Saturday, March 29, 2008

wait...there´s more!

it´s a stark reality for us now...our trip is over. we are currently in the process of packing up our bikes to head back to buenos aires. last night we camped for the last time two km from the very end of the road in the national park.

as we were reminiscing about our trip we decided that what was going to be most difficult about giving up our bikes was that we are now just ordinary. it´s true. we look like every other tourist especially in long pants when you can´t see our bulging muscles! we no longer have a "story" and our days will once again become more predictable. and, sadly, no one will want to take their photos with us anymore (it´s true...today alone we had to stop to take photos with people...these people are wierd, stopping to take photos with three smelly cyclists...we sometimes think we could have paid for our passage had we charged people for the photos). we will also miss being called "crazy".

but, we have a few "behind the scenes" treats for all of you faithful blog readers...give us a few days to complete our "best of" list...which will include our best camp spots, best gear broken, best new recipie etc. etc. and if y´all are super patient in about a month i´ll have my first short story up on this very blog...mainly because it´s the only place i know it can be published!

but for right now, i think i owe a few thank you´s as laden with cheese as it might seem. i would humbly like to express my gratitude to the people of argentina and chile (except for one very grumpy man here in ushuaia) for all their warmth and hospitality and also for not giving us the wrong directions and being incredibly patient with our language skills or lack thereof. i would also like to thank these kind people of argentina and chile for accepting us with open arms even though we smelled bad a lot of the time, giving us places to stay, providing us with food, giving us showers and always smiling and waving to us on the road. as much as i am full of laughter as i write this, i am uncontrollably and quite simply appreciative and i believe it´s that appreciation that has turned the simplest piece of bread with a swathe of butter on it into a feast. and so it has been that after these last three months i am going to return home wealthier than when i first began.

i would also like to thank REI for providing us with a tent (REI cirque 3) or home for the last few months. we had doubts that the tent poles would make it through as they are currently bent into new shapes from the wind. our tent smells funky having housed three cyclists for three months but nonetheless it has been a faithful home. it has also been a true refuge from wind, rain and cold.

i would like to thank bob williams and rachel bannister for all of their support...especially in setting up this blog page. and a pre emptive thanks especially to rachel for sharing her last jubelale with me!

and, i would like to thank my friend, guy larson, for all the bike advice, parts, and countless hours of listening to me deliberate on how to build up my bike...she´s a classy number guy and she rides like a dream!

i am also thankful for all the people who looked at me in disbelief as though an unplanned trip was not possible. it gave me special courage to be able to ride on. everything is possible.

and of course, where would i be without my friends and family. their encouragement, amazement, tireless love, and joy for this journey has meant more than words can say.

and lastly, my travel companions: leah, cari and margo. i really don´t have adequate words to describe how incredibly thankful i am for your friendship and for sharing this section of road, this adventure.

enough cheese. but y´all have to know that we had such great people behind us the whole way. and, don´t forget to come back to this very blog page for our "best of" list.

until later and, thanks for reading...

jude.

3 comments:

mike said...

You guys are famous!! As an REI customer I wondered where you were. Until I red the Reg Guard today I did not know you were trekking. You even got a color picture!! If you come back to Eugene email me. Maybe we can work up a new set of wheels for my bike.
Take care and congrats

Jude. said...

velowhiz...

i can´t figure out how to grab your e mail address...you´re welcome to e mail me at judekirstein@hotmail.com

!!!! hey and thanks for reading...

Mimi said...

Hey Jude,
We just read about your grand adventure in the R-G. WOW, congratulations on it all. BTW, you have a wonderful way with words.
My husband and I can totally empathize with your feelings that you are now just "ordinary" after this 3 month trip. We felt the same way after hiking 2200 miles of the PCT. Our "15 minutes of fame" were over...but hey, at least we had them!
Oh, and the kindness of strangers! We also experienced that SO much with PCT "trail angels"...unforgetable....
from Mimi from your class at REI (mother of bike Karen..which you named...does that make you remember me? heehee)