Well here I am again just days away from yet another trip to the USA to undertake a charity bike ride on behalf of the Fuller Center for Housing (Homepage - The Fuller Center for Housing). This time I will be riding my bike from Fargo in North Dakota to the Niagara Falls in New York State, going around 4 of the 5 Great Lakes separating Canada and the United States. Provided I can keep riding my bike, this represents some 1,575 miles in just over 4 weeks and includes 4 'Build Days' where we climb off our bikes and improve or repair peoples' homes. These Build Days are often the most rewarding aspects of these bike tours and you feel you have left something of your heart and effort at these homes when you move on. Making a positive difference in other peoples' lives has to be one of the greatest rewards you can achieve! - making ripple on the lake (Ripples on the Lake)

I am looking forward to meeting up with friends from previous rides when I arrive in Fargo and then I have the further prospect of seeing 21 American friends when we meet up in Glasgow in August! We will be sharing a boat and bike tour of the Inner Hebrides departing from Oban, with me bookending the tour from Glasgow.

Life is for living and there are adventures for us all to achieve but it often requires us to move out of our comfort zones!