Wade Anderson
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Prelude to a Journey

 
 

 

10/27/2011
I sold my 1969 Mustang Mach 1 today and that reaffirmed my plans to leave for this bicycle trip through South America. I am 12 years older than my last ride and I remember some of the hardships endured on that one. So I am a little nervous about this whole prospect, I have not investigated anything about this proposed route of mine. I do not know anything about the mountain ranges or roads I'll be on. I know there are travelogues out there but I decided to avoid getting any idea in my mind of what it might look like. I want to just go and experience the unknown. There is still a lot to do, I need to get more gear. My tent is still the same one from 12 years ago! Time for a new one. I will see a friend in Canada tomorrow that I have not seen in 18 years. We had anthrolopology together at East Carolina University and it will be great to see her and her partner. While there she is going to help me choose some gear for my trip too. I am hoping to meet Gord on this trip too as well as meet Toni Childs who is in Victoria recording a new album and has a very unique approach to promoting her album.


1969 Mustang Mach 1 390 big block car, concours condition show car


loaded up and will soon belong to a collector in Austrailia


10/29/2011
Got into Vancouver last night and finally met my friend Sheska that I had not seen for 17.5 years. We stayed up until 12:30 talking and it was great to connect again. We spent most of today visiting about 5 different outdoor shops investigating gear.

Driving across the bridge into Vancouver


Sheska and I have a chat :)


testing a lightweight tent


10/30/2011
Today Sheska and I went and looked at some more gear, she bought an awesome camping knife and then we went to investigate the tech eqpt for my ride such as the latest in mp3 players and netbooks. We met Erika at a place where they honor the dead in a Latin tradition, it was very similar to the Zen Buddhist tradition I was once involved with called "feeding The Hungry Ghosts". Afterwards we went for lunch at a Mexican restaurant as they were helping to prepare me for the Latin culture I'm heading into.


an alter honoring the dead as well as making a political statement


Sheska having coconut water out of a real coconut


Live Latin music


mmmmmm breakfast


10/31/2011
I left Sheska's and Erika's place this morning, what a fantastic time. Looking forward to visiting again next year. I met Gord and his wife for lunch today. I initially met Gord on my bicycle trip in 1999 when he was playing with the Canadian band "The Falcons" at the Dawson City Music Festival. It was good to see him again after all these years. In a way he is a connection to the last bicycle ride a did so it was fitting for a visit as I prepare for my next journey. After lunch I headed for the ferry terminal for my trip to Victoria.


Gord and I with friends 12 years earlier


The road as I'm leaving Vancouver


View from the ferry headed to Victoria


11/01/2011
I met with Toni and her fiance Mick this morning for breakfast at a small quaint cafe. For the first time I got nervous talking about my trip, I do not understand it but I was really nervous. Toni was so kind and very encouraging as I am planning this vision quest of mine. She has such a beautiful soul and Mick is a lovely man too. The conversation consisted primarily of the soul work and my focus on moving further from being egocentric to soulcentric. Toni is finishing up her new album "Citizens Of The Planet" in Victoria so it was just my luck that I was in that region while she was there. She has set an intention to become a ‘sustainable’ independent recording artist who is able to release albums and tour globally without the need for record companies, concert promoters or booking agencies. In order to this she is appealing directly to her supporters. She made one song from her new album available for download now. With enough sales of that song, it will help her finish recording independently.

As I stated in the "about this ride section", I found inspiration in what Toni Childs is doing with Wrap The World In Beauty and while I am only able to do my part in a small way, it is artists like her who can spread a beautiful message in a big way. I think that is a wonderful gift, but no matter how big or small we all need to do our part.


support her efforts Buy ‘A Beautiful Life’ as a download

The ride on the ferry back was 3 hours. I have to respect all those I encounter and do not want to disrespect conversations told that were never intended to be made public. During this 3 hours I stepped into a world through stories that was totally foreign to me. This woman was a stock trader and shared some stories well worth writing about, but they are not my stories. She appeared independent, strong, yet very graceful, attractive, highly intelligent and extremely observant. While talking she would say "look out the window, there's a whale". She seemed to be acutely aware of all of the surroundings while being totally engaging in a conversation. I felt much more at ease on the ferry than I did earlier in the day. Listening to a lot of the stories helped me forget about my upcoming trip alone.


11/01/2011
I just bought my one way ticket to Bogota, Colombia today. I leave on the 17th and I'm nowhere close to being prepared yet. I have to finish up some house projects, get the landscaping guy started on the major renovation at the front of the house and finish buying the gear I need.


11/07/2011
I took my bicycle to REI and Shane helped me with a bent front derailleur, replaced the middle chainring which had a broken tooth on it, and we figured out how the old man maount rack went on the front of the bike. I just realized the small portable solar charger will not charge my small net book. So that is being returned to REI today. I have been considering the purchase of a small day pack for my trek to Machu Picchu but I think I will wait until I'm in the area and see what I need and can buy something there.


You can see the front derailleur is bent to the right in this pic

 


10/09/2011
My new panniers still have not arrived, I'm hoping they arrive tomorrow. I bought a small super light tripod which will be useful. weighs only 16 ozs and although has a overal height of 42", it collapses down to 14".

The other big news for today was the completion of my website redesign. This site was dedicated to my North America trip for the past 12 years and now it was divided into 2 sections and lots of cool graphics work done by www.jennicartoon.com

I bought a Big Agnes sleeping pad which is thicker than my old one and 1/3 the packed size and 1/3 the weight.


11/12/11
It was a little bit challenging today for me. Things have been going very smoothly and I've been enjoying my days preparing for the trip. Today I had to go through all my stuff and make sure it was going to fit on my bicycle, I also needed to try out my new stove to make sure I knew how to use it prior to taking off. Last trip I had a trailer with lots of great storage. Now I find my sleeping bag takes up one whole rear pannier and that will not work! There was a lot of sorting stuff out trying to figure out what will go where and how. I finally got it set up and looks like everything is going to work beautifully. Just a bit of fussin' for awhile, but got there in the end. I did discover that I'm still missing a few items such as those adjustable bungee cords, H2O tabs, and about 6 other miscelleaneous items.


all the stuff that has to go on the bicycle


putting on my new Shimano SPD A530 pedals, the allow for SPD cycling shoes with cleats on one side,
and is a standard flat pedal on the other side so I can wear any ole shoe or sandal on this side showing.

Since there are 2 different types of metals, steel threading into aluminum, that stuff has to be used or it will
seize up over time and then it's next to impossible to get off.


I11/13/2011
I got my bicycle loaded up and figured out where to put everything, here is a short video:


11/14/2011
Wow great things happened today, I was able to meet with a friend, Marci who graciously agreed to be videotaped with "the question". She also gave me a mission! Toni first told me about the Earths Kundalini and Marci also told me about it. Marci gave me some sacred healing water that has been infused with lots of healing love and light energy by a group of women for many years. Drops of this water will be placed along places in the Andes for healing and help the Earths Kundalini. This sacred water is filled with feminine heart energy to help balance the strong male energy that has done so much destruction to the planet.

Another bit of excitement is the perfect timing for Jade to be passing through my town just before I leave on my journey. Jade is a vision quest guide who helped guide me on my vision quest earlier this year. She has such a wonderful spirit and a beautiful soul that shines through. I was blessed to see her as she is a connection to my past, someone who helped form that bridge for me to be able to pass from my old life and become reborn into a new one. I had not seen her since that day I left the quest and the universe timed it just perfect for this encounter.

I also had great conversations with dear friends I love very much who are also connections to my past and I was overwhelmed with the feeling of being in love with so many people who love me.


With Jade at Cafe' Yumm

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
   
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