A map of the trip

So here, a little small but still legible (I hope; actually it doesn't look so hot, but if you double-click on it, it will reappear larger and more legible), is a map of where I went in 2002 (green) and 2004 (pink) and where I plan to go this year (blue). The map is from the Silk Road Foundation website, source of all sorts of scholarly knowledge about the trade in goods and ideas along the Silk Road.

I still don't have my Iranian visa, and I need to phone the embassy to see what's going on. I wonder whether, with the current protests in Iran after the elections, whether visas are being delayed to keep snooping foreigners out. I'm watching the various blogs and websites covering the Iranian unrest; it's exciting and very uncertain times for Iranians these days.

I talked with Peter Vallance at Rocky Mountain Bicycles yesterday and got a clearer picture of what my new bike is going to look like. I'm very excited, and pleased that they are sponsoring me with a new bicycle.

I'm going out riding most days, trying to get my 40-year-old legs, atrophied by two years of sedentary living, back into riding shape. I'm hoping that, as usual, I will ride myself into shape.