Saturday, October 8, 2011

Day 277 - Seattle - Vancouver

Distance travelled (by bike):  42,050

The final day on the road, a sad day. It actually worked out quite well that i didn't have too far to ride, leaving the overcast metropolis of seattle i took some of the smaller backroads as i started to travel north. My thought was to milk as much out of the day as possible. This however never happened. With Seattle about 50 miles behind me the warning lights started flashing, oil pressure low, engine in emergency mode - pull over. I did, repeating this manoeuvre roughly every 40 miles.
Enough was enough, i needed to get to Vancouver, it was time to hit the highway. 
Things were going well until the traffic at the Canadian border. For the first time in a long time the warning light was red and no longer flashing, the oil light was red and no longer flashing, the temperate light was like a strobe, the service light, deciding it was missing out also turned on….and that was it, the bike stopped.
I pushed the bike to customs and through the border, leaving it and me to rest on the Canadian side. After an hour, it was time to get into vancouver. If the bike died, at least it was on Canadian soil and i had family to help. 
Until i got into Vancouver the bike behaved itself, then after stopping and starting at the lights it started the dashboard light show, deciding i was close enough i ignored the lights increased the revs and drove on.
Relieved to see Becci & Kim's house i coasted into their driveway, not even parked i was greeted with beer. 
I know that i have finished the adventure now, but it hasn't sunk in yet, the bike is still packed and i'm still abroad. Tomorrow will be a strange day when i finally have to unload, clean and store the bike.

I realise I'm coming off a 10 month high that has been the most interesting, satisfying and exhilarating thing i have ever done in my life and it  is going to be a harsh adjustment. The aim now is to reintegrate into reality and search for the ideal work - ==life balance, after all El Che eventually got a gig as a communist revolutionary after his bike died.
I'm sure the lure of the road will not go away, already i'm thinking of the next adventure and how to pull it off.
As of yet the realisation of the journey been complete hasn't sunk in, i'm sure in a few weeks, having had time to comprehend, understand and recover from the adventure, the actuality of what i have accomplished, endured, experienced, shared and the generosity of people i met along the way will have left a huge impression on me. 






from the beginning:
argentina

uruguay

chile

bolivia

peru

equador

columbia

bahamas

panama

costa rica

nicaragua 

honduras 

el salvador 


guatemala 

belize


mexico

usa

canada

parked up at the end - 42,000 mile later














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