Occasion, test, or duty?  Occasion...sure.  Test...maybe.  Duty...nah.

 

As an engineer, I tend to hyperfocus on preparation.  This is not always a good thing.  Being prepared is a a comfort.  Leaving no room for variance or eliminating the ability to make do with what's at hand (McGuyver capability) is just no fun.

Although, as poetic as it seems to throw a leg across the bike, turn left out of the driveway, and go through the gears with the wind in my hair, I would be sacrificing part of the experience. 

 

I'm breaking down the preperation into four categories:

Bike Preparation (a page of it's own)

 

 

 

Given that I am constrained by a generous but limited vacation schedule, the meandering "Family Circle" cartoon path that the independently wealthy, retired, or homeless might afford is unrealistic.  The easy approach is to access Google Maps, put a bullet on my hometown (Asheville, NC) and another on Deadhorse Alaska, and let it find the quickest route.  This approach, albeit efficient, will probably bypass the reason I'm taking the trip. 

So....let's sprinkle in some roadside attractions, American icons, Canadian icons, national parks, and last but not least- the continent's most glorious trout streams.

Ok...now the line is a little more wiggly but didn't add that many more miles to the total.  Like I've said before, the wind may blow me around a little.  Or a lot.