From Brandon, to Brandon.

Sit down Brandon, I’m talking about the city.

The city I left in September isn’t quite as I left it and it isn’t the city I’ve always remembered. If you go far enough back, it really started when places like Wheelies turned our worlds upside down when they parked all their roller skates and skinned the knees of birthday plans and weekend shenanigans with one last click of the disco lights.

Well the disco lights are off in the streets too.

Safe in our homes, for now, at least. With an end date far off in the clouds, it’s anyone’s guess as to when we will be out of our zoo and back to the lives we used think were so boring, useless and grey. Perhaps we come back with a new outlook, and what we’re doing with our days, weeks and years.

It’s April now, and these last six months have been anything but ordinary for myself, seeing one of my best friends get married in Ayvalik, two sleeping volcanoes in Indonesia, three wonders of the world with the Hagia Sophia in Turkey, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and Giza Pyramids in Big Cairo, four elephants in Thailand, and five countries cycle-toured.

A stone’s throw

They say we could be back to our new, real life this summer, and I hope things are different. Some constants will always remain just that, but maybe the barriers we have towards each other will be erased after we all go through this together.

Maybe the people of Buffalo will let Brett Hull within their city limits.

Maybe Jaime and the cart path down the hill will say enough is enough.

Maybe Roblin and Foxwarren will forget about 1992. If Kelly Keast can walk into the Foxwarren rink and go straight to signing jerseys instead of pulling them over peoples heads, then we will all be better for it.

This trip will resume, business as usual, sometime this summer, whenever the red light changes over green. Until that time, I will be publishing more stories, tips, and general information on travel, bike touring and applicable categories.

If you have any questions about my trip, “How gross was Rat street?”, “What did you eat?”, please feel free to ask away. Or, just anything you’d like to know about, and I’ll do a round up on my posts to alleviate any concerns.

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far, and to everyone who has given me a hand up, a place to stay, free help with my bike, travel advisories, or helped out in any number of ways.

I hope to ride through your yard this summer, see you on the flip side.

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