Quote of the day:  “The hardest part of an adventure is getting to the start point.” Mark Beaumont

I thought The Plunge came when I finally decided to do this trip and got approval from my wife. Or when I finished planning my route after months of winter hours staring at Google maps and ridewithgps. Or when I boxed my bike and drove it to the UPS office. Certainly I would feel The Plunge when I boarded the plane to Seattle.  Or when the taxi droppped me off at a strangers house who through Warm Showers had agreed to let me stay in their home for a day or two to begin my trek?  But no!  The Plunge is still hiding somewhere in the back of my mind waiting to ambush me. Or maybe I just have a hard time with reality.  

The reality is I am at a strangers home but my bike is in UPS limbo hopefully to be delivered tomorrow.  The taxi drive to the home of Colin and Flower was eye opening but not yet Plunge worthy. Though I had been to Seattle twice before (heck, we got married on Orcas Island when we eloped in ‘87) I did not remember the severity of the hills here.   My first thought was Day 1 would involve a lot of hike a bike. My second was that Colin must be a cycling beast as he had told me he rides to work every day!  

You would think The Plunge would have hit me by then. No!  I’m thick headed so I’m still waiting. I remember when it hit me two years ago on my trip from my Delmarva home to Minnesota for RAGBRAI. My sister had driven down to ride the first two days with me. Then my wife drove up to take us across the Bay Bridge to Annapolis where we spent the night. The Plunge hit me next morning when I set off alone with many miles ahead of me. It hit me again even harder when I ran out of water before my first camp site on the C&O and ended up filtering water from a lock on the canal knowing I was gonna die from drinking god knows what.  And being thick headed it hit me yet again the next morning when I packed up my camping gear and headed off to whatever I was about to encounter on Day 4 and beyond.   And just to be sure I got the message, it hit me again when I crossed into Illinois and my wife texted saying I was way too far to rescue now. 

“Yo, Tim, idiot! This is REAL!   YOU WANTED THIS!  Wake up and get with the program dude!”  

The Plunge comes like a wave washing over your brain when you finally realize (admit?) you’re in this thing for real. This is IT!  Do or die!  No turning back. You’ve got 4000 miles ahead of you to get back home to family.  I think it probably hits harder when riding solo.  At least with a partner or group you have someone to discuss those “up in the air” issues with that come at the start of this sort of adventure.   They will eventually get ironed out as the daily routine of the trip is established, but at first it can seem daunting.  Especially riding alone. 

I’m expecting The Plunge to hit me soon. And probably multiple times the first few days/weeks. And probably much harder than it did two years ago as I am now across the other side of a continent and suffering from jet lag. And WAY beyond my wife’s rescue. But hopefully my weak little brain will be distracted by the unbelievable scenery I expect to see and the interesting folks I hope to meet. After that this little bike trip should be a piece of cake!  Ha!  

Wish me luck!