Well, Merry Christmas, all! I finished posting The Empire Strikes Back giving you a taste of our 2024 fall tour traversing the Empire Trail in New York State. While I'm posting more on YouTube than I am journaling these days, I did have this idea about a crossover with Star Wars and the name of the trail. Then I thought I could tie-in each day with a name of a Star Wars movie that captured some aspect of the title, and than led to using quotes from each of the movies into the days' daily adventure. It worked on some levels I guess.

And speaking of YouTube, the videos of the trip are posted below if you wanted to kick back and waste, er, spend, the time watching them. But before I just throw you to the couch with your popcorn, a few thoughts on the most recent journal and my future endeavors.

Forever Bike?

There was a post on the CB forums about a forever bike. I've vacillated in the last few years between my Niner RLT drop-bar, and a flat-bar configuration. I converted the Niner into a flat-bar bike and took it on my Great Lakes to DC tour. I still missed my drop-bar configuration with bikepacking bags and seat-post bags, so I purchased my Specialized Diverge in Nov 2023 and used that on my Cincy-to-DC tour in summer 2024. Both times I had panniers on the back and they both worked well. I may be getting into some geometry-speak here, but converting the Niner to a flat-bar with a shorted road-bike wheelbase, it was snappy from a handling perspective but not as stable as a fully-build flat-bar bike. I bought a Specialized Sirrus X in Nov 2024, fully-built with longer wheelbase and I figured since it was built as a fitness bike would be more on the "comfy" side than "aggressive" side. 

But after riding it for a little less than 100 miles I found I really liked my Specialized Diverge. My guess is I'm far more accustomed to a road-bike specific geometry and my body just slips into that position for the long haul. I've tried out (and spent money on...) multiple combinations of seats, bikes, bars, and pedals, and have come almost full circle back to clip-in pedals, drop bars, Brooks B-17 saddle, and road-bike geometry. And, I think I'm back to going with panniers over bikepacking bags, at least for the foreseeable near-future tours.

Where can you see me next?

When I retired earlier this year I left the door open with my former CIO short-term consulting would be an option. Since I would be sitting indoors Dec-Feb I figured picking up some consulting income would be a good option. And, it helps me to pay for my healthcare (and all those bikes and bike parts I've been collecting on my journey of exploration). 

March, I'm planning on heading to Florida to do the Coast to Coast trail. But to get there I'm going to cross from coast to coast just to get to the other coast. I'm calling it the "Coast 2 Coast 2 Coast". I'm taking the Specialized Diverge and rear panniers. 

Sometime in Summer, Kath and I are going on the road for a month or so and we'll combine a 2-1/2 week tour on Nova Scotia with a road trip. We should cover rural backroads in the Canadian Province, hip urban areas in the capital, carriage roads in Bar Harbor, and Maine seaside villages. So, stay tuned for that. Of course, it'll probably hit YouTube first and I'll use stills from the video as images in the journal. 

Fall(ish) I have some other plans. I'd like to do a 2+ week adventure in someplace new. I'm thinking riding from the headwaters of the Mississippi to Chicago, and then linking up with Amtrak to take the train home. I'll be able to camp more during this route and then relax for two days as I journey by train back to Atlanta.

Another option is taking the train to NYC, and then riding to Minneapolis. That's a 2000+ mile adventure and I haven't booked overnight stays or planned the complete adventure. It takes me back to New York State to the Empire Trail, and I can ride the section from Yonkers - Albany which I skipped over during this tour. While the route takes me into Canada, and along Lake Erie as I make my way towards Michigan, I think I'd rather try out some new areas of the US next year.

In the following year, I'm thinking LEJOG (Land's End to John O' Groats). It's a classic route in the UK linking the two opposite ends of the country. So stay tuned and thanks for tuning in to my journal and YouTube channel!