The Bike Is In Shape; I Am Not.

Preparing for a bicycle tour isn't exactly the stuff of cinema, so I've been resisting writing anything here for a few days. Trips to bike shops, outdoors stores, passport offices and consulates... Mentally and monetarily draining stuff.

Yesterday, though, was more exciting than usual because I was reunited with my bicycle, which looks beautiful after some time in the shop, with new brakes, tires, wheels, and a super-strong rear rack. For the sake of testing out the photo-upload feature of this blog, here are a few shots:

The new rack is a Surly and it is seriously heavy. Like Surly's bikes, the rack is pure steel, so I guess its weight shouldn't come as a surprise. Still, I'm wondering if I shouldn't have gone for a lighter option.

Anyway, everything was in such nice shape that I decided a test ride was in order:


Chicago isn't exactly mountainous, but there is one small hill that descends down to the beach about half a mile from my house. I headed in that direction and, no joke, was huffing and puffing before I even made it to the hill. Climbing the hill itself nearly put me into cardiac arrest. Seems that all those 1AM (and 3AM and 5AM) food runs actually did hurt the ol' fitness level. Oh well, tomorrow I'll start my pre-trip exercise plan and diet... Or next week.

Well that's about all there is to say for now! Departure in ten days. Yikes.

Before I sign off, I'll do something I promised myself I wouldn't do, because enough people already get bombarded by articles/essays/columns/books/blogs that I spam them with. But, if you're looking for something to read, I'll just say this: Tyler Cowen is a baller; Andrew Breitbart is not; and I really, really want to take a class from Jill Lepore. And if you enjoyed the New Yorker profile of Breitbart (or if you didn't), then you should really check out the Harvard Political Review's recent interview with him.

Finally, on a semi-related note, I'm looking for summer reading recommendations. Must be available in paperback. Let me know!

Procrastinating and Planning

Well, it's mid-way though exam period here in Boston, which means I've been working hard to avoid studying by spending hours on Facebook, watching every cover of Wagon Wheel ever posted on YouTube, and doing extensive research on local ice cream parlors. Without a doubt, though, the best way to procrastinate is by planning a cycling trip -- and whaddya know, I'm doing that too!

It's hard to believe, but in three weeks exactly, I'll land in Oslo with my beloved bicycle and head south. (Commercial Break: I am still looking for company on this trip! Tickets to Oslo are surprisingly inexpensive! Come along for the ride!) My very tentative plan is to follow the North Sea Cycle Route from Bergen, down the Norwegian Coast, east into Sweden, and across into Denmark. Once I hit Hamburg (and visit Sophie!), I'll get off the NSCR and head into Germany. At some point, I'd like to hop on the Via Claudia Augusta, which used to be a trade route for the Holy Roman Empire. These days, it's a cycling path, and word on the street is that it's breathtakingly beautiful. The Via Claudia Augusta goes all the way down to Venice, but I'd also like to spend at least a week cycling in Switzerland. If my legs are still pumping at this point (and that's a big if!) I'll have some decisions to make: Options would include a right turn toward Lisbon, a left turn toward Istanbul, or shooting for Rome. In any event, I need to be back in Boston by July 25th for a week of cycling in Vermont's Green Mountains.

So that's a rough sketch of my essentially non-existent plan. I expect my route to be dictated largely by the people I meet along the way, the density of the breweries in Germany, and the direction the wind is blowing. Oh, and I really like mountains, so I'll be looking for some of those.

A word about this blog: If you're here, you're probably either related to me (Hi Mom!) or you're a friend I've bullied into reading this. Either way, you're no doubt doubling my readership, and you know me well enough to know that I'm a completely mediocre writer. But I'm not letting that stop me! I'll use this space to write about what I see and do as I pedal my way across the European continent. I might touch on wonky bicycling stuff (like my new bomb-proof 36-spoke wheel! And my Brooks B17 saddle, henceforth known as "Brooksy"), but for the most part I'll try to keep things focused on the sights and sounds. So stick around, write some encouraging comments, and we'll see if I can actually get this blog up and running.