much progress I had just made, after a slow morning of battling wind, whether going uphill or downhill. Of course, this is where I realized how much progress I had made in the wrong direction, having made the dangerous assumption that I knew which direction I was facing. Shadows at noon are subtle... maybe I should get a compass.
So, I looked with dread at the huge hill I had just happily sped down for about 30 seconds... and began the long trek back in the right direction.

So, between fierce wind and getting lost, what should have been my easiest day, milewise, turned into my longest, most exhausting day. I am glad though, that I had a better bike seat. :-)

I spent last night at the new co-op house, my precious old Hulbert house having been demolished this year to make room for a huge new student union... I'm glad I did my final photography project my senior year on the co-op. That house had so much character, and so many memories. But now I'm getting all nostalgic on you. It's hard though, to not have nostalgia for a place where you spent so many important years of your life.

It's lovely to be back for a visit, to not have to worry about papers that I need to write, or finals I need to study for. I intend to stay today and tomorrow, and leave Tuesday morning, though I'm not sure where I'll be heading. I'd rather not go back the way I came--the route was lovely, don't get me wrong, and I love biking along Lake Michigan--I just would rather make a loop that retrace my path. So, perhaps on to Madison. We shall see.

Leaving tomorrow morning

For now, that's all. I'll feel much more confident about tomorrow after it's over, hopefully. I feel like I'm always in a rush... I think it has something to do with the way I grew up? So I'm trying to get over that rushed feeling, and remind myself that I don't really have any time tables. However, I do want to make it a certain distance tomorrow, simply to reach camp, and I'd like to do that in daylight. So, I guess I do have a time table. Since it's nearly ten, and I'd still like to take a quick shower and eat something, I'll finish this up. Hopefully, I'll be posting from Manitowoc in a couple days...

Waiting Patiently...

I had hoped to leave for my mini-trip, up to Manitowoc and Appleton, and maybe on to Madison, today or tomorrow, but that doesn't seem too likely... My bike shorts and gloves have not yet arrived, and I think my bike still needs minor adjustments as well. And I think I may have to suck it up and buy some expensive (cycling) rain gear... Today, I had a lovely bike ride along Lake Michigan on my way to visit my cousin, Jodi, and her two babes. It was a bit chilly and misty--in my opinion, perfect weather for a bike ride. However, on the way back, it was pouring, and I got soaked to the bone. And that was only for an hour's ride. Since I'd rather not let rain completely stop my progress, and I'd like to be comfortable while I ride... I think I need to be more prepared for rain, in general. My trailer leaks horribly, so all my gear got wet as well, since I was riding with it to get used to the weight. So I need to work on that as well. In a way, it's frustrating, and I just want to get on with it, but in a way, I suppose it's better that I work out the kinks now, rather than later.

Tomorrow, the weather is supposed to be better, so maybe I can just go for a nice long ride... without worrying about soaking and freezing and whatnot. We shall see. I've been sleeping outside in my tent. I think I'll be skipping that tonight.

Home for Mother's Day

It's yet to fully set in that I don't have to go back to work. Tomorrow, with the help of my dad, who has been awesome in getting me a tent, mattress pad, sleeping bag, and trailer, I'll hopefully add a bike to my equipment, and after some test riding about in this area, be ready to head north to Manitowoc and Appleton, and maybe on to Madison...
For those of you who don't know, my parents have a lot of stuff. It's fairly likely that I'll find a bike in their garage that would be suitable. If not, we'll figure something else out. They have a beautiful old Raleigh touring bike that would be perfect if the frame were just a wee bit smaller...
I'm also waiting for some biking clothing/gloves that I bought off ebay to arrive, so hopefully, they will before I'm ready to head out.
It's only 9pm, but I'm feeling awfully tired, so I think I'll go to bed soon.

Intentionally Unemployed

I feel like it's the last day of school... but even better. It's odd, this is the first time in my post-college life that I've been unemployed for an indeterminate amount of time, and I'm not in any hurry to get a job. It's so exciting! I still have one pay check coming, and I know I have to be as frugal as I can, to stretch my funds as long as I can, but... I don't have to go to work on Monday! I don't have to work for... who knows how long?

I'm so excited! The world is my oyster/The road is my home... I'm setting off on a crazy adventure, and this is where the possibilities emerge... I can't wait to post from an internet cafe someplace else. Til then... be well.

Origins of a trip

So, I wanted to see more of this country. In college, I studied abroad twice--in India for five months, in London for three. However, outside of that, I've barely been outside the Midwest, save brief trips.
An extended road trip was definitely in order. However, I don't have a car, nor do I particularly want one. I'm all about cycling and public transit. Since I'm also all about independence, and doing things at my own speed, a bike trip it was.
When I mentioned this idea to friends, family, and coworkers, reactions ranged from, "That's awesome. I wish I could do something like that," to, "But you're a girl. Don't you think it's unsafe to travel alone?"
It saddens me that because of my sex, I am less safe than a male might be, traveling alone. It frustrates me that our country in particular has bought into a culture of fear so thoroughly, perpetuated by the government, the media, and our selves. I recognize that bad things happen to good people, but I refuse to live my life based on the fear that bad things are going to happen to me.
Instead, I'll open my heart to the adventures that await, the good people that exist, and the beauty that is always there, if you look.


I have one week left at my job. After that, I'll be biking around Wisconsin a bit... and around June 1st, I'll be leaving Chicago. Wish me luck!