The next adventure

After the 2012 RAGBRAI.

Living it up, Bulgarian-style, circa 2012.

In the summer of 2012, while participating in the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI), I briefly met a couple of young guys who were biking across the U.S. I was intrigued. Could I do that?

To be clear, this wasn’t some fleeting impulse. I know people who watch a marathon and immediately start running. I know people who rush to the nearest jump school when a friend tries skydiving. That’s not me. I’ve watched dozens of running events. I’ve never had the faintest interest in running a marathon. My father, brother, and a few cousins have jumped out of airplanes. It’s not for me. But this biking thing has bitten me hard.

So I’ve been wondering for nearly four years, can I do this? We’re going to find out.

I’ve decided to celebrate my 55th year on Earth by biking across America. I initially told my beautiful wife of almost 30 years, Melody Gilbert, that I wanted to do this all by myself. As we discussed this further, we decided to make this a new adventure for both of us. I’m going to bike. Melody is going to drive an RV and we’re going to turn this into a film project.

We have a theme — a hook — that we think will resonate with more than a few friends and families. I’ll hold off on sharing that for now. Suffice to say, this will be a short-term — 2-3 month — project. But as we’ve shared with our students in Bulgaria, it’s got a natural story-telling hook — a beginning, middle and end. We don’t know how the story is going to turn out, but this is what you might call the “soft launch,” the beginning of this project.

Over the coming months, I’ll use this space to discuss the planning, training and challenges that will help shape this next endeavor.

For those of you who know us — or who have followed along on this blog — you know that we left our comfortable and wonderful life in Minnesota in 2011 to teach journalism (and Melody, documentary filmmaking) at the American University in Bulgaria. We spent four thrilling years in the Balkans. We made great friends. We taught incredible students from all over the world. We learned about these ancient and rich cultures. And we drank lots of beer, wine and rakia over long, relaxed meals. We laughed. We loved. We traveled. (Check out Melody’s videos and my stories on that site.) We shared our hearts and were rewarded with deep and lasting friendships that we’ll cherish forever.

But after four years (in May 2015), we made another move — to Chicago — to try U.S. big-city living. We’ve loved it so far. We’re still trying to get settled (which would include steady employment), but I don’t know how much longer I can sustain this cross-country bike ride idea. It feels like it’s now or never. So, it’s now (well, technically it’ll start sometime in June).

I’m not doing this as a fundraiser. I’m not doing this with a tour group. I’m going to map my own ride, I’m going to keep my own pace. Melody will help tell that story with video and I’m going to keep writing about it here. We’re not entirely sure what the end result will be. All we know for sure is that in the inimitable words of Izzy Mandelbaum, “It’s go time.”

Have bike, will travel.

The home and life we left in 2011. No. Looking. Back.

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