August, 1976, near Boulogne, France on the way to ferry.
This sign said "STOP" in English, appropriate since I was about to return to London, after biking 4,000 miles in Ireland, UK, France.
This "selfie" (who knew it would start a trend?) was taken on a subminiature Minolta 16 camera, the kind you see in spy movies with the sliding case, borrowed from my Boston roommate Ralph. I only had 2 rolls of slide film and used it sparingly, but since my trip was almost over I figured I'd waste one trying to shoot the stop sign, bike and moi. Mostly got moi, as I discovered two months later when it was developed.
And so I will soon begin another trip revisiting my past, flying from Toronto to London in August and riding from Lands End (far southwest of England) to John O Groats (north east tip of Scotland), much of which I did during my 3 months of biking in Europe in 1976. Then the Orkneys (again), but this time some new things: to the Outer Hebrides, Skye, and Northern Ireland, before crossing back to England and over to Newcastle and taking the ferry to Amsterdam with 3 weeks in the Netherlands before flying back.
But first some extended traveling to see family and friends in the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, and then Ontario. I will be away a total of four months, flying to Spokane WA and biking to Seattle across the Cascades, then down to Portland, before taking the train to Chicago for a wedding. Then ride north into Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula and into Canada to Algonquin Provincial Park, Toronto and the flight to London. A mix of old and new places to bike. Should be fun.
This blog may well prove to be minimal, intermittent and idiosyncratic, so no promises about frequency or thoroughness. Sort of like that selfie above, perhaps just when I feel like it.
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