The Journey Begins

(from my first journal entry, May 10, 2009)

The journey begins! Whereas I am currently headed in the wrong direction, Stella remains in Ann Arbor, waiting to be shipped to the West Coast. I've only had her for about five weeks now, but I absolutely love every moment I get to be carried by her, with 100 psi in her Armadillo-cased tires. With twenty-seven gears to choose from, she and I can handle any hill--up or down.

One main reason I bought her, a Raleigh Sojourn, as opposed to a Specialized or other similar touring bike, is because Stella came with many required accessories for the same price. At the top of the list is the saddle--an authentic Brooks B-17 leather saddle. It was a bit hard at first, but it has already softened considerably after 300 miles of riding. Next on the list of included parts is matching front and rear fenders to keep the rainwater off the bike and me. As she is meant to be used for touring, Stella also came with a rack on the back for the purpose of carrying personal gear. My waterproof panniers, which attach to the rack, will undoubtedly be stuffed to capacity while riding. A small emergency hand-pump is attached to the frame, which boasts disc brakes and (now) clipless pedals.

More so than anything else, the clipless pedals, which require special shoes to operate, took some getting used to. At this point I am competely comfortable getting in and out of them, but it took several days or perhaps even a full week. In addition to the amazing handlebars, which resemble an antelope's horns, the crowning achievement of my bike is the bell. It came with Stella, amazingly enough, and is incredibly loud. Believe it or not, it has already come in handy quite frequently, and is certainly a great alternative to shouting at pedestrians or bikes ahead of me. The only message it gives is succinct and unmistakable: "Move out of my way--here I come!"

Having left Michigan for the last time in the foreseeable future around midnight last night, I suspect my train is nearing the Ohio/New York border. The mission at-hand is simple: to finish preparing for the Benefit Recital, one week from today, in order to raise the remaining $800 required to participate in the bike tour of the Pacific Coast. The recital should be great--my collaborators are two of my former private teachers: Enid Blount Press (clarinet) and Barbara Pickhardt (piano). I'll soon know whether I regret the repertoire I chose, mostly formal clarinet recital repertoire. Enid recommended I throw something lighter in there to appeal to the audience more, but the suggestion came too late to find or practice such a piece.

We're hoping to pack the church, both for the luncheon, where I will explain exactly why I'm doing what I'm doing, as well as for the recital. My mom has been extremely helpful in advertising the recital within the community--something that is hard to do from 500 miles away. The extent of the advertising I have done is to create a facebook event, for which there are only a couple of confirmed guests so far. That is not to say, however, that numbers are everything. Among the most honored of guests is my girlfriend Kathryn, who flies back to Charlotte from Paris on Wednesday and the following day to New York! Needless to say, I am very excited to see her again, not having seen her since early January in Europe.