Not. An. Ice. Cream. Guy.

Man, I have to think hard about where our relationship goes from here.

Sherbet?

Left is right or right is wrong and the sun is north in winter, I'm confused and need a bottle of that Minnesota wine.

I'm sorry to say it, but you've been in Europe too long. The right side of the road is the right side. So I'm right, right? On the other hand, Shakespeare said "there is no right or wrong, only thinking makes it so." And I think it was Huck Finn who said "there is no right or wrong, there's just stuff people do."

This is amazing to me, because it looks wrong. What are you doing biking on the wrong side of the road, is my first thought. How quickly we adapt.

It does sound huge. I can't understand how you can bicycle the entire town without seeing any of the other 239 Streets.

Funny story, and you did what I would have done with my younger brother, except he usually came along on those shopping trips with grandpa and got a box of his own. Your sister could have learned from my brother's example.

Rest assured, there WILL be a wine review somewhere along the way. Maybe more than one. Your comment provided all the "popular demand" I need to subject the Cycleblaze world to that kind of abuse. If anybody complains, I will refer them to you.

I'm glad to hear you like the idea of mini-tours, but keep in mind, the idea was The Feeshko's, not mine. Gotta give credit where credit is due.

I haven't given up on those longer odysses though. Maybe next year? For now, these mini-tours seem like the most prudent option.

Yeah, sometimes I feel like the "get off my lawn"-grouchy-old-man stereotype, except in my case it's "get away from my campsite." (I don't care who walks on my poorly maintained lawn.) But I'm going to work on my intolerance and judgementalism. Yes, I am.

Your message gives me a lot to think about, Led. I'm not sure why I try to avoid people while touring, but the reason definitely is not your intellectual superiority theory. I think it has more to do with the fact that I spent 34 years in the business world where being social was a requirement. Even in retirement I have to talk to people all the time. So I consider a bike tour to be my time alone with the wind, the sun, the animals, the landscape, the great outdoors.

Inevitably, there are people who don't know that about me and they try to engage me in conversation. When that happens, I assure you, I can be very friendly. I'm actually one of the friendliest people I know, even though I'm not particularly comfortable with small talk with strangers. I'm not comfortable with intellectual conversations with strangers either. That's probably why I appreciated the brevity of that "bike riding huh?"/"Yup" exchange.

Hi,
I think you’ve hit upon a perfect formula. I hope I can try it for myself one day.
Cheers,
Keith
P.S. you need to include a wine review. It’s not really complete without one.

Hi,
I remember when these came in a small box with a string handle. Mom would give me the box with the admonition that I share with my sister. I usually didn’t.
Cheers,
Keith

I like your idea of mini-tours. We think we may be going in that direction ourselves as we move into the trailering/short rides mode of travel. But we still want to do some touring, just not the 2-3 month odessys we used to ride.

I really am surprised that you don't like meeting people on the road as you're very friendly blogging. I'm always fascinated what makes other people 'tick'. Could you be an enigma Greg? Maybe it's the cold climate, Scandinavian heritage of Minnesota, not wanting to waste time with intellectual inferiors or prefer to have time for considered answers instead of instant banter back and forth. I chat to anyone although the Lovely Wife reckons I'm 'needy'. Anyway, sorry for the psychoanalysis, what ever works for you is fine.

Good luck with the plan to get more tolerant. Gets tougher all the time.