Europe/North Africa trip

Kim and I have set the bike trip route. Around March 31, we'll meet in Rabat, Morocco. From there it's a five-day ride to the Strait of Gibralter, which we'll ferry across. It then takes about 30 days -- or 1500 miles -- to cycle across Spain, France and northern Italy, ending in Venezia. From there it'll take another 24 days, or 1200 miles, to bike down the Baltic coast, through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegonvina, Montenegro and Albania, ending at the southern tip of mainland Greece. All in all, that's 59 or 60 days of cycling -- factoring for a margin of error, that's 75 days. Add another 45 days off our cycles to poke around in the towns and spend time on the beach, and -- voila! - we have our 120 day, 4 month bike trip from Morocco to Greece. Our grande finale may be a boat ride to Crete or even further south to Egypt....

I bought a touring bike for the trip this weekend and am starting to get used to sitting on a bike seat for prolonged periods.

My next order of business? Check airfare and make sure we can get entry visas for all these countries!

The starting line

The first question is always: where are you going? what are you doing?

That question kind of misses the point. The idea is to be open to anything. (Refer to "Life is Long" column to your right. It says it all.)

But since you ask (and since I'm notorious for hatching harebrained plots), here's a rough sketch of my idea:

summer 2007 -- Kick it in Boulder, Colorado. Bike a bunch. Get in killer shape. Work out visas, vaccinations, and other logistics. In August I'll visit friends across the U.S. -- Carrie in Glacier Nat'l Park; Caroline in Lake Tahoe.

fall 2007 - First Tibet. Three or four weeks? Then Nepal. Trek the Annapurna circuit?

winter 07/08 - Brazil is calling my name. I think I'll meet my college roommate Jessica in Sao Paolo, and together we'll sunbathe on the beach, flirt with cabana boys and practice Portugese. We'll stay November to March. It's summer in the southern hemisphere.

spring 2008 - My friend Kimberly and I plan to bike the Mediterranean border of Europe, starting in Rabat, Morocco, across southern Spain, France, Italy, and the Baltic coast, ending in Greece. Training starts mid-June when my job ends.