Here I am composing a blog post 7 hours before my 630am flight departs for London UK.
This trip is actually quite multifaceted. The Goals are:
- Photograph, Laura, Don and Little ‘E‘ (It’s because he’s gangster like that)
- Gain some real world insight into international unsupported cycle touring
- Focus on pushing my personal artistic aspirations to new levels, especially travel and Stranger Portraits.
In this so called “BIG” family photography project we have completed 6 shoots, ranging in places from Portland Oregon to The Lake of the Ozarks to good ol’ Downtown Kansas City. This 7th shoot is going to be a little more involved. Shoot number seven is my Cousin Laura, her husband Don and the new addition to the family Little E or Emmet. What makes this shoot a little more involved is primarily due to the logistics, the three of them live in Ely, UK. I am going to use varying combinations of Planes, trains and one very cool bicycle to reach them. The plane and train part are rather straight forward and combined will, by early Tuesday morning, have carry me all the way to Cambridge, UK, from there I will assemble my bike, (which is in pieces as the moment) and ride the last 18miles to Laura & Don’s door step.
This Surly touring bike will be the machine carrying me around England for the next 3 weeks. As you see above I have outfitted it with front and rear racks for carrying a whole lot of gear, fenders to keep me mud free and three water bottle cages for extended riding. The plan is to tour England living almost entirely off my bike for the next few weeks after leaving my cousins house.
The final facet of this trip is tied very closely to the cycling part. What I love about cycle touring is that it requires you to be vulnerable. Vulnerable to changes in weather, fatigue and cars. But the best part about that vulnerability is that it also makes you vulnerable to people, to interaction and experience. I guarantee that traveling by bike will increase the intensity and frequency of the kind of memories that stick with you (whether there’re good memories in another question!) But at this point in my life I relish the thought “experience” whether that word implies, pleasure, pain, adversity or ease.
Now to sleep for a few hours before heading out to the airport, my next update will be from Ely, UK!
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