Epilogue

November, 2000
Bedford, New Hampshire

It's been nearly 3 months since the ride ended.  The wave in my hair, caused by the biking helmet, is gone.  The tan is fading.  My butt has recovered and I no longer use any salve on it when I ride.  And I still ride.  

I've logged a mere 600 miles (1000 km) since returning home.  The best were when I hooked up with Jules, once in Massachusetts and once here in New Hampshire.  I still look to my bicycle and the open road when I need to clear my head.

The summer changed me, as I expected it would.  Before leaving I'd realized that the weekends were no longer sufficient to recharge me for working the next five days.  Now I wonder aloud whether I can retire soon (now?) or at least reorganize my life to give me time to pursue other challenges.  Summers off would be a nice start. 

As you can tell from my story, I focused on two things this summer, speed and food.  I grew up thinking of myself as the "fat kid" in the family, the one who wasn't athletic.  Over the past 10 years I've discovered that I love endurance sports - marathons and long distance biking primarily (there's a triathlon in my future, perhaps).  I push, trying to find out how far and how fast I can go.  I'll never be a serious racer, but that's ok.  No day, no week is like any other.  Every day is a new challenge.

I love to eat.  I don't ever want to weigh what I did when I left high school, so I usually have to be careful.  This summer blasted all those limits.  Now that I'm back, I've cut down to 3 meals a day.  Second breakfasts and second lunches are no more.  At least until the next trip.

I went on this trip expecting to experience a somewhat pale version of the United States north of the border.  I discovered a beautiful and captivating country.  The landscape is majestic.  The people were friendly, fascinating and kind -- more than I ever expected.  If you haven't wandered through Canada, you should.

There's lots more that I could tell you, but this is enough.  Thanks for accompanying me on the journey

-Karl

  
Picture: Sparky, cleaning up the last few typos

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