My first 10000 kilometers.

I've biked my first 10,000 kilometers of this trip, though I think it is about the 4th of my life. Along with these kilometers forward I climbed as well as descended 81657 meters. I made that distance in 144 days. It is a lot of time sitting and observing so I'll give you a little insight into what I've noticed;

In the fields of Europe and now Asia the fields do not have mice in them as they do in the USA, but instead little lizards scurry around. It feels as if someone went back in time, changed one small thing, and this is the result.

In Russia the very well maintained packed dirt shoulder are often times smoother and faster than the deteriorating road.

Crows are very creepy. Large groups of them nest in dead trees. Always nearby a couple will be dead on the road. Their song is never welcoming.

It takes about 2 weeks before none of my cloths are clean enough to wipe my sunglasses and not make them dirtier. I intend to do laundry before this moment but I never do.

Porcupines are the number one roadkill. I've seen them regularly since Portugal. I recently saw a living one. I spooked him and he stayed still just wheezing for 10 minutes. I assume this is why they don't make it across roads.

On otherwise empty roads cars will only appear and need to pass me if another car approaches from the opposite direction and needs to pass me at the exact same time.

If I block a road, tractor path or even a driveway with my bike, no matter how small and remote, a vehicle will come and need me to move within a half hour. Guaranteed.

The faster you go the easier it is. On days that are slow it is because of hills or wind or road conditions or some combination of factors. I work very hard just to go slow on those days. When I go fast it is because of hills or wind or road conditions or some combination of factors (pushing in the opposite direction of the slow days of course). On these days I cruise and it is easy. This is not a parable for life as far as I can tell.

The rabbits in Siberia are huge!

When I get to a new country and hear a siren from an emergency vehicle I immediately recognize it as different from the previous country while simultaneously forgetting what the previous country's sirens sound like.

I have seen no wild chickens. Ever in my life.

Finally, a short summary of my travels so far:

I don't know where I nearly am. I barely know where I'm nearly going. I narrowly missed where I nearly had gone. Now I'm nearing the there that's near but that's always the case. Isn't it my Dear? As it is I nearly never know what is near and nearly miss it when I am there.