Writing up my adventures

[Dan]

I finally have gotten around to writing up a little AAR on the shit that I was up to last year. I have put the first part up on Blogger, mainly because it's free and simple. If anyone can offer a better format for this kind of thing I would appreciate it. I don't like the narrow margins of Blogger, and it's not really a blog anyways.

http://cyclingnorthamerica.blogspot.com/

I'd be happy to get any feedback on which parts are boring, what's interesting, whether or not the whole thing is worth reading.

It Started with a Little Lie

In March of 2008, I received an iron ring, the mark of a Canadian engineer and one of the last milestone before being handed a diploma and entering reality. It also marked the beginning of a deluge of questions from friends, family, and even total strangers: What are your plans for life? What's next? Do you have a job lined up?

It started as a casual lie on a ski lift at Whistler. I like cycling, so I said "I'm planning a bicycle trip." I wasn't, but soon it became my standard answer when asked what I would do after graduation. The more that people asked, the more my story grew. I learned that what I was planning already had a name, it was called bicycle touring. I would tour by myself along the Pacific Coast from Vancouver to San Diego, carrying everything with me and camping along the way or so I told everyone. Somewhere in May, I realized that I would have to follow through on my words. I didn't have any real plans anyways...

 

[Zephos]

This is incredible man, I can only wish to do something like this myself one day. Kudos to you.

 

[Warped]

I would do the same but just try to avoid Los Angeles as much as possible, my friend lives near there and she says its not so safe

 

[kineaesth]

That's excellent, man. Really well written. It sounds awesome. Nice pictures too. Keep updating it!

 

[Dodo]

Very cool that youre doing this, keep it up and good luck :thumbs:

-dodo

 

[Dan]

Feel free to be negative. I am sure there are things I can improve on it.

 

[Dodo]

your face.
/jk : D

-dodo

 

[Barnz]

Got more urban photos?

 

[Seppo]

*is being negative, while feeling free*

 

[Dan]

If nobody wants to be negative, how about picking any particular parts that you like about it.

 

[Ren.182]

I'd like to hear more about your second longer trip. Or are you yet to do that? Sure you've already gone and done it though

Great read tbh. Would love to do something like this, bet its pretty scary being alone so much at night though D:

 

[MJ12]

If nobody wants to be negative,

You've always hated me, and this has made me cry many times.

You would probably hit me irl.

If I saw you on your bike you would not say "hi".

 

[Dodo]

Wow what a nice read!
I like your style, to the point and clear.
I'd like more pictures of the stuff you tell about, now its mostly random pictures of that part of the journey... more story related pictures please!
So this was only your practice run?

-dodo

 

[Dan]

Unfortunately I don't have photos of most of these events or people.

You've always hated me, and this has made me cry many times.

You would probably hit me irl.

If I saw you on your bike you would not say "hi".

Who are you? JK, you probably wouldn't see me wave because it would just be a flick of the hand as I sped by at mach 2.

 

[mchammer75040]

This is awesome, I plan on doing something along the same lines whenever I get done with some of my art education..hopefully by the beginning of next semester. These photos are also freakin awesome. Good luck man.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

I read this earlier today. I enjoyed reading it a lot. You have an interesting writing style. I suppose a part of that comes from the fact that you're recalling events. The only thing I spotted was an absolutely minor spelling mistake. Can you edit these blog posts?
Actually, now that I read it again, I can't spot it. Nevermind!


I wanted to do a similar thing this year (Only on the east coast) but I decided to move to South America instead. It was cheaper (Well, not exactly, but I'm working here) and more open ended.
However, I do hope to one day do what you've done. Perhaps I'll even try a similar route. I look forward to reading any more that you write.

 

[Rizzo]

Looks awesome dude.
But Blogging sucks.

 

[Vegeta897]

Bloging?

Blogging about absolutely nothing except for one's pathetic personal life sucks. This is not such a blog.

 

[Rizzo]

Yeah, Blogging sucks then. That's why I said I liked his. I read some a while ago. God i hate blogs.
I also edited my previous post for correctness.

 

[Sheepo]

It's a blog. And you think it's awesome. But you think blogging sucks. Error.

Awesome stuff Dan. Hope to do something as cool as this one day, le sigh.

 

[Rizzo]

I knew somehow Sheepo whould get here to correct me.
Anyway, Great stuff Dan.
Btw, I hate blogs in general. I think they suck. I also think Facebook sucks. No, I don't have an account. I tried it once. I deleted it. It's like one big blog.
OH GUYS LOOK AT MY STATUS! IM GONNA GO OUT IN 5 MINS! god damn it.

tl;dr **** you Sheepo.

 

[Sheepo]

ITT Rizzo has opinions on random things

 

[Vegeta897]

Blogging is merely a concept, a form of expression/documentation.

It's like saying websites suck because 4chan exists.

 

[Rizzo]

They do. I also hate the internet.

 

[Dan]

I read this earlier today. I enjoyed reading it a lot. You have an interesting writing style. I suppose a part of that comes from the fact that you're recalling events. The only thing I spotted was an absolutely minor spelling mistake. Can you edit these blog posts?
Actually, now that I read it again, I can't spot it. Nevermind!

I probably fixed it. I am still going back and making changes to whats written and adding more parts. I am planning to keep working on this until I have the whole thing written and edited, then maybe I will try to move it to a better format. I am probably less than halfway done. I've been trying to keep things concise, partly because that's the engineering style I've been drilled in, and partly because I have a lot of shit to write about.

It really isn't a blog at all, just a story. You may have noticed that everything is written in a single "post"

 

[jondy]

Fantastic! I ride a lot, as a commute and with friends, but never more than a century at a time - this has definitely inspired me to do some touring. I'm sure you had a wicked time doing it, congrats

 

[Dan]

I've made some more updates to it, and fixed a lot of what was written. There is still a lot of stories to write. I am getting kind of fed up with the Blogger format. What I really want is someone that will host a simple page of text and pictures.

 

[Solaris]

Amazing blog, really enjoyable and inspiring.