Shawns Pre-Trip Thoughts.

"What in the world am I thinking!" Yeah that thought has definitely been going through my head a couple times throughout the past couple weeks of fully loaded riding. My legs scream at me already when I get into a stiff head wind, and that's in flat Delaware. How am I going to survive the Rockies?

But then I start to think about 3 months of no schedule, no tired days due to lack of sleep, no running from one event to another, no worry over the rise in gas prices. 3 months of being outdoors. 3 months of reading and thinking. 3 months of conquering that mountain pass that I had thought was impossible that morning. Hours of just me, my thoughts, my bike and beautiful scenery. Hours of discussions with my friends. Hundreds of conversations with strangers. Countless obstacles overcame, and countless memories made.

Will it be a rough summer? At times no doubt. I imagine there will be nights when I simply want to quit and go home. After 3 days of steady rain; days where everything possible that could go wrong, does, I'll wonder why I decided to attempt to this. But there is no doubt that I will look back on this summer as one of the greatest ever. I'm not typically the most adventerous person, so I'm looking forward to pushing myself to places and situations that I normally wouldn't feel comfortable in. I'm looking forward to becoming more comfortable striking up conversations with people that I've never met before. I'm looking forward to being stretched both physically and emotionally.

It's going to be a great summer!