Friday, August 31, 2007

Dawson City, 6 and a half thousand kms north of L.A.


Hello Angels!!

I'm finally in Dawson City after twelve days on the road. Here I will rest a few days and gear up for the next leg up the Dempster Highway to Inuvik.

It's been a surprisingly smooth ride up here. I was telling Suzanne that it really does feel as though I've got angels flying me up here. Henk the Buell, at over 96,000kms is running better than ever and ever since the hiccup in Boulder Creek with a dead battery on day 2, I literally haven't encountered a problem of any sort.

The ride up the Alaska Highway is beautiful. Always existential because it just goes and goes and goes. The solitude and silence, coupled with the vastness you're riding through and into, create a perfect environment for potent meditation.

Every day I'm out there riding, whether it's in sunshine or rain, warmth or wintery cold, I think of Suzanne braving the elements every single day. It's given this trip a real sense of purpose and a reason to talk to people with an instant first topic of conversation.

When I tell people where I started and where I'm going, they're quite baffled. "What? All the way from L.A. on that?" Then when I bring up Suzanne's Angels, their faces soften ever so slightly and they offer such kind words of encouragement, both for me and the ride, and for Suzanne and her future.

One guy I stopped and chatted with in Dawson Creek said he's basically homeless at the moment as well, living out of the back of his van parked at WalMart; but his luck had recently changed. He told me to tell Suzanne that luck can change for the better and once you're out of that rut, you're really out!

On a personal note, I have never felt so grateful. Strangely, I'll be riding along in the cold rain and I'll be singing to myself "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day..." knowing that at some point, I'll come out from under a cold dark cloud and the sun will beam its warmth back down on me, dry off my gloves and boots, and change the world.

A very cool piece of news on the sponsorship front: Erik Buell, founder, chairman, chief technical officer of the Buell Motorcycle Company and designer extraordinaire of Henk the Buell, has personally made a pledge to Suzanne's Angels! How fabulous is that?!

No comments: