A zed

Leave date got pushed back to the 14th of August, gonna house sit for the two weeks for a friend. After that I've decided I'm gonna start making my way to Portland to make it to the Green Scare Anarchist Bookfair. It's about 2500 miles, and I'd have to do just about 50 miles a day in order to make it in time. But I think it's doable.

Fixed all the bike cargo problems yesterday everything feels sjper secure now. Just got back from doing 15 miles with my bike fully loaded. Took me about 2 hours with a ten minute break halfway through. Will probably take a break tomorrow and aim for 15 in the morning and at least 6 in the afternoon the day after. My minimum goal would be to do 33 miles comfortably in a day which I think looks very doable but I hope I can get to 40-50 miles per day comfortably.

Got my bike packed for the most part, just gotta pack clothes when its time to go. The only problem is the bag swings a bit in the position I currently have it in (mainly if I hit a bump it'll fall to the side and I have to fix it). So I'll have to figure out a better way to secure it. I took it out yesterday with about half a load, 15 miles which went pretty well, it even included a couple hills and it wasn't too bad. Today I only did 4 miles since I'm gonna need to make adjustments, it was mainly flat but the weight still didn't feel bad. I'm hoping once I'm confident the bags secure I can try the 15 mile route all packed up.

Heading to the local bike shop tomorrow, 75% chance I walk out with a bike. I've pretty much given up on a folded bike, I definitely think if I ever have the cash in the future and need a new bike, I'd go for a change, but I just need to get other shit as well as I can't be putting EVERYTHING into a bike. Hoping to get a 300-400 dollar decent aluminum bike, hopefully with a built in back rack. If they don't have one in store though I'll probably just get a similar online. I figure if I absolutely need to I could take the thing apart to hitch but I'm gonna be focusing on spending time going slow on the bike anyways. Now I just gotta focus on what my plans actually are once I leave!

Continued: While the Jambo seems cool (and I'm still throwing around the idea of at least throwing out feelers for if anyone would be passing through that'd give me a ride) I do think setting out on bike will be very fun. Assuming I'm biking I've got three main plans I'm torn between: 1: Biking up Lake Erie to Buffalo NY, probably check out the falls for a bit (though I won't stay if it's crowded) (maybe head into Canada though if the border is open). 2: Instead of biking all the way to Buffalo just bike to Erie then south to the Allegheny National Forest, or 3: Head south to the Ohio river and follow it South west.

Biked 15 miles this morning. Took me maybe 2 hours with a half hour break I think. I've been trying to practice biking in anticipation of leaving on bike in August. I'm housed up til then most likely. I started at about 3 miles the first two days, 6 the third and fourth day, and 12 miles the past two days. I hope to keep working up what I can do. It's definitely been getting easier but I've noticed my back bothered me a lot more today. Not sure if it's the extra distance or not, I've had back pain for a few years now and some days are just worse then others. The bike I'm currently using is also way too small for me, so it could be that. I haven't had a chance to try with gear yet. I'll probably do that once I've committed to getting a bike, and panniers and such to go with it, and hopefully working up to more miles first. I've also been thinking about where I'm trying to head once I leave.

First time on a train was pretty exciting. Found some other oogs at the hop out and had a fun time catching a ride together (though we got on the wrong train at first). Me and my crew are all the way down in cali now after a beautiful day time trip through the mountains, we're hanging in Roseville for a couple more days before making our way to the Bay. I think from there we're gonna make our way to Nevada, one of my friends is dead set on taking the "New Vegas Tour".

Fucked up my phone in Iowa but luckily got a replacement now from a friend! Me and my friends just made it to Seattle area after traveling with some rubber trampers for a while then getting stuck in Spokane for a week. We're gonna be chilling here for a while if anyone's tryingto hang out, we're in northern Everett area now and slowly moving south through Seattle to Tacoma as we get closer to leaving for Portland.

Weather cleared up, got a great night of sleep in the woods and got a pretty quick ride close to the Michigan border, things are going much better then being sleep deprived and caught in the rain!

Big sad I'm huddled under the gas station roof overhang hiding from the rain but I'm too cheap to admit defeat and get a umbrella. Probs gonna be here a while.