Hello everybody, and welcome to PierreTrowbridge.com and the VeloTramp Project at its temporary residence. The full time home of PierreTrowbridge.com and VeloTramp is currently under construction and we are looking at a 2nd week of October completion and launch date. The timing for the launch is good because it will coincide with the beginning of my planned quest to complete a bicycle driven circumnavigation of Cape Breton Island. What a thrilling ride it should be through majestic Cape Breton Highlands as the leaves change to their brilliant fall colors. But more on that later.
Regardless of any changes that may have happened when the full-time site opens, the purpose of the site will remain the same. It is about building something. It is about living a dream instead of merely possessing one. It is about being excited by the person I am and the life that I live. This website is part of the foundation of my plan to help me achieve my goal: to see the world from the seat of a bicycle and write and take photographs. Hence the name VeloTramp. Velo, meaning bicycle, and tramp, to travel from place to place. It is a simple life and I hope to share it with you here.
So, let’s get back to Cape Breton for a moment. As some of you are already aware I have started a fundraising program on GoFundMe.com. The link is here! I have started this program with the hopes that some of you will make a small investment into my startup. The nut and bolt of the program is that I get to go on an incredible 1000k bicycle ride in one of the top 10 cycling destinations in the world, Cape Breton Island, photographing and writing as I go. By joining me, I get to share it with you in the form of mementos from my journey. You can read more about my rewards program on the GoFundMe.com page. Some people have already pitched in and so the campaign is off and running even as I am still fine tuning it. I am looking at this ride like it’s an apprenticeship, or a work term. A successful campaign will not only help provide funds to cover the expenses of the trip but also additional funds to invest in training to enhance my digital darkroom skills at the conclusion of the trip. The ride itself will be the perfect complement to the increased cardio I am already enjoying as a result of quitting smoking over 7 weeks ago. So, if you are interested drop by the site, sign up, and come along for a ride. Some of you that don’t know my bicycling habits may wonder about my ability to complete this ride. In July, I rode over 500 kilometers on Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula from Deer Lake to L’Anse-aux-Meadows in 5 days. The only bad thing about the trip was I ran out of road. And that was as a smoker. So, I think I am good to go. As for my other credentials, I am an experienced and knowledgeable photographer with some pretty decent work on my resume. I feel the best is definitely yet to come.
So there you have it folks. This is the next small step in a much larger plan. I think it is a good one. I hope you will think so too, and you will come and join me on an adventure!
In closing this first post on the website I want to add just a few quick notes. Although VeloTramp will be a significant part of PierreTrowbridge.com, it will not be the only thing here. In addition to cycling news, events, and photos there will be news, events, and photos of a wide variety of sources such as portraits, hikes, and possibly a few pieces from a long thought about series’ of essays that may make some use of my Religious Studies degree, such as “Bad Boys of Christian History,” and “Things You Thought You Knew About Christianity but Didn’t,” a series of essays that would highlight some long misunderstood aspects of Christian history. So sign up and tune in. You never know what you will get here but I promise, I will do my best to make it entertaining.
See you again soon,
Pierre