A big part of preparing for my upcoming trip has been involved in figuring out how to get 159 lbs of absolutely necessary crap onto the back of my bike without tipping the damn thing over backwards. Who knows if I can find a magnifying glass, a mirror, a portable chair and a copy of Che Guavara's book out in the wilderness?
I gave the bike to City Cycle Werks last week, looking to get the bike souped up for the big show. No word from Joe the mechanic for a week, so I dropped by the shop today. Back of the shop closed and empty. Front of the shop closed and empty. Not a soul in sight. Actually looks like the shop is closed permanently. Great way to start a motorcycle journey, have the shop it's in go belly up before mile one. Woo-hoo!
Fortunately, Joe's answering machine says he's closed up on Monday the 20th, and he'd return on Tuesday the 23rd. Not the best calendar reading I've ever seen, but I'm glad it seems like the bike is not lost or stolen. Just yet, anyway.
Estimated time of departure: Monday, September 27th. Except if H offers me a ticket to Giants/Padres on the 30th. Then I'm leaving on the 31st. Is there a 31st in September? I never memorized that knuckle/month recitation. Each time I do it there's 31 days in the wrong month.
Other preparations for my year-long journey include:
a. eating all the leftovers and castoffs in my refrigerator
b. moving to my girlfriend's house and eating all the leftovers and castoffs in her refrigerator. (As soon as I finish off that five-gallon jar of kimchee, I'm outtahere...)
