An introduction

Hi folks,
I guess this is the part where I tell you what I'm doing. For the sake of simplicity and clarity, I will explain by answering the "W's + H."

Wine: okay!
Women: not now or anytime soon, thanks.
Huskies: do have beautiful blue eyes!

Yup.
No. Here we go.

Who: Me, Eric Encarnacion.
What: Riding my bicycle from Washington state to Tijuana, Mexico, partly for charity.
Where: I guess I'll be constantly moving, won't I? Generally, we can say I will be in America and that I will be on my bicycle.

When: On 9/11/7, I'm flying from Newark to Seattle, and I hope to start riding out of Centralia, WA on 9/13/7. It should take about 4 weeks to get to San Diego if I spend a long weekend in San Francisco, so I've booked a flight back to Newark on Saturday, 10/20/7.

Why: Well, as I mentioned, part of this is for charity. If you check out my donation page, you'll see that I'm raising money so that kids in Africa get to know firsthand how joyful, and practical, a bicycle can be.

Last year I did a lot of road-tripping and got to explore America's awesometude. Foot-long state fair corn dogs, frat boys literally pissing-themselves-drunk in Key West, hitch-hiking with Christian evangelicals, and the odd racist joke-threat are all enlightening in their ways. I'd like to document something about the cultures of the Pacific Coast as I travel closer to Mexico. To do that, I'll have two cameras: one for stills, one for talkies. I'll have this laptop and blog. I also have a winning smile and some nice kicks.

From a personal standpoint, the reasons are all-encompassing. Without getting into too much detail, the keystones of my life gave way, and I pretty soon realized that fear (of anything. name it) is what ultimately wore down my structures. I made nothing happen for myself. All I knew is that I loved doing two things in this world: riding bikes and playing guitars. And while I can certainly sit in the basement of my parent's house and do these things, I know that the only way I can change myself is to do something big, something that'll have my loved ones worrying about me. It's those tacky-but-true notions of exploring the world within and without. It's about leaving your comfort zone and following through with the ill-conceived ideas that become stories you tell your grandkids so they'll believe you were cool before you started crapping your pants.

How: You pedal a whole lot. What I'm doing is sticking this trailer to the back of my Orbea Orca. Yes, it's mildly offensive, like a Porsche hauling a hitch trailer, but whatever. In addition, I can't get away from my parents entirely, so I've [not-so] hesitantly agreed to let them pay for hotels so that I don't spend nights alone in sketchy campsites. No camping equipment means I can bring other fun toys.

This should be fun. Scary fun. Also, educational.
I've learned many lessons in the last 2 months, so it's time to put them into action. As LeVar would say, "I'll see you next time!"