Well..... I've been home since early October. I'm long over do to be back on the road. There were a few reasons why I came home from out west, to escape the smoke from the wildfires, an upcoming eye doctor appointment and the need for heat.
My initial plan was to install a propane heating system, after much research and contemplation I choose to go with a Chinese Diesel Heater from Amazon. It took me a good month to finally drill the holes, run the wiring and mount the 5 liter diesel tank under my bed by the bikes. To my delight the heater works great. I can run it all day long and it just sips fuel keeping the van at 68 degrees when it is below freezing outside. Wonderful. The idea was to spend the winter cross country skiing in Colorado and maybe do the Birkie 50k race in Wisconsin in March But....
My three month eye appointment after my detached retina surgery lead to more appointments and a cataract surgery two days before Xmas. As I understood it, the new lens from cataract surgery was going to give me better sight, I'm still waiting. Now I'm waiting for a few more follow up appointments before I head to Florida to hopefully race some gravel races and ride the velodrome. Warm weather is going to be nice. I have kept up with my riding. I still ride mostly 6 days a week, about 200 miles. And everyday it seems to be cloudy and 39 degrees, even when the forecast calls for the 50's.
So tonight I watched the movie INTO THE WILD. I remember reading the Jon Krakauer book in 1996. It really hits home with how my travels were at the same time as Chris McCandless. The biggest difference is I was not running away from anything, I was exploring my world.
Happiness is only real when SHARED
