The Plan

I’ve decided that the immediate “what’s next” for me will be to ride my bicycle across the U.S. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was in college. After many cross-country road trips by car, the thought occurred to me that it would be wonderful to see the country at a much slower speed. Now, I have that opportunity. And, it’s a good way to unload some of the caloric energy I’ve been storing around the waist these past few years while sitting behind a desk.

After some research, I decided to buy a semi-custom touring
bike from Bruce Gordon. The man is quite a character, with a shop that could belong to Dr. Emmet Brown. But in the touring world his bikes have a great reputation. I pick the mine up tomorrow.

Rolling forward.

It’s been a very emotional and tiring journey over the last year as we’ve worked through the process of supporting Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems. I could write volumes about Sun, its culture and employees. It was the most special of companies, but unless you worked there, you just wouldn’t understand.

So, I won’t try to explain. Instead, it’s time to move on. I know the transition to “whatever is next” will be a personal challenge. It will be difficult to let go of what I considered to be a wonderful job. But, it’s time to get started. To that end, last week I went to visit Bruce Gordon up in Petaluma, California. Bruce is an icon in the world of touring bikes having made them for more than 35 years. More on this to come.