Why do this ride?

Hello Everyone

I showed the initial post to some friends and they suggested I post a photo of myself and give you my intention. I'll first show you a photo of my bike when I was touring in Iceland from June 8th to July 2nd, 2005. The bike is an Easy Racers Tour Easy which I bought in August, 2001.


It is still stable, responsive, and comfortable for long days in the saddle as it was back then. The only thing I'd love to have is a set of S&S couplers installed so I could at least break the bike down into half of its length. I'd possibly then not get charged the oversize bag size when flying somewhere with the bike.

I had a pedal car and rode a tricycle when I was a youngster then a 3-speed bicycle when I went to school in Christchurch, New Zealand. I'd love to own a velomobile (if I could afford one!)



For a number of years in my early thirties I commuted to work on a Healing 12-speed bike.

In 1991 I discovered my spiritual path and in 1994 I came to live in upstate NY in the foothills of the Catskill mountains to do voluntary work for my spiritual organization. I was back in a rural setting and there were plenty of quiet roads on which to go bicycling.


I bought an old Univega 10-speed and later found an old Trek 400 12-speed that I repaired. And during my rides I was again experiencing the feeling of freedom and traveling slow enough to pay attention to what was going on around me in nature and feeling connected to my environment.

During a week of bicycling with a friend in Vermont in the late 1990's we stopped at an outdoors store for some camping supplies. The store happened to be displaying a BikeE recumbent bicycle (no longer in production :( ) - so I rode it inside the store and I immediately found that I liked riding in this position.


In the late 1990's I bought a 1979 Trek 520 touring bike on the internet and I enjoyed several years of bicycling bliss touring from Wilmington, NC to South Fallsburg, NY, Auckland to Invercargill (New Zealand), the Big Island of Hawaii, climbing Haleakala on Maui, the island of Oahu, and in the Catskills, NY. There were a few nagging complaints I had on a conventional touring bike. My butt, shoulders, and my neck hurt a lot after 50 miles in the saddle.

After I purchased the recumbent bike in 2000 the pain went away! I've toured on the recumbent from Buffalo to South Fallsburg, NY along the Erie Canal and the Ring Road around Iceland.


My intention for the ride


Ride for 3 months in nature, live simply, contemplate my life up until now, and get clear about what I want to do in the foreseeable future. Right now I have many conflicting ideas floating around in my head. I get very tired with the computer work I do and so getting away from all that for 3 months will give me the opportunity to see everything in the "big picture". Being detached from it all will allow me to start to make some life decisions.


Thanks for taking the time to read this. My next instalment will be either from Seattle or Anacortes, WA in a few days time.