Cashing America out in a week!

Crunch time has officially begun.

As my departure date approaches rapidly, I'm feeling more and more anxious, nervous, and apprehensive, yet I'm constantly reminding myself of the joy and peace that I found in the South Carolina ride.

In terms of preparation, I feel like I'm jumping off of a cliff with a duct-taped parachute, although my heart and mind are completely set on leaping regardless.

My cats, loves of my life, are going to a new home today, temporarily at least, I worked my last day at the job I've held for three years with the county, and I'm packing up everything I own, to be stored at a friend's house.

I've made necessary sacrifices and compromises in my life for this adventure, and I'm not holding any regrets in the matter, but each step towards this figurative ledge has me searching for affirmation in my purpose.

I've spoken to hundreds of people about the tour, and I've done my best to "promote" it, but instead of welcoming encouragement, I now feel like I put myself in a position of exploitation. I still can't believe I made business cards haha.

In terms of sponsorships, I haven't piqued any bike shop or business owner's interest, so I'm not expecting anymore than $200 and a sketchy bike for the trip, but that's fine, a huge point of this is self-sufficiency.

I've found that I thrive on the challenge of survival and the struggle of meager resources.

T-shirt presales have been awesome, I've had complete strangers order a shirt, and although I'm not making any money from them, the support itself has been incredibly encouraging. They should be printed by the end of the week, just in time for the Miami Critical Mass, and the Broward/Fort Lauderdale Critical Mass that I set up. The Sun-Sentinel is doing a story on the Mass, thanks to one of their bike-friendly writers, and I really look forward to the exposure (hopefully positive) that the South Florida bike community will receive from it. I'm pushing for a more positive outlook on Critical Mass, and one that doesn't involve tons of infuriated drivers and punk ass cyclists. I honestly want Critical Mass to be a profound opportunity to encourage cyclists to ride, ride more, enjoy riding, and involve others in riding.

Back to the tour; there are much more preparations to be made through this week, and although I'm about burnt out on entire thing, I cannot wait to see America for what it truly is.

I was thinking today, searching for some understanding and asking myself for more reasons as to why I'm doing this, and I think I nailed one:

I've never been west of Alabama in my entire life, and despite seeing images and movies and being aware of America's expanse, my mind is so locked in to a tiny perspective, in an ignorant state of awareness.

So here's the epiphany: I think that subconsciously, my brain is telling myself that this ride will materialize the Southern Tier. Haha, I think that by riding through personally uncharted territory, my mind is taking responsibility for the manifestation of Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Mexico, and even the Pacific Ocean. I know it sounds crazy, but maybe that's how the brain works (or at least mine).

So I'll accept that, yes, I will substantiate this Country.