Buckle up… this is going to be a long read. I expect having said this, anyone under the age of 30 has now lost interest (except you, Kayla!)
Al Roker just came home from Geeto’s today; everyone is now acclimating to life back at home, so I feel it’s time to sign off on the blog.
As I begin to thumb my way through this final post… I want to start at the beginning. For some of you that joined late, or want a refresher of our initial mindsets and intentions, here’s a link to the article that Shayla Escudero wrote in early August: Lincoln Chronicle: Three Midwest Adventurers.
Embrace an openness for adventure. Live well and be in good company. Become a better version of ourselves. See the country at restrained pace. Encounter friends new and old in their natural environment. Scratch some insatiable ill-defined itch… Boys, you sure took me for one big ride, and even now I sit and wonder: why? I think answering the question of “why” will always be met with some uncertainty, and it’s even more interesting now to reflect back to recall what compelled us to take on this adventure. In God’s grand design, it’s just something that was meant to be and we hope our world is a smackerel better for it.
What I really wanted to share in closing blog is some of what we took away from our pedaling odyssey.
Takeaway 1: On our Amtrak journey home, a friendly steward passing through the dining car stopped to shake my hand. I was wearing my PBR baseball cap, and he wanted to thank me for the flashback to his younger years in Philly, where he used to drink “The Special” (PBR with a Jim Beam chaser for $5) while watching Nate Wiley and the Crowd Pleasers perform “liquor drinking’ music” at Bob & Barbara’s Lounge. He said he used to show up early to get a table at the cash only jazz club and leave when he was blind. We had a short chat, and we left the conversation feeling better: he whistled a tune walking away in reminiscence of his vibrant, carefree, youthful past experience; I sat and was thankful for another to add to the list of the friendly strangers we met on our journey. Some of these encounters were a bit forced, like late in the game when Geeto introduced himself to a bar tender stating, “I’ve ridden my bike 3,700 miles to this bar to see if you could make a good Old Fashioned.” But usually our discussions were more organic. Sometimes these conversations produced immediate rewards: we were guided to a safe, free park to stealth camp in Tekoa WA; we we given a free spare tire at Lookout Pass in Idaho; we were directed to Grumpy’s Bar in Breckenridge MN. Other times they just provided entertainment and education, like learning about Fabio the trash panda in Stevensville WA or the depth of gambling addiction people suffer like Scott in Clearwater MN. In all cases, we were grateful for all of the friendly conversations that helped impress upon us the predominance of respect, trust and support that most people give naturally; I hope (and believe) that this treatment was not exclusive to three pedaling pilgrims; this care for others is inherent in most others, especially when that treatment is reciprocated.
Takeaway 2: Yes, we were blessed with some unexplainable shield of protection that cleared smoke from forest fires, kept rain (mostly) away, and controlled heat and cold to tolerable temperatures. Granted, this shield seemed to cover us, though it lacked walls to defend us from winds, but the winds really did make us stronger, so it’s hard to complain in earnest looking back. Even if conditions would’ve been worse, there’s a joy that comes from spending extended hours outdoors. A favorite day on the journey was a difficult ride through eastern North Dakota that ended with us stealth camping through a thunderstorm in Sally Slayer’s cow pasture. On that day, we left Bismarck just after sunrise, we stopped in a convenience store for 10 minutes, then we didn’t go into another building until a late morning coffee stop the next day – nearly 24 hours completely outdoors. Even in our relatively developed U.S. countryside, there’s a freedom of the mind and spirit that occurs spending time under the open skies. I’m not the first (or last) to recognize this, and again I feel meager in my attempt to explain, but sometimes the hardest thing to do is to enjoy the simple pleasures of being outdoors; being forced into this difficulty for 24 hours was one of the greatest joys of the journey.
- “I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.” –Anne Frank
- “There is no Wi-Fi in the forest, but I promise you will find a better connection.” –Ralph Smart
Takeaway 3: If you have some insatiable ill-defined itch, scratch it. We weren’t bike packers when this journey began; we weren’t really even able to call ourselves cyclists; Geeto had never even spent a night in a tent. We owned bikes and we’d done a little riding in our past, but never on a regular basis. But, this adventure called to us, and we’re forever grateful that we answered. Sure some planning and training helped, and some amount of caution was necessary, but when things like this come along we shouldn’t be paralyzed from self doubt – the mind and body can do big things together; once you believe that and you speak your goal aloud, there’s little reason to turn back. We can soldier through a lot with a singular focus, dedication and patience.
Takeaway 4: Making memories with others, especially friends or family you will continue to encounter, helps keep the past alive. We were privileged to have three of us sharing most of this experience; we were doubly blessed having some cling-ons and friends to host us along the way. We will cherish these memories and will resurrect (and embellish) stories as the days and years go by: the beauty of the Columbia River gorge, the naked hiker, the howling sideways winds across the Bridge of the Gods, the highway tunnels with no lights or shoulder to ride on, the night we had a boutique hotel all to ourselves… and those memories were all in one day! We have a catalog of adventure stories to regale with one another whenever we meet, and they will take us back in time and keep this adventure alive.
Takeaway 5: Relationships require effort. The physical and mental challenges were real, but largely personal. The emotional and interpersonal challenges were real and public. We each annoyed one another at various points along the journey; these annoyances get inflated when other stresses and discomforts are simultaneously bearing down. We knew each other pretty well going into this, but we were not immune to the grievances that were born through differences of opinion and style. Verbal apologies were few, but we were flush with silent forgiveness and grace. It’s easy to be offended; it’s hard to absolve. Doing the hard thing is what keeps us together instead of traveling alone.
Takeaway 6: One thing I didn’t say much about, but it was often present in our minds through this journey, was the history and atrocities inflicted on the indigenous Americans that once roamed the lands that we freely traversed. Before our trip began, I was doing a little research into the history of the country we would be traveling through; from the Shoshone and Chinook in the Pacific Northwest, the Chippewa and Ottawa in the Midwest, the Mohegan and Narragansett in the east… everywhere we went had a rich and tragic history of Native Americans being displaced, belittled, enslaved and exterminated. I thought I might put a little history in each of my blog posts as we went along, but in the end I felt incapable of doing this justice, and I couldn’t quite marry the tragedy with our cycling comedy. As we began in traditional Shoshone fishing grounds, followed much of Lewis & Clark’s exploration route, and traveled through early American pioneer expansion lands and battlegrounds of the revolutionary war and War of 1812, we came across highways, monuments and historical markers bearing names like Sackaweia, Tecumseh, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Black Hawk, King Phillip, Pontiac… If we weren’t so driven to complete prescribed mileage each day I imagine we would’ve made more stops to absorb and appreciate the brave and somber history; and maybe I could’ve made more time to share some learning in the blog. It’s not lost on me that this nation would not be what it is today without this history. Times were different with a greater scourge of general ignorance; and it seems an inborn inclination in some humans trying to control, depress, dehumanize other humans. It seems to me that we all have a responsibility to learn from these past transgressions and work harder to endorse the Golden Rule: Treat others as you would want to be treated. This was certainly the pedaling pilgrim mindset.
That’s probably enough soapbox philosophical rambling. Lord, I was born a ramblin’ man.
I did want to offer a couple of final songs to the Pedaling Pilgrims! Spotify playlist:
First, because it’s about the challenges of relationships and the consequences of selfishness, I thought this Traffic tune fits well with a few of the takeaways above: You Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave
Second, I’ve been thinking about this Steely Dan song as I approached this homecoming. Also, taken out individually some of these lyrics seem to hint at our adventure: “I know this super highway… the danger on the rocks (err… gravel) has surely passed… it’s just the calm before the storm.” And, because my son’s fiancé Ellie likes Steely Dan: Home at Last
Third, I said it before, and Robert Palmer will now say it again: Get Outside
Lastly, this pop-esque song has stuck with me. I guess it’s a love song that celebrates a relationship, but one that’s strained by being “out there on the road for several weeks”. Also, after talking with Lecy in Rhode Island and having lunch with Geeto today, I know for the pedaling pilgrims it’s wonderful to be home, but it’s also a challenge to come down from Such Great Heights. Forgive us if we sometimes long for the time when we were just three lost souls living for a bike goal, gear after gear.
When we departed the Amtrak in Chicago, we made our way to meet our Uber driver Aydyn in a clean new silver Toyota Highlander hybrid. Rules in the back seat in our Uber read: “No smoking or vaping; no eating or drinking; wear your seatbelt and… stay alive.” A seemingly simple command that last one. Stay alive. Be alive. Live life. Don’t let the workaday demands arrest your zeal. Don’t let that glowing, wretched artificial entertainer in your living room steal too many precious hours. Don’t let your doubts or fears hold you back from your adventures. Get outside. Experience God’s natural kingdom. Relate and love people. Let the good in you become good to others. I write these words as much as a reminder to myself before I settle back into my routine existence. And I hope that future Uber drivers will continue to remind me… stay alive.
To Lecy and Geeto: Remember when the ride was young and we rode with the sun… ride on you crazy pilgrims.
Blog out.
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