I had a 3:30AM wake-up call which I didn't need because I was awake at 3AM but slept for four hours which is better than the usual two or three. Went down to breakfast at 4AM. Had to say good-bye to Charlie since he wasn't riding in the parade. Bummer and a half. He had an early flight home and no bike to ride anyway.

158 cycling days / 367 total trip days
10,798.9 mi / 17,379.1 km total cycling distance
68.35 mi / 109.99 km average distance per cycling day
11 century rides (100+ miles in one day)

Geographically, Hawaii is an awesome place. The volcanoes are huge and if it weren't for them, the islands wouldn't exist. We were told that the world's largest active and dormant volcanoes are both on the islands of Hawaii.

The riding is good there and the landscape is constantly changing, even though it is all volcanic. The green and blue waters and the beaches are beautiful and clean with lots of surfers taking advantage of the often huge waves coming in.

There's music a-plenty and the people are friendly. It's the only place you can buy beachfront property today and be inland tomorrow. Hawaii is known for its rain forests but unfortunately they are rapidly declining in size due to man's moving in and altering the climate.

It is a gorgeous place and there is something there for everyone.

Al! I hope you do keep us apprised of your re-entry into the real world. I would be really interested in how you reshape your eating habits, as I imagine that you had been eating 8,000+ calories in order to do all that biking. Now that you are back to your regular grind, how hard is it to go back to the more normal 2,000 calories?

--Monica Rivera, Sacramento, California, USA

I have always loved to eat and I took advantage of being able to eat lots this year so I anticipate it's being somewhat difficult to cut back as much as I should. However, once I get home, I will continue to walk a lot and will be shoveling lots of snow so I will keep active.

I do plan to buy NO MORE snacks and that should be pretty easy for me. And eating by myself will help, too, because I won't eat just because everyone else is.

I'll keep you informed on the re-entry journals.

Have you had to switch back and forth on sleeping bags for the warmer and colder weather? What type of pads have people been using for sleeping?

--Pat Minshall

I don't know of anyone who used more than one sleeping bag. Several of us had a silk liner for days when it was too hot to crawl in the bag. When it was cold, we just put on more layers of clothing.

My sleeping bag was rated down to 20 degrees, I think, and many times I had to sleep on top of it. With the wide range of temperatures, you simply must have layers.

Listed below are incidents of my first week at home. These are the bright spots.

OK, I get into Jackson Hole well after midnight the night of the 1st and Craig is there to meet me. Somehow my luggage got there before me so we just hopped in my truck and took off. Quite a shock, temperature wise. Only in the single digits and I only had layers of cool weather clothes on that I had been carrying all year.

I was a little bummed to see my bike box in shambles with biking clothes hanging out of the holes. I have never flown and had a bike box end up in that kind of shape before. So my first worry was whether anything had fallen out and got lost. I had packed my panniers, bike shoes, dirty bike clothes and a back pack around the bike thinking this would be extra padding. After checking the bike and doing inventory the next day, there was no damage and nothing lost. Yeah!

Soon after arriving at Craig's house, he hands me a key and I say,"What's that?" He replies, "House key, don't you remember?" OK, OK. I'm suffering from lack of sleep and only thinking about a nice warm bed.

The next day, I'm sorting pictures and explaining why I had a few shots of black holes or the floor. I always try to ask people who shoot for me to not wind it ahead but often I don't say it soon enough. I explained that I just couldn't control everything. His comment was "Boy, doesn't that sound like a statement of a control freak?" He was joking, of course, just teasing me back into the real world.

I went to a local art gallery, at Craig's suggestion, to buy some blank thank you cards in large quantity. I had a rather lengthy chat with the owner/artist, Keith Fay, and he asked lots of questions. He was impressed with my accomplishment and just kept saying "You did what the rest of us only talk about doing." Anyway, I ended up buying a small print and after he framed it for me, he came out and said "I have a deal for you." He wanted me to sign one of his prints so he could give it to his bike enthusiast son. He said to get used to it because I was world famous now. So somewhere in America my name is on the bottom of a Keith Fay print.

Late one evening while at Craig's, I'm sitting at the computer and have a question for Craig, who is working at the desk next to me. I'm babbling away and there's no response. He has tuned me out. I say, "Aren't you listening to me, I'm sitting here talking to myself? This is not helping me with re-entry and to be normal." He just laughed. Then later, when I had another question, before I started talking, I said, "Can I ask a question?" and he says, "You are trainable".

Every time I ever walked with Charlie, he'd always ask me to walk slower. I always figured I walked about 3 miles an hour. Well, on the 4th, I walked 4.4 miles in one hour and 5 minutes. And my friend, Craig, says, "See why everyone's always behind you." Hey, I had to walk to stay warm, it was cold out there (4 degrees F).

I went into my local K-Mart store because I knew where everything was and I hate wasting time going up and down the aisles looking for stuff. Imagine my surprise and distress when I walk in and the entire store is completely different from what it had been. On the way there, I had prepared in my mind a route that I would follow and pick up exactly what I needed. I couldn't even find the departments. So I asked the first employee I could find to direct me to the areas for which I was looking. I was NOT expecting that.

When I drove my truck through town for the first time on the 4th, the first sign that jumps out at me is the LAUNDROMAT. Now how weird is that?

Community band practice was just like I never left. Still got the same flak from fellow trombonist, Ron and conductor, Don. They missed me.

Walking lots:
5.5 miles on the 4th
6.8 miles on the 6th
1.8 miles on the 9th
2.6 miles on the 10th

As I drove my car the first couple days, I found myself driving like I was on my bike. I had to stop to shed clothes once and I kept looking at the road with biker eyes, mainly analyzing the hills and shoulders.

On Friday, I went to my friend, Mary's, house and we spent the weekend working on my book. I needed a break and asked her if she wanted to take a walk with me late one afternoon. It was only about 3 miles to town where I wanted to mail an important letter yet that day. She says, "Are you going to walk 200 mph again? If so, I can't keep up." Now I ask you, what is with these people? She said she just had to give me a hard time for being gone for a whole year.

So Monday, I finally drive into the valley and first place I go is the post office. I haven't been home yet and ask for my mail because I didn't have the key to my box. Well, they argued with me about how they couldn't give me my mail without a key. I explained my situation and after more than 5 minutes, they finally gave it to me. I thought to myself, "Welcome home." Quite the different greeting than I got from the Jackson Hole Post Office which has been handling all my forwarded mail for the year and bent over backwards to help me out earlier in the week.

When I finally got to my house late Monday evening, I was overjoyed at the condition of my house and all my plants. My renters have done an excellent job, even repaired a couple plumbing leaks for me. I was pleased.

My only problem was that I felt like a stranger in my own house. I couldn't remember where light switches were and couldn't even begin to find kitchen utensils. I'm sure it will all come back though in time. I'm dragging my feet as far as getting resettled. I don't even want to unpack my clothes. I need to do that though because the wrinkles need to fall out since I don't own an iron. Think I might be wearing lots of sweaters for a while. I'd rather be outside walking or shoveling snow and as I write this today, we are getting new snow so I'll have some to shovel. YEAH!

Emotionally, this is tough. I miss my friends, some, a lot more than others. In talking to Charlie last night, he said we've outgrown our hometowns. Not sure what that means. I do know I'm here to finish my contract and at this time have no plans to leave my beautiful area but I do feel strange here. People say it's normal

You mentioned panniers in one of your notes. I thought that the support truck carried most of your "stuff," so what did you and the others carry with you routinely?

--Dan Kirby, Milton, MA

As you know, we biked in a lot of rain and often had very cool mornings, even rode past still operating ski areas. So depending on the weather and altitude of the day, rain gear and spare clothes were a must to have handy. Of course, one must be prepared for one or more flat tires with spare tubes, pump, and maybe even a sew-up tire.

I always carried food, camera, sunscreen, first aid, and my trusty PocketMail. I'm sure I had an extra 10 pounds on cooler days. Extra clothes were always the thing I hated having to carry more than anything else.

It has been great therapy to have had some snow because I got to shovel my driveway 3 times the 1st week I was home. And I spent one whole day cleaning out kitchen cabinets and rearranging things so I could find them. My house is in tip top shape. My renters left it in great condition and all but 2 or 3 of my 55 plants that I had when I left survived. I was really pleased.

The only problem I had is that it is too quiet. I always loved being alone but right now I'm struggling with too much quiet. After being with or near people 24 hours a day for 7 days a week with rarely a minute to yourself, this is tough.

I went back to school on Jan 15th and it was like I never left. I'm adjusting to that part rather quickly.

Also, on the 15th, a rider and his wife visited me on their way through Idaho for 2 days which really helped me. We reminisced and laughed for hours. I got to do one of my favorite things, cook and entertain.

One disturbing thing happened this week. I kept waking up with a dry and chapped face and hands. And every night before bed, I put on lotion diligently because I know the air is dry here. Well, one morning as I was washing my face, I happened to notice that the 'lotion' bottle I had been using, said Dove liquid moisturizing soap. I had been mega dosing my face with soap every night and rubbed and rubbed until it all rubbed in. Took forever and I figured it was just good lotion. I always had a hard time getting it to soak in so I did my hands and arms as well to use up the lotion. My hands have cracked and are actually quite sore. My face looks like I have a bad case of sun or wind burn. And it hurts. Now I ask myself, how can anyone be so dumb as to not read the bottle. My mistake was in just looking at the bottle and because it looked like a lotion bottle, thinking it was lotion. And all this past week, I was wondering where my liquid soap was that I thought I had remaining when I left last year. Oh, well.

1. What equipment have you found works best for this kind of trip? Please rate your sleeping bag, tent, bike panniers, seat, gearing et cet., bike clothes, civilian clothes, et cet.

• Campmor sleeping bag down to 20 degrees, too hot most of the time-I sleep on top and use a Westwind Trading Co. silk liner - perfect.
• Marmot Swallow tent holds all my gear and has been very dry in wet weather. Very stable in winds, easy to put together, weighs 8 lbs. kind of heavy. Nashbar saddle bag type panniers.
• Don't hold an awful lot but keeps me from carrying too much. I like them.
• Terry men's seat good. The first 5 months I suffered with other seats and this one felt like heaven (once your bottom is broken in).
• I wear the standard bike shorts and sleeveless jerseys. Wouldn't bike long distances in anything else. My civilian clothes are hand made out of supplex, fast drying or thin cotton. I have 2 outfits and that's it for hot weather. Polar fleece pants, sweatshirt and vest keep me warm when cold.
• Shimano clip in pedals have done well.
• I use a thinsulite roll up pad full length, bulky but essential for me.
• A cripple creek fold up chair is great for back support, doubles as extra padding under my shoulders.
  
  
• Moss tent - no problems, waterproof and quality zippers
• Mountain Hardwear sleeping bag - rated to 20 degrees - excellent
• thermarest sleeping pad - no problems - highly recommend
• Ortlieb bike panniers - started out with single bag on back but didn't like it and went to wateproof panniers
  
  
• sleeping bag was good quality down, excellent, never got cold but could have done with one that took up less space
• thermorest - I had the biggest one. Held up well and no problems but took up some needed space. I went for comfort and full body length, not needed, smaller would have been just as comfortable with less space.
• Walrus 2 man tent - perfect size and it was the stand alone except for the rain fly which required staking the vestibule. Ground cloth did not extend out under the vestibule area. Would have preferred a fully stand-alone (for concrete slab set-ups and definitely needed spare sleeves to repair fiber glass poles
• Panniers - get light weight set and small one up front that does not press on cables - very handy
• Clothes - washable, sun rated long sleeve shirts , hat with brim
  
  
• North Face Nebula - has held up well. The floor gets damp from dew or rain (this just started 9 months into the trip). I've not coated it to prevent this.
• Clothing - I've gone with non-cotton fabrics. These are quick drying and easy to care for.
• Bike cloths - brought 3 sets and rotate them
• Civilian clothes - 4 short sleeve shirts, 2 pr shorts, 1 pr long pants, 2 long sleeve shirts (one button down, one t-shirt, 1 sleeveless fleece vest, socks, underwear). Some of this was dual purpose, t-shirts can be worn under jersies on cold days
• Panniers - used Cyclepro panniers. I put everything in a waterproof liner. I used only one on the bike instead of 2 and this has worked satisfactorily. I think a trunk bag would be good as well.
• Fenders - These were a pain to put on and don't make the bike look fast, but do provide a level of protection from rain, slop and nasty stuff for both you and the bike.
• Shoes - 1 cycling pr, 1 pr of 'hiking' shoes, 1 pr of sandals
  
  
• I'm very happy with my sleeping bag-it's a Northface synthetic model that keeps you warm down to 0 degrees. It dries very quickly and always keeps me warm-only negative is that it is not as small as down bags.
• My tent is a stardome moss-it has held up quite well except for one broken pole-for the rain fly. It stays dry about 90% of the time when it rains and is very easy to set up-takes only 5 minutes. The red color has bled onto the beige-aside from that and the broken pole, it has done well. It is not too warm in the hot weather due to good ventilation.
• I would purchase larger panniers-probably the Oakleys
• A pair of black pants and a simple long dress.
  
  
• Nashbar sleeping bag - too thin. At 32 degrees, I was too cold to sleep.
• Walrus tent and it started to leak at 4 months.
• Bike seat is a discontinued Nashbar touring relief. I love it.
• Gearing is 22x32x44 front and 11-34 back.
• Thermarest (Camp rest) is working well but other people's failed.
  
  
• sleeping bag - 40/20 degrees - Marmot 3D polyguard rectangular bag was great - used as blanket and seldom used as zipper bag.
• tent - Sierra designs - Meteor lite, great room, 2 doors, vent *need patch kit - seal seams!!
  bike trunk and underseat tool bag
• Terry - fine seat
• Thermarest 25x76x2 inches - heavy but comfortable - wouldn't use this if carrying it.
• Bike clothes and stuff
  a. 2 short sleeve shirts, 1 long sleeve shirt, 2 pr pants
  b. wool socks and Teva sandals
  c. some sort of foot cover for rain - lighter is better - to keep wind out
  d. simple clear plastic jacket for rain
  e. gortex jacket - not sure it's worth the room and cost
  f. simple windbreaker pants - not necessary biker stuff
  -remember get wet outside from rain and inside from sweat
  -must protect yourself from wind when active
  -layers work better than single heavy garments, need quick drying stuff
  g. carry a mylar emergency blanket (small, light, warm, when and if needed)

2. What kind of luggage works best and what have you learned about packing it?

• I have a large Compass black bag with zipper expandable ends. Great, but you can pack it too heavy to easily carry around. And do you have any idea how many BLACK bags are out there? You need one that stands out somehow. Also a compression bag for strictly camping gear. Super.
  
  
• used L.L. Bean rolling bag - worked excellently - also used dry bags to keep things dry
  
  
• Luggage - 2 bags for versatility packing - plastic bags for dirty or wet clothes
  
  
• The smaller, the better. Lay out all your stuff, then throw half of it out. Get a bag (both pannier and luggage) one size smaller than this and continue to down size. Small bags preferable to one large one.
  
  
• I'm happy with my Northface duffel-it has held up very well. I would bring another smaller nylon bag that would fold up to use for camping gear.
  
  
• I have not found anything that works well.
  
  
• Had 2 rectangular bags made to match gear box (each were 16x8x36) - worked well, packed things in separate water proof plastic bags inside. I would get lighter, brighter colored bags - black things get lost (Al's comment is all black bags look alike and there seem to be a hundred of them)

3. What did you bring on the trip that you had no use for or what do you wish you had brought (and maybe ended up purchasing)?

• I sent my walking-hiking shoes home in May then ended up buying a pr in Sept.
  It's hard to find one pr of shoes that will work for everything. Sandals come close and I wouldn't do without them.
  
  
• sent home rear bike bags; ended up purchasing quality rain gear
  
  
• Good 'tilly' hat, ended up mailing home, got too crushed to wear convertible pants that zipper to shorts
  
  
• bathrobe-no use for; CD player-have recently purchased
  
  
• I brought lots of AA batteries but you can buy them anywhere. I should have brought a compass so I could set up my tent for morning sun and afternoon shade.
  
  
• better cleaning devices for bike

4. What have you learned about biking that you didn't know before?

• That I don't bounce back as fast as I used to.
  
  
• Learned how to ride in traffic and bike maintenance such as changing chain and brake pads
  
  
• enjoyed the 'planned for you' aspect but 60 miles is optimum. Allows for good day to enjoy local places; 80 is too long
  
  
• I've learned to take it easy in head winds.
  
  
• be more diligent about cleaning your bike, bring extra brake pads, mirrors, odometer. Think about all possible conditions before starting each morning and take a change of clothing and warmer gloves when appropriate.
  
  
• It is very dangerous.
  
  
• The joy and wellness it can yield AND clean bikes wear less

5. If you were to tell someone three things NOT to leave home when traveling around the world, what would they be?

• A comfortable, easy to carry chair so you can always have back support if you want it, toilet paper for 3rd world countries, and a sense of humor because things aren't always going to go as planned.
  
  
• First aid kit and rain gear
  
  
• PocketMail - altho. I did not have one, would/should have gotten it
  3 or 4 credit card for ATM options
  sense of humor and spirit of adventure
  
  
• hammer for pounding in tent stakes, fenders for the bicycle, some way of staying in contact(PocketMail, e-mail)
  
  
• ibuprofen, bandaids and antibiotic cream, very sturdy camera-waterproof
  
  
• a water proof camera bag. Ziplocks only last a few days.
  Scissors
  As many bike tools as you can stand to carry.
  
  
• 1. ATM card and some $100 bills
  2. Travel Smiths fanny pack with wire in leather/ nylon belt
  3. Lists of important #s in several places

6. General comments made by riders

• Fred says to evaluate your own body before even buying and experimenting with equipment. Ask such questions as:
  1. What is your body metabolism - cold or hot sleeper?
  2. Are you a fashion hound - labels important?
  3. Can you wear the same thing day in and day out with simple washings?
  4. How much money do you have to spend?
  5. Do you feel the need to wear biking clothes for biking? (some don't)
  6. Do you want to travel light or carry lots of weight (baggage) While biking? in car, plane, bus, or train?
  

Without being too personal, how much money did you end up spending for the whole trip? Could you please itemize it into major categories?

Money spent in addition to trip fee paid to TK&A. These are rounded off estimates, pretty close.

Phone	$ 2,000.00
Food (including drinks, water, and toiletries)	3,000.00
Film, processing and scrapbook	1,200.00
Bike maintenance	975.00
Medical expenses not yet covered by insurance	1,200.00
Plane fares    France to Ohio 580.00    Ohio to Sweden 650.00    Hawaii Tuba Christmas   150.00    LA to Idaho - home 100.00	1,480.00
Postage	200.00
Utilities when my renter left	162.00
'Plant sitter' while house was vacant	80.00
P.O. Box rental	24.00
Pick-up truck insurance	531.00
Pick-up truck license	28.00
Souvenirs - clothing    dress 25.00    shorts 12.00    zip-leg pants 55.00    NZ jersey and gloves   97.00    material 75.00    Rain jacket, vest 130.00	394.00
City transportation buses and subways	50.00
Tours and Side Trips    Costa Rica volcano tour 70.00    Africa Kruger Safari 53.00    Athens - Parthenon 30.00    NY Broadway shows 120.00    Rome off route with friend 100.00    St. Petersburg 312.00    Australia-Blue Mountain hike 500.00    Australia-boat, snorkeling 70.00    Thailand-boat, snorkeling 53.00    NZ-helicopter, glacier and show   140.00    Miscellaneous entry fees 50.00	1,498.00
	$ 12,822.00

In addition, I had money saved up for my house payment for the entire year. If I spent this much and was trying to be frugal, I can not imagine what some folks spent on all their off-route excursions, car rentals, and buying sprees. Wow.

I must say, I wouldn't have done as many fun things if it hadn't been for my faithful and generous web page readers and great friends. A special thanks to my friend, Mary, who helped out with the phone bill. Your support, economically and morally, made it all possible. Thanks again for encouraging me to do all that I did. It was a fantastic year, my best ever.

What would you do differently to make the next trip more enjoyable if you were in charge?

Better customer service, shorten the average riding day to about 65 miles, limit size of trip to 100 people, not use flights as a bed day (flying overnight with no sleep and riding soon after is the pits)

How did you handle buying things? Did you use a Visa/Mastercard?

I only had a Visa debit card and that worked fine in every country. No trouble finding an ATM for cash.

Were there any major personality conflicts during the trip?

The only major personality conflict was with one staff member and I just stayed out of her way. It's hard to do but one person wasn't going to ruin the trip for me.

Did anyone get deathly ill (perhaps my biggest fear)?

Ill, but not deathly ill. I can think of 2 people who went home to re-cuperate and one came back. The other left the trip to travel on his own.

How many people just up and quit, excluding the financial problems at the end?

I think by Singapore we were down to around 220 people. Then all but 57 went home from there.

Were there any countries you regretted visiting?

No, it was all positive in some way. Some I don't plan to visit again but then, I could change my mind.

Were there any countries you would want to live in?

New Zealand and Switzerland really appealed to me and both are not easy to get into as a resident.

Did you run into any political/social/race problems?

No real problems. I just felt very insecure in Africa being in the minority but I had no real life threatening incidents.

What kind of job did you do before you left?

I was a middle school music teacher mainly but also worked for a landscaping nursery, and gave music lessons on the side.

What kind of job are you doing to do when you adjust to 'normal' life?

I will be returning to my school job on Jan 15th and may work part time at the nursery again in the spring.

How did this experience influence you to be a better person?

I think, and hope, it has taught me to be more tolerant and patient. We'll see. I know I have a greater love for mankind than I did when I left a year ago. I'm more trusting.

Did you notice any negative aspects of this experience when you returned, besides saying good-bye to friends?

No. I can only remember the great times that far outweighed any negative experiences for me.

Since I'm sure you've probably answered many of these questions before, please bear with me. I need as much information as I can gather to see if this trip is still feasible to me.

--Bill Murphy

Bussing through Japan was more of an inconvenience than anything. We still had a good time but were off our bikes for so long. It makes it hard to be off for more than 2 or 3 days in a row. If I remember right, we were off for 2 weeks.

Al and Craig have selected these two rides in June, and plan to sign up as soon as applications are available. We hope some of you will consider joining us on one or more of these rides.

I finally feel like I'm coming around. Made it through a week without crying, not that I didn't want to but was able to control myself. A big step in the right direction, I'd say. School has been going well.

We get snow every few days which gives me a chance to be outside and shovel, which I did Friday morning before going to school. I love my shovel almost more than my bike. I don't know what it is about that shovel, but I just seem to gravitate towards it. Even today, I just walked around with it looking for snow to shovel. Can't explain it, it's just the way it is.

I've been a walking fool, did 9.1 miles today. It was so beautiful outside, clear blue skies, temperatures in the single digits. I loved it. I've tried to make it a goal to walk and/or shovel every day and so far I've done pretty well. I'm just not in the mood to ski yet.

I've been working on my book and reliving last year through my web page. I sit and tell stories to my friend who is helping me to write and she feverishly types to get it all down. That in itself is good therapy for me. It seems like yesterday but yet it seems like so long ago. Life right now seems pretty boring in comparison, even though I keep busy with work and friends. I'm still struggling with these four walls but thank goodness for my PocketMail. When I feel the urge to talk, I sit down and write.

So I'd say one more re-entry journal after this week and I may sign off for a while. There's just not much to tell anymore.