I have tried in my way to be free

I very recently posted an update, but I have kinda figured out my last week and I’m pretty excited that it all seems to be working out. It really is a little amazing that all the plans I’ve made over the past year have all settled well - I haven’t really felt like I’ve missed out on a lot. Things are generally going well! First about my last couple days. It took me only two and a half days to get from Glasgow down to Dublin! The Glasgow-Belfast leg took 14 hours with the three hour wait at the ferry and the two hour sailing time. The long day didn’t stop me from putting a second six-hour cycling day on my way down through Ireland to Dublin. I was nearly stopped by the wind though. I had to struggle against ~30km/h winds for the better part of the day before finding a little camping spot in the countryside a little ways off of the main roads. I had some minor mechanical issues that slowed my pace a little on the 31st as well. I got an hour into my day when I realized that the rattling noise I heard the day before (and ignored) was the drive side of my rear rack. My un-even packing when leaving Glasgow had overloaded the rear rack and sheared off the bolt holding the rack to the frame at the bottom of the rear triangle. I got off a little lucky, the bolt head was still intact and I was able to back the broken bolt out and replace it with a new one! Could have been a much larger headache if the bolt had sheared off at the head. My second minor mechanical was also self-inflicted. I had ignored the fraying shift cable for my rear derailleur for a couple weeks. I had a replacement in my frame bag, but I wasn’t about to let three frayed strands make me take the time to replace the wire. I went from three broken strands to only having three un-broken strands right at the end of the day. I was able to replace the cable without incident in the afternoon before having dinner and setting up my tent! Yesterday I had another serendipitous encounter on the road. I had a car that refused to pass me when there was an abundance of room - the car slowly came up beside me and the driver shouted out to ask whether I needed any food, water, anything! I politely declined the offer, having only spent 50 minutes on the road, I was feeling pretty fresh and full from breakfast - heck, I still had my second cup of coffee to finish drinking! The driver was insistent on helping in some way, so on the third offer I caved (perhaps partly to get his car out of the middle of the little two-lane country road). Shane had done some touring in Australia a couple years ago and remembered vividly about how there were days when he would just wish for someone to come out of the woodwork to offer some semblance of help on a tough day. I’ve definitely had those days as well! The offer to tea quickly turned into a second breakfast as his family members started appearing from around the house. Tea and breakfast turned into a couple hours of lovely conversation and joking around in the kitchen of the family’s pink farmhouse. Much of the joking had to do with them luring me to their house to steal whatever I might have of value from my unattended bicycle. Fortunately I sent home all the good stuff with my parents! I can often get really goal focused so these un-planned detours are often few and far-between. This one was truly lovely, with lovely company! Dublin is nice, but I’ve been a little preoccupied with planning the next three weeks of my life. I am going to take a ferry across to Wales tomorrow (3rd) then cycle down through Snowdonia and back to London with a quick stop to see Bath and to see Stonehenge! It’s going to be a 650-700km journey. If I put in some longer days I should be able to do the trip in 6 days and arrive in London on the 8th. That would possibly allow me to go to some random bar in London that is having a Robyn party. Just an event where they play lots of music by the Swedish singer. That’s a definite maybe. but I will for sure have time on the 9th to find myself a bike box, pack on the 10th, then get myself and the box to the airport for the night of the 10th in preparation for my flight to Vancouver on the morning of the 11th! Speaking of flights. I even booked myself a visit to Winnipeg from the 19th-24th to visit friends before trying to be a “real adult” and find a job at home in BC. I’m super proud of myself for booking this three weeks in advance! I’m excited - I’ll be in town for a friend’s playoff soccer game! He’s playing for the same team I played for last summer in Winnipeg!