Finishing the Journey
The day of departure approacheth. I'm riding the green line. I've already done the orange. I am finding it harder and harder to concentrate. Unlike all my previous trips I have no anxiety. Just excitement. All my jitters are excited anticipation. Maybe that'll hit later. I dunno. The trip starts just east of the magical 98th meridian (yellow line above). Roughly 80% of the US population lives east of this line. Interestingly, the ecological divide between the West and East was at the 100th meridian based on annual precipitation, but thanks to climate change it's been moving east and is now also the 98th meridian. Will that mean people will find life increasingly hard in the new west? I dunno. What is clear is that I'll be headed into more densely populated areas. And flatter areas. Some friends wonder what's the point. If you can have the Rockies, why bike the Loess Hills? Well, why not? I love the West, but I love the small towns, rivers, and lush landscapes ...