There is a lot to say about life on a bike, but I don't have the words for it...maybe a jumble of them, like:
Freedom, moving, exposure, LIFE, feeling, hearing, listening, soaring, purring, smelling, working, sounding, flying, gliding, having, giving, colors, wet, warm, cold, hot, hungry, full, sleepy, awake, excited, exhausted, astounded, disappointed, surprised, scared, content, smiling, crying, hurting, bouncing around in the world.
All of this we do no matter where we are, but moving around on a bicycle emphasizes all of the above. It's addicting to be exposed and not know what is next. The constant moving is part of my skin, to feel the air moving while sleeping in the tent or riding the bike. There is always more about living, on the go, on the bike, I feel like I am getting more of that life I am already living - strange feeling...
Anyways, Gurly shed a back tire back at the ferry landing in Bellingham. The noise that came out of that hub was just painful. The first friendly bike shop had the right (or almost the right) wheel for her (needed 36 spokes, but they only had 32) still good, much better than riding the broken up hub I've been riding since it was repacked back in Loja, Ecuador) That hub had lasted a long time. I had the wheel rebuild in Rio Gallegos when my back rim broke back in Chile and kept the hub. So, here it goes....
Then I was thinking I should have kept it, hung it on the wall. Shit, I went to the end of the world with that hub, that rim and now I just tossed it.....just let it go, let it go, let it be! I have picked up some old thing in some second hand store and wondered what the story is. Everything has it's story.
This is very different, riding the northern part of this continent, versus riding south through all those different cultures and countries. It's somewhat a "cush tour", in a way. I can't help but loving the frequent cafe stops...knowing I can get tea, chocolate, a burger, ham and eggs..basically anything I am used to and anything I like or think I need, I can buy, ask for it, I speak the language, I can find my way, even when I am lost. Staying in the comfort zone and the only challenge so far has been the weather up in Alaska. This is the bubble, the bubble I know.
