Phase One, Exeunt

Tonight I make the Big Leap, after six weeks crossing the United States and two days in Canada. Tomorrow I’ll wake up on the approach to Frankfurt, and the start of Phase Two.

I’ve spent the last week working my way up the East Coast, with lots of visits along the way (seeing friends along my route has been a big theme of the trip so far, and will hopefully continue while I’m in Europe).

I left my parents’ house last Monday and spent the afternoon and evening visiting friends in Chapel Hill / Carrboro. The next day I rode from Chapel Hill north through the Piedmont to Danville, then west towards the Appalachians. I rode into a brief but torrential rain squall as I approached a little town, where I saw a road sign proclaiming ‘STUART EXIT LEFT 1 MILE’. With directions like that, how could I refuse? So I stopped in Stuart (named after JEB Stuart, famed Confederate Army General during the Civil War) to dry off and caffeinate, then proceeded west along VA-8, a beautiful twisty-windy climb up into and through the mountains to Radford, VA, where I spent the night in the home of old friends from Seattle who I hadn’t seen in close to ten years.

The next day took me back across the mountains to the east – including a brief, lovely stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway – and into Maryland for the night. From there, a long heavy traffic push to NYC with an unfortunate detour into Philadelphia – and an additional hour or two of traffic – as a result of one missed turn.

I spent three nights in NYC, catching up with my friends there. I went to the theater (twice), ate wonderful food, geeked out on motorcycles and photography, and reconnected with folks I hadn’t seen in too long. All in all, a wonderful way to spend my last weekend in the US for a long time.

After a late start out of NYC on Sunday, I rode across northern NJ (where I saw a black bear along the side of the road!) and PA (through lots of the beautiful Susquehanna River valley), then north to Horseheads, NY for the night. Shortly after I settled in, I was lucky to witness one of the most impressive displays of lightning I’ve seen in years as a severe thunderstorm rolled through the region for an hour or so. The next morning I headed north along the west shore of Seneca Lake, one of the larger Finger Lakes, and then onto the highway for Toronto, where I dropped off my motorcycle at the airport for shipping. After being inseparable from my bike for the last six weeks, it feels very strange to be without it, despite it being for only a few days.

Once shipping was arranged, I cabbed into Toronto to catch up with another old friend I know through the Burning Man community, who I haven’t managed to see for three years despite several efforts along the way on both our parts. She’s taken me on a mostly food-focused walking tour of the extended area around where she lives, which has been delightful.

And so I find myself on the cusp of Phase Two. As I was riding towards Canada on Monday I felt for the first time a sense of nervousness, a trepidation about this grand crazy adventure I’ve laid out, as if somehow the first border crossing – or perhaps the act of delivering my bike for shipping – somehow made my plans more vital than they had been to that point. It didn’t last long, thankfully, but there was certainly a momentary glimpse. I don’t have time or need for trepidation at this point – I’m sure the time will come when it becomes an appropriate response, but today is not that day.