Were the final words from Super LaLa this morning as she left for school, and if I follow her advice they will not be her actual final words to me. Why was I receiving such a seemingly morbid farewell from such a super Lala?
I am leaving for 4 days on the Plateau Passage Route this morning, the culmination of a few weeks of planning and route recon. It’s going to be a little dangerous out there, and this is by proper definition my first real bikepacking trip. My experience up until now has been more “gravel packing” or long distance “road packing” as this was the the reality of bikepacking in my native midwest. Riding the outback trails of Nevada, Arizona, and Utah is a totally new world and basically like riding on the surface of Mars. Honestly, a lot of what I’ll be riding does resemble the surface of the Red Planet. Maybe I’ll meet Kuato? I wouldn’t mind a battle to the death with Michael Ironsides, though. Been waiting to fight him for decades.
We gathered around the kitchen table for a nice family breakfast of omelets, hash browns, and cinnamon rolls thanks to the tag team of LT and yours truly, and traded the usual jabs about the usual things like who’s always late in the morning or who did or didn’t do their chores the night before. It was a great scene that made me very thankful for where the glacier of life has dropped me. This incredible farewell breakfast was fit for any tour depart, and almost overkill from what I’m akin to for a little a four day excursion into the mountains.
This morning truly made me want to have fun and not die, and return in one piece to share the tales of my travels with the family over our planned taco dinner Monday night. You can’t beat bookending a bike ride with two great meals.
I just realized depart time has passed, so it’s time to GTFO. Have a great weekend, and I will try post some pictures during my ride sometime between having fun and not dying.
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