XC2015 Overland West and Beyond (preface)

Ask a friend or relative to describe me in one word or less, and you may get four letters-
L A T E.
And though recently I've made great inroads towards reformed punctuality, this trip has been a backslide into days of irreverence towards time and deadlines that I've not displayed in years.
Days late in departure: 4.
Days late in first blog entry: 2.
But things are underway now, and moment by moment, day by day, I'm claiming back lost time so that me, my bike, and all of my gear land on the receding lake bed of Mormon Lake, just north of Flagstaff, Arizona for this year's 8th annual Overland Expo West. I'm even going to try updating this online journal periodically; so if you're interested in following along and seeing if I pull it off, stay tuned.