The only constant is change.
There have been times throughout this process, most of the time
actually, that I was ready to say “To hell with this prep and waiting bullshit,
I’m leaving tomorrow.” Reality quickly
intervenes and I’m reminded of the magnitude of this trip. Lets recap, shall we?
Total Trip time of 14 days.
The first seven days will consist of me riding from my driveway,
down to the southernmost tip of the Texas coastline and then all the way to the
southernmost tip of Florida (Key West) using only coastal roads.
The second seven days involves a family trip to Disney World
and leisurely drive across the south to get back home.
There is also a quick pretrip drive from Houston to Miami to
drop off the truck for the family trip.
This will take place the week before I leave for South Padre Island (southernmost(ish)
tip of Texas).
This is not something you put together overnight. Like any big endeavor, you break into smaller
pieces, schedule it all out and knock out the challenges one by one. It doesn’t matter whether you’re going to Key
West or the friggin’ moon, this is the way you do it.
I’ve been at it for about 7 months now. Gathering and testing
the gear, making the modifications to the bike, researching lodgings for the ride
and the family trip. All the individual,
little pieces.
Last month I did a quick overnight camping ride to practice
some techniques. A
good bit of the ride was along a coastal stretch of highway. Every two minutes or so, the fun part of my
brain would say “WE’RE GOIN TO FLORIDA”.
Then it would demand that I turn the goddamn bike back to the east and
ride until New Orleans. After all, I had
all the gear on the bike. I could have
logistically done it. That’s when I knew
that I would never make it to next fall.
Thus, in a discussion with J later that week, the trip moved
from September to April. I bumped this
trip up 4 months. In all the projects I’ve
managed and worked on, I have never seen, nor heard of a project that retained
the original scope, yet shaved 40% off of the schedule.
My cousin is in the 82nd airborne (US Army). Within a couple of years of enlisting, he
finished medic training, was promoted multiple times and made it into the 82nd. When I asked him how he accomplished all of
that so quickly, he shrugged and said “We have a saying, shit happens when you’re
motivated”. It does, It has.
Still, while riding in the sunshine with water on both sides
of the road, you don’t think about the prep work. You forget the hours of planning, the endless
wrenchwork and all the research. From
the top of the mountain you don’t think about the climb, you think about the
view.
As usual, my wife cleared my vision a bit. “This is the biggest thing you’ve ever
planned and I’ve never known anyone else that took on something like this.” It was both a nice thing for her to say and
something I really needed to hear. The
message I took away is, don’t take this lightly just because the planning has
gone so well, so far. Give yourself
credit and don’t underestimate this trip or it will kick your ass, especially
with the schedule change.
She also seemed genuinely excited about the trip. Seeing it laid out, day by day on the
computer screen made it real. She began
to see the enormity of the logistics and how everything was fitting
together. Ironically, she is behind most
of the refinements to the schedule. But
the point is, seeing it through her eyes made it new for me again.
So much has changed.
Remember when I wanted to book passage back to Houston on a
freighter? (I still want to do that
someday) Yet, almost all the change has
been for the better. We have had some
unpleasant surprises but everyone is healthy and we’re still doing pretty good.
Don’t get me wrong, this trip is still risky. Bad shit can happen quick on a bike. Bad shit can happen on a camping trip, or the
highway or at a rest stop. Forgetting
the big stuff, there will be little problems along the way. Little problems can add up and become
big. Mechanical problems can force delays. An accident or injury changes things dramatically.
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