6 days until departure

All things considered it was a regular friday morning.  8 more hours of work and I’d have earned my 48 hours of freedom for the week.  I lay in bed, wide awake, completely unable to gather the will to get moving.  For some reason I was incapable of getting my feet on the floor. My body refused to initiate my banal daily routine; start the coffee, shit, shower, brush my teeth, get dressed, drive to work, and then spend the entire day putting out trivial and insignificant fires all day long.  All while putting on the facade that I actually gave a damn. It was exhausting!  In the interest of full disclosure I must tell you that it had snowed 6 inches in the mountains overnight.  That being said what I was feeling on this particular morning was not Powder Flu, it was something new something that I’ve never felt before. I couldn’t will myself to go to work, something was wrong.

I decided to take a personal day to figure out what was going on.  Taking advantage of the fresh snow I spent the day thinking it over, deep contemplation, one run at a time. At the end of the day I had it all figured out, there was only one solution, I had to quit my job!

On the following Monday I sat down with my Boss and the HR manager and let them know that after 6 years I’d decided to move on.  “What are you going to do?” ” Did you get another job? ”

These were questions that I hadn’t really considered.  Questions that in my mind had no importance, yet.  I needed to clear my schedule, wipe the 50 hour work weeks off my calendar.  Only then would I find the capacity to think about what the next step should be. Quitting your job, turns out, is very easy to do.  Where I went wrong was agreeing to work for 7 more weeks before my final day. It was a long slow 7 weeks, but it gave me lots of time to think about the next steps.

Which brings us to today.  Lets talk about next steps.  I’ve decided on the next step and I must say it feels like it is coming faster than I expected.  In just 6 days I will be boarding a plane for Deadhorse, AK.  The plan is pretty straight forward.  I’ll be riding my bike from Deadhorse, AK to Bozeman, MT.  On paper the plan looks easy. When it comes to the reality I know that this is going to be an extremely difficult trip.  Especially because my training for this trip has consisted of sitting in a cubicle 50 hours a week, and drinking beer like it is water.

Ever since I announced my departure from work I’ve been scrambling to get all the necessary arrangements finalized for the trip.  Normally for a trip like this I’d spend months going over plans, gear, logistics, and training.  This time around I didn’t have that luxury. What I do have on my side is time!  I’ve intentionally planned very conservative mileage at the beginning of the trip, I can ease into longer more intense days once the lungs and legs are up to speed.

While ultimately I’m extremely nervous about the trip, I can’t wait to get it started.  The simplicity of waking up each day knowing that my only objective is to head south.  Doesn’t really matter how far I go, doesn’t matter how fast I go, just head south.  Boil water, eat, drink, stretch, pack, and head south.

If this appeals to you please join me for the ride, follow at bjornoutside.com 

Looking forward to your comments!