Looking back to when I was six, I recall making a lap around the block on my new bike accompanied by my parents. When I was twelve, I remember riding halfway across town just to pass by the house of a girl I had a crush on. In seventh grade I got to ride to school all by myself, clumsy saxophone case in tow.
During high school biking didn’t seem to matter much, but when I went off to college I rediscovered the childhood thrill of riding a bicycle. Now, just like when I was a small boy, I have tried, incrementally, to see “how far from the house” I can get and still make it home safely.
Over the past ten years I’ve had the opportunity to see many wonderful places, ridden across several states in the pursuit of crossing my own continent, done self contained tours, traveled to several countries, biked in the jungles of Cost Rica and pedaled to base camp on Mt. Everest.
I guess all these rides and the idea of bicycling across the entire African continent are simply extensions of that childhood fascination with wanting to know how far I can go and what lies around the next corner, and in the pursuit of finding that, being amazed by all the wonderful little things I’ll see along the way.
The past ten years as a high school Art teacher have been wonderful, but I have resigned from my position, sold my house and most of its contents just for the opportunity to do this ride…and I can’t wait for the adventure, for the people I’ll meet, for the places we’ll see, and for the simplicity of life on a bike.
So…I’m curious…do you think the old sax will fit in the overhead bin on the flight to Cairo? Just a thought…