Ephemerica

OK, my assignment for my first post has been to complete the why and how portion of the  background. I guess how is the easier question–by bicycle. At least as much of it as we can, minus the occasional boat or bus ride. Right now my plan is to ride my trusty Sherpa, the “mountain bike” (well, back then it was before all the suspension stuff really took off) I bought before I came to grad school that I have used to commute for almost 10 years now. I’ve replaced just about everything on it, except for the deraileurs, shifters and seat…we’ll have to see if anything else will need replacing before the trip. I’ll definitely need better wheels–my current ones have come out of true and have been irreparably bent as a result. They are OK for commuting, but to go on a year trip on less-than-solid roads…not so much. As for Cindy, she commutes these days on a POS bike from Giant. She will have to get something that is a little better quality. Or at least we’d have to replace the drivetrain and shifters on her bike. But I’m not even sure how fond she is of the frame.

As for why, why not I say! Personally, I’ve been interested in traveling through Latin America since I got suckered by the Peace Corps and didn’t get my assignment there (I know, the PC isn’t a travel service…). Besides I feel like I should put all my years of junior high and high school Spanish to use. The timing is good too, with both of us soon to be unemployed, no home, no kids. We’ve seen lots of other bikers who have adopted themes to their journeys–environmental education, etc. We haven’t decided on a theme for our trip yet. Perhaps introducing as many invasive species from North America as possible along the way? Teaching American history to children using puppets? If you have any ideas, let us know.

Posted by Matthew on July 22nd, 2006 | Filed under: Pre-trip Planning