Memoirous

Tintern Abbey By Wordsworth A poem of memory, longing, nostalgia I am in a phase/place, where looking back, I am revisiting my trip Miss it, the days where I simply woke up and pedaled, all that was required of me was to keep going, see new things, follow the map/Google lady Survive the weather, the hills, ride, ride, ride inexorable rhythm, breath Wye Valley Once again do I behold—this is certainly a question Age, time, mortality And connect the landscape with the quiet of the sky Soft hum of the A(466) what has changed, absolutely quiet, uncrowded, empty parking lot But oft, in lonely rooms, and ‘mid the din Of towns and cities, I have owed to them In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart; And passing even into my purer mind, With tranquil restoration: Emptying an entire clip at the corner, a few days after returning I go back in my mind, in memory to those ruins That feeling Of aspect more su...

from my trip diary originally posted at Crazy Guy on a Bike http://tinyurl.com/h6mf2fu Goodbye Penzance Sunday September 25, 2016 8:30 train pulling out of station, for a 6 hour ride to London Paddington.Wow. Overwhelmed with what I've accomplished--and not just the cycling. The constant negotiating with my fears and anxieties. The battle over stopping or going on. Willpower vs physical strength. Against the odds. A few things I forgot to mention. Yesterday when pulling into the hostel who do I see but the guy who wouldn't share the last room at the guest house in Liskeard. That's what I said. He looked sheepish, said I was tired. I responded: So was I. Also about that cream tea. I had no idea what it was. I watch the Bake Off and suspected it was a sweet treat. On this trip there was no way I was going to take in the necessary calories. Sounds great, right? But in actuality it was a pain. At times it wasn't convenient to eat. No stopping...

from my trip diary originally posted at Crazy Guy on a Bike http://tinyurl.com/h6mf2fu Day 20, St. Day to Penzance to the world's end, 19.5 miles Saturday September 24, 2016, 20 miles (31 km) - Total so far: 1,099 miles (1,768 km) Last night I slipped into my little tent, into my cozy sleeping bag. Everything was charged, I had directions, and in order. My plan was to whip down to Penzance and then to my goal. Just one more thing: check weather. Oh boy. Winds, 25 - 35, with gusts up to 40. And rain. But how can this be? It's been so nice; it's a nice evening. About midnight the wind started. Loud and blustery. My tent was somewhat protected by hedges, so no whipping around. In the a.m. it looked punishing. I have standards of what makes a trip--and this wasn't it. Going headway into headwinds and getting knocked about, soaked. So this is what I did: I hung out at the toilets and when someone said,looking at my loaded bike, You look ...

from my trip diary originally posted at Crazy Guy on a Bike http://tinyurl.com/h6mf2fu Day 19, Liskeard to St. Day, 59 miles Friday September 23, 2016, 59 miles (95 km) - Total so far: 1,079 miles (1,737 km) I knew it wasn't going to be easy. In fact last night I was feeling panicky. In fact it wasn't that hard. Yes and no.First off navigational issues. I load the phone with my planned route. This is no small matter. Then I listen to Google lady reel me along. Except if I make a wrong turn she quietly begins to re-route. So unknowingly, after checking multiple times to be sure, I left Liskeard on the completely wrong road. Which meant I went down a steep hill I only had to push the bike back up. This amounted to one hour. All together I probably wasted 5 miles on wrong turns that turned into bike pushes. This was on top of everyday navigational and round about confusion. And, on top of just in general steep climbs. Plus, I noticed that wind ...

from my trip diary originally posted at Crazy Guy on a Bike http://tinyurl.com/h6mf2fu Day 18, Crediton to Liskeard in Cornwall, 56 miles Thursday September 22, 2016, 56 miles (90 km) - Total so far: 1,020 miles (1,642 km) Last night after Nick got home we were talking. I said how beautiful I thought the town was. Really a gem tucked into the hills of Devon. He said, This was supposed to have been Exeter. I'll have to figure out later what he meant. He also said the hills in Devon go up, then up, then up. He's from London, rather flat like Chicago and he was amazed. So today I tried to mentally prepare myself. I set the bar low, and I exceeded the number of miles by 20 of what I thought I might do. But it wasn't easy, and yet it was also very pleasant. For one thing, I started out on back roads, deep into hedgerows, the road subsides into the earth, you feel sometimes like you're in a cave of foliage. Even the trees grow over the roa...