Michael's Journal - Entry #1

Wednesday May 25

Wow. Everything aches. I feel so guilty for being here in someone else’s shed. Like, wow, what a free loader. Look at you and your bike and your stupid tent that you never opened before setting out on this trip. What a load of crapt! I spent 300 dollars on that tent and it doesn’t even come as a complete package! And I’m supposed to set it up where there’s no underbrush? Like, whoa, that sounds more like a pain than something that I would want to work with. No wonder it is so light – they didn’t include the stakes! Or the poles that hold the damn thing up!

I must sound like such a brat. Guess that’s why I’m on this trip – so I can learn to be more tolerant of stuff as it happens. It could have been a lot worse. I could be road pizza. Or sleeping in the brush with no tent.

Though, I don’t know. It just happened that the place that I chose was right near a lake! Tons of flies. I got so bitten up. Here is different, just a few miles did the trick I suppose. If I chose a spot here, I might have been able to handle the flies with a bit more grace and mcguivered something with some large sticks. That’s all you really need I suppose.

It sucks that I have such little tolerance for bugs. But, hey! You know that they get worse and worse. And that bug spray did nothing! Grr, just let it all out Bratty Michael.

I wonder how far I got. I’m going to say it was about 60 miles. Which is not bad considering I started midway through the day. Though, I must say, I was making very slow time towards the end. I hope I can maintain tomorrow – 6 hours of riding versus 12 hours of riding might bring my average down.

Such negativity! Ugh, there’s so much to celebrate! It’s hard though to shift that consciousness. Not hard, maybe just doesn’t feel natural. Sometimes, I think I go through all the bad stuff because I know that once I get all of that out of the way, then there’s nothing but good stuff to talk about. Like when I was a kid, I used to eat all the cereal pieces in lucky charms so that in the end, I could eat all the marshmallows.

Binging. Extremes. Describes my life up till now. Always testing boundaries. And here’s one.

I’m going to take a few pictures before I go to sleep. It might also be a good idea to say good night to my host family. A couple with kids. I am surprised they let me sleep in the shed. I’m surprised there was space in the shed. What a bonus. It’s going to be hot in here tonight a little noisy due to the chickens. But it’s worth it – I get to tell people I slept with baby chicks my first night touring. Babies are so beautiful.

It has been a day though! Woke up at around 7 and got ready by showering, washing clothing, finishing off most of my breakfast stuff. Tooled around a lot with my camera to try and upload Aaron’s bachelor party photos. He must have deleted some of them. Such a weird experience – I celebrate it and at the same time it really threw me off my game. I’m back to masterbating every day and I get those weird urges to watch porn. Earlier today, I think I watched it in my kitchen. God, anyone could have walked in on me whanking it. People could have seen me through the window. It’s hard not to think there’s something wrong with me, but, who knows, nothing ever lasts that’s based in right and wrong/binary thinking. There are reasons to do it and reasons not to. I hope I can remember what caused me to quit for such a long period in the first place.

Such luck though with the package! I was sure it wasn’t there when I walked into the post office, but then it was! As well as my brakes! Too bad I didn’t have time to put on the brakes. But man, did I look at that front rack and think “shit, I got the wrong rack.” I stuck with it though and realized how to put it together. Just gotta make some brake adjustments later – but that’s just fun. Bicycle maintenance. Can’t forget to check stuff tomorrow and pump up them tires. Got a long ride still ahead of me and I don’t want a flat happening. I should probably lube the chain up as well. Hopefully it doesn’t rain.

Left at 12:30 after eating some Mac and Cheese. Took some pictures on my porch. Returned some books. Hit the road. Felt great starting off. Got down to Susquehanna and felt like a boss. Remember ripping out the new York map in front of a café on the street. Felt so ghetto/hipster. Kept riding, lost in thoughts.

Thoughts. Felt like I was reflecting on so much. Going through my baggage. So much to go through. Does it ever end? Maybe when I say it does. I haven’t yet, I hope to soon. Maybe on my way across the country. Maybe tomorrow. Who knows.

Proscrastinating again. I can feel my feet going numb just by the shear weight of this laptop.

A couple of run-ins. Not supposed to bring your bike indoors. Lots of friendly people though. That gas station attendant who was watching my bike. The truck driver who asked “what kind of job do you have that you can do something like that.” “I don’t have a job” – LOL. The store owner in Thompson – “You don’t have to worry about your bike, these people here are nice.” Kind of reminds me of home – such carefree attitude and a mutual respect for property that doesn’t need to be mentioned, that just exists. The man who owned the junkyard, such ease in terms of offering me to stay a while and even use his facilities a bit. Such a nice man, soft spoken, just asked where I was going. The old woman who wouldn’t let me sleep at her house, but who was trying her best to help me out. Everyone is just trying their best.

Rilleyville. I believe that is the name of this village. I wish I had made it to Damascus – that would have been an epic stop on this trip.

Ok – yoga, tennis ball, pictures, talk to the lovely family who’s letting me stay in the shed and then sleep.

Oh, and brush my teeth I guess.