Interim – Introduction and Adventure 1

It’s the in-between time – the time between rides. It’s a year or less of work and trying to put away as much money into investments as possible. It’s time to rebuild the touring fund. It’s time to top up the emergency fund. It’s time to assess how to make the big leap into the unknown at the end of the job contract and leave all the comforts of office work behind. 

I used the Unscripted tour to see how my body could cope with physical stress; to see how well I had really recovered from the 4+ years of illness and how much abuse my guts could take before they rebelled. I learned what I needed to do and some things I need to work on/change. So now is the time to refine it and use the time in civilisation to really get my body in exceptional physical health before heading off again. 

And so I’m lumping all the rides and adventures I manage to undertake over the next 9-12 months in this Interim journal. It will chronicle whatever I manage to do in the meantime, while I’m putting away the cash. 

Really this interim period is a bit like how I see the disconnects in my life:

**There is a disconnect between my personal and professional lives.
**And there is a disconnect between my old American life and my Australian life. 

 I ride the thin edges of these disconnects. On one side I see one form of me; on the other side I see another.

It’s an odd feeling. I get it all the time when I’m working – my professional life is so far removed from my personal life. I feel like I live two different lives. I am a different person in my professional life – a quiet, calm collaborator that’s easy to work with and always follows through. I’m conscientious, punctual, kind, very organised and I approach everything with a can-do attitude. I get things done. 

On the other hand, in my personal life, I”m not afraid of risk or uncertainty. I guess so many things have happened in my life that were out of my control that I, perhaps, don’t approach my personal life with the project mgmt skills I utilise in my professional work. These days I’m just super flexible and take things as they come. 

I don’t care much about career and don’t approach the future with the level of organisation and conscientiousness that I do when managing work for other people. I just map out the direction I think I want to go and then go for it. The four years of sickness has reinforced my perspective that you need to go do what your heart tells you to do NOW and not wait for some time in the future. Age and health will force your dreams into smaller and smaller boxes as you get older (I’ve seen this time and again in retired folks), so go do the things you really want to do now while your physical and cognitive health present no limitations. 

I also ride that disconnect on trips back to the US to visit family and friends. Again, I feel like I’m two different people. When I return to the US, there’s this creepy ‘salmon swimming home’ feeling – like I remember who I was in those places I visit and I remember what it was like to exist in those environments. But it’s been such a long time since I was the American ‘me’ that I don’t relate at all to the present America, and the culture shock is full and real. I always feel a tug from the past that claws me back in time from my present self whenever I visit.  So much has happened in the 22 years I’ve lived overseas that visiting old friends, family and places I once lived transports me to this in-between place that is neither here nor there. 

In the end, I’m not meant for domesticity, and I feel most at home when I have no home other than a tent. America has not felt like home for quite a long time. And in Australia, I’ve lived in Albury/NE VIC for 20 years but it really feels like it will always be a ‘home base’ but not really a home. 

So I’ve been riding the disconnect with the job contract I started in May. And I’ve been riding the other disconnect the past three weeks while visiting my parents and a few friends in Colorado.

I was fortunate to have dinner with my college boyfriend’s mom and uncle (and his partner)  on the day I arrived in Denver. I really enjoyed time with them – his mom is so interesting to talk to because she is thoroughly across current events, politics and world affairs and can talk about them from a perspective based on an extensive knowledge of world history. Thanks, Catherine, I’ll look at several conflicts with a different understanding now….

And Evan’s 77-year-old uncle is pure inspiration – still competing in mountain biking and nordic skiing and working two days a week (for ‘fun’ and contribution to society, not because he needs the money). He stays in top condition all while managing a rare kidney disease that was supposed to kill him a decade ago. His motto, “there’s nothing I can’t do – I just might be slower and need to manage the hydration differently”. He also says the secret to maintaining ability is: “if it seems hard, do more of it, those are the skills you are going to lose if you don’t keep it up”. Thanks, Ken, I’ll think of you when I need to push myself to get out there after a long day at work. 

I also had several weeks with my parents. We got in a couple short hikes, managed to do my dad’s favourite alpine walk, and explored Copper Mountain a little bit. (Next year I think I might spend a bit of time there so I can get in some hiking and biking before heading down to see my parents).

We spent time finding places for the guys to float. I found a kayak that was absolutely perfect for Kermit for $1.25 at the cheap-o store. It was a fantastic low cost investment.

We tested it out a few times in gentle waters, and after adding a bit of ballast for stability, he was out there  tackling the Arkansas River.  

I purchased Verne a jet ski with Kermit’s kayak, but Verne didn’t fit, so I asked my dad if he could turn it into a race car. And so, with his fantastic engineering skills, my dad built Kermit a quarter midget sprint car. 

We tested it out at the skatepark as a proof of concept car trial. To ensure that Verne didn’t feel too left out, my dad attached a flat board to some dolly wheels and we strapped Verne to that. 

The guys had a fantastic time, but I think the person that enjoyed it the most was my dad. He looked so good up there on top of the ramps lining the guys up on the bowl edge and sending them down the near vertical drops.

Last year, when I stayed in Colorado for 10 weeks, I knew it was the right decision to spend that chunk of time with my parents then. I could foresee that future trips would see us only able to look at the mountains rather than spend time recreating within them. And yes, that was the right decision. We’re really already to that point – where my folks can’t do much hiking anymore. I hadn’t really expected that this soon, but it is what it is. At least they live somewhere beautiful, with good weather, so the great outdoors is there if they want to engage with it. 

I spent the last few days catching up with two of my uni friends – it’s hard to believe that we’ve been friends for 29 and 27 years, respectively. It was fantastic to see them and find out how life is treating them. We have all grown so much in that time, and they both have achieved so much in life. I do miss them and wish I could see them more often, but it’s that whole disconnect thing: my life is in Oz, and that temporary suspension of time when I visit the people and places from my past, can never last. After a bit, it’s always time to go home and back to the life I’ve built over the past 25 years. 

So the travel back home went scarily smooth. In fact, they had to delay our flight out of LAX so that we wouldn’t arrive before Sydney airport’s nightly noise curfew concluded. What is normally over 15 hours of flight time was only 13.30 hours because of a super huge blocking high in the Pacific.

It was unhealthily smoky in Sydney when we arrrived – a very Aussie welcome home. I got a shower in Sydney during my five-hour layover which is always sooo good after more than 24 hours of travel. Please don’t ever remodel out those public free showers in the international terminal!

That big high pressure system meant my flight to Albury arrived 15 minutes early (pretty impressive for a 65 minute flight). And in LAX, SYD and ABX… my backpack was already waiting for me on the baggage carousel when I walked up each time. Thanks, travel gods, I guess I’m still getting karma payback for that miserable 3 months of cold and rain last Oct-Dec 🙂

Now it’s back to spring and longer days. It’s also back to work which should get exponentially busier over the next six months. The summer is forecast to be hellishly hot and dry, so I’m not sure how much riding will get done. I may spend all my time trying to keep my friends’ lawn green and plants alive.

Should I do any fun rides over the next 9-12 months, I’ll stick them in this journal.  I’m already counting down the days to the end of the contract and pondering how I’m going to make a very big leap once the work contract concludes.