I had a hard time choosing a title for this journal. On the one hand, something like my current sub-title "A Long Bike Ride" would be okay for friends and family and people who are not especially in tune with bike touring. On the other hand, all of the journals here on CycleBlaze.com could be called "A Long Bike Ride." I wanted to choose something a little more descriptive that might encourage some of the regular website readers, especially fellow riders who might be in the same region, to take a look and perhaps communicate and share information. So I just chose a title that reflects where I'll be riding, but doesn't sound especially creative.

That's what I'm doing: I'm riding my bike in an over-all southerly direction, through what I would call Eastern Europe, although others might call it Central Europe. I've chosen to start in Stockholm for the simple reason that United Airlines flies there, and I'm using frequent flyer points for my air ticket. I looked at starting in Helsinki, and it would require an additional transfer on a different airline. In the interest of minimizing risks to my bike from airport handlers and to my pocketbook from baggage fees, I decided to start in Stockholm. That still requires two transfers, both within the US, so I'll do the best job I can packing and protecting the bike, and keep my fingers crossed!

Update 6/18/2015

While I'm sitting on this journal in it's pre-publication state, a thread popped up in the CrazyGuy Forums about Uninformative Journal Titles. There is some debate in the thread about about whether people are enticed into reading a journal from the information contained in the title or from the creativity. I've been reading journals that I know, from the title, involve tours through Europe and specifically the countries that I plan to visit. I hope that other tourers in the region are doing the same. So I'm choosing to leave my title as is. What I really need is a snazzy creative title that also tells where I'm going. I don't think that's going to happen, but I'm open to suggestions!