2018 Plan B – Introduction

2018 Plan B – Introduction

E Sharp

So this is 2018. And this is Plan B.

Normally, it is best to have organized a plan before trying to execute it.

However, 2017 was anything but normal, and that is how 2018 becomes Plan B.

I did have a very well-researched and organized Plan A in 2017. I was so sure that Plan A was THE plan, that I did not have a Plan B. I thought things would be very difficult and not a whole lot of fun for awhile, but I definitely did not think that Plan A was impossible.

So, had Plan A worked, I would be suffering in America right now, and freezing through winter instead of roasting through summer. I would be forging a new life in an effort to be reestablished before my parents start needing my help in the future.

Instead, Iā€™m back to my life in Australia, minus Nigel and minus a fair bit of money blown trying to execute Plan A.

But, I am happy and content and feeling very grateful for the life that I have in this country. After an entire year where I felt like I was watching my life happen to someone else, I finally feel like my head has reconnected to my life.

After such a big year last year, I am not doing anything big this year.

At all.

No big goals, no big risks, no big change. This year I am just going to go to work and ride my bike in my free time. And that is all.

I will ride a minimum of 4200 miles and 420 different roads. But the goals end there. I still hope to find many new adventures on the bike, and this journal will chronicle those rides.

Welcome to Plan B ā€“ an open book with blank pages and the ever-present burning desire to ride.

1b
The dream station – where we do all of the research to plan out rides. The big map gives us an overview of our part of the world and where we’ve ridden already (black lines trace completed routes). Once I get an idea from the big map, I go over to my extensive map box and start working out routes and water points with the topo maps. The computer is a very handy resource these days, too!
1c
I ensure I include this path in my daily rides – it’s a few kms of trees, floodplain and views of the river. Very refreshing. We’ll be knocking off our 2018 goal in small, daily chunks, in addition to weekend rides. Since I no longer have a 45-min drive each way to work every day, I can easily put in 12-20 miles after work. Before work? If you have to ask that, you don’t know me very well!

6 thoughts on “2018 Plan B – Introduction”

  • It sounds like you have kicked RRF in the bum and how good is it that you are planning stuff again. I was told this morning that the rain we are about to have signals the incoming Autumn and cooler weather. Hopefully you are experiencing similar and a change to better cycling days. On second thoughts, it’s a bit later in NSW isn’t it – I remember March being awfully hot from our days in Sydney.

    Say hello to the Guys. Tony

    Reply

    • Thanks, Tony. It’s still a long road back to feeling 100 percent, but we are on our way! Yes, we are supposed to get a week of highs of 30-32, so that will be welcome. We’ll still get days in the upper 30s all the way through mid-March. Our ‘autumn break’ is usually in April. Hope you get some great riding days in the wake of the front. Em

      Reply

    • Thanks, Mike! I hope so – it started a bit rough with the Ross River, but that means the only way is up, right?
      Em

      Reply

  • Love the comment on riding before work. Now that’s my Em! Enjoy the cooling weather, we are now deep in the throws of winter, but NO SNOW! It’s scary in CO. Hoping for a little water soon. But then you folks in Aus know this all too well….

    Reply

    • Ah yes, some things change a lot in 25 years. And some things never change. I shall be an old lady that sleeps in and skips breakfast šŸ™‚

      Reply

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