NEW TOUR....BIKING IN 5 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Well, I am back at it, the blogging, more touring and more observations on life and living.

The blogging
Again, as on prior tours, I will keep a running commentary on the things I see, I do, I hear and I experience. But again, I ask for feedback from you people. As many of you know, I freelance write and am always marketing my material. But we all are usually our own worst enemies when it comes to self criticism. So I invite you people who read my blogs to send me feedback. No, not ego salving compliments but more of things like it is fun to read, entertaining, or...it is lousy, polish more, be more attentive to fun side of things, etc. You people know what to tell me. And I promise I will take it to heart and work with the advice, suggestions, tips, etc.

The TOUR
Some of you may know that I am biking the Alps this September, 2 weeks, 5 countries; Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland. The tour starts from Munich, with the bike riding beginning in Lenggries, 60 kms south of Munich. I don't know why they are busing us there to begin riding from that town. Maybe they think Munich is too dangerous. I could concur as I have been bicycling around Munich for the past two days and a few times I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. Thank goodness my skin is chubby too. So the tour begins officially on Thursday, I think and I will admit, I will feel better being on a motorcycle rather than on a bicycle.
 
The OBSERVATIONS
As in the past, I will be writing about what I see, what I experience. I have dreams of writing a la Sandy Van Ocur or Andy Rooney or Allan Fotheringham. But may I tell you, those guys were old pros, who had years of experience behind them. Sandy wrote a Sunday morning travel show for CBS, a great travelogue with nice insights into what he saw. Andy Rooney, as most of you know, writes for 60 Minutes, and often he says things that make me say "why didnt I think of that or why didnt I write that when I thought of it too?" Finally, Allan Fotheringham used to write the "last page" for McLean's Magazine. He was hilarious and pricked a lot of Ottawa balloons in very humourous ways. The closest a modern satirist comes is Rick Mercer on CBC's The Mercer Report. But again, guys like Van Ocur, Rooney and Mercer have writing teams to assist him. Rooney though, I think does his own stuff as he has been a correspondent and newspaperman since the 1940s, even did war reporting during WWII. There are days I feel that old, but I sure dont have the experience they do.

Still I can observe things and comment on them. My wife reminds me to be more positive and that I should publish this material in a book. But she has more confidence in what I am blogging than I do. Still, some pieces may not stay on here for a long time, because I have compromised with her and said I would pull the blogs that she feels really strongly about. Maybe a book will come out of all my tours someday. I do know I have a lot of great experience from my touring which can be used to assist others in getting more joy and pleasure out of their own touring. I have logged many miles and had some close calls but so far, touch word, thank God, and say a prayer to my guardian angel, I am still here to write about those many miles.

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