Nerves

  

David:

Two weeks from now, Chris and I will be driving with our friend Kathy on our way south to St. Augustine Florida to begin our cross-country bike ride.  What is the best way to spend a day like this?  I'm not sure the best way, but here's what we did.

Had brunch with close friends from Lancaster whom we hadn't seen since COVID hit. Life must go on. Spent time going over the Southern Tier maps, cross-referencing them with our Atlas of the United States.  It makes it feel very real flipping through the Atlas and the eight States we'll pass through. Walked our dog - we wonder if Callie will remember us after we're gone for almost 3 months?  We're trying to get good memories built. Tried to blow up a sleeping pad that family gave us to try out. Decided the valves didn't work for us, and bought two new ones online. Looked at a Coleman stove and compared it with a newer more compact burner. So much has changed in camping gear since we were out last:  is it important to get the newest and latest, or is there still value in the tried-and-true? Talked again about dogs: the Southern Tier maps outline very long stretches - entire States actually - where roving packs of dogs are a real issue.  Neither of us are good in a dog fight. But do we go with pepper spray, water bottles, bear spray, shrill whistles or loud air-horns? So many options.  We need Doug to give us a crash course in bike repair - tire changes at the least. But my bike isn't back from Lincoln Avenue Cycling, an amazing bike shop in Goshen, IN, that is outfitting me.  https://www.lincolnavenuecycling.com/   So next week.

Do I feel prepared for this trip?  No.  Am I scared?  Oh yeah. There are many people who have written blogs about biking the Southern Tier.  It is helpful to learn from their experience.  It can also be disheartening to read how much preparation they did, how much they knew about bikes and repairing bikes, how long they trained beforehand.  But we are heading  out with a sense of optimism. We're looking for an adventure, and that's sure to happen.  We're looking forward to spending close to 3 months together. We're looking forward to seeing a swath of this country that we have never seen in exactly this way before.  It will be okay.  We will be well.

Ready to Ride - January 4, 2023

 

David:  

 

I married into making a cross-continental bike ride. I can personalize the old saying, 

“You don’t just marry a person, you marry their family” and say, “I didn’t just marry 

Chris - I married her post-retirement dream.”  And good thing it was - on both accounts!

Just a year after getting married, Chris and I will drive to Florida and embark on a trip 

of a lifetime, she pedaling to California, and me driving the support car. Chris will tell 

you her own dreams.  One of my dreams is obviously to spend as much time as I can

 with Chris. “Whither thou goest, I will go” and all that.

Other dreams?  Is it trite to say I want to learn more about this country of ours?  

Perhaps trite, but also true. Learn more about the people in small towns along the way? 

Also true. Learn more about myself? Although I won’t be facing challenges of physical 

exertion and endurance like Chris, the logistics of camping and life on the road will bring 

plenty of learning experiences.

Can a dream consist of hoping to be surprised? 

By kindred spirits we’ll meet along the way?

By opportunities to support others?  

By unimaginable beauty? 

By the delights of a delayed honeymoon?  

By clarity about what to do with our lives when we return to Marcellus? 

Whatever happens - this is where you’ll read about it first.  

I look forward to these conversations.

 

 

Chris: 

 

From where did I get this crazy idea?  A few years ago my big brother Sidney asked me 

to ride with him 400 miles from Buffalo, New York to Albany, alongside the Erie Canal.  

The first night of that week-long trip we met a pair of brothers who had just biked 

cross-country from Oregon to Maine, and my dream was born.

During COVID, when I was single and home alone, I spent hours dreaming and plotting 

and planning and reading blogs of the adventures of solo bikers.  And then along came 

David. I might have said something like, "I'm doing this trip and you can come along or 

you can stay at home, but I'm going."  I'm glad he decided to accompany me.

What do I most fear?  Dogs.  And cars.  Of not completing the entire trip.  

What do I most look forward to?  All the people I meet along the way.  

Stopping at little libraries.  Arriving at the campsite to eat David's fine cooking and sitting 

around a fire together and the feeling of accomplishment from a physically taxing workout.

I also look forward to our return and rereading this first entry and thinking, 

"Wow, I was so naive in my fears and expectations." Because that's just how life is.  

We have no idea how utterly terrible and how incredibly beautiful it will be in the coming 

year. I expect to experience both of those realities from the seat of my bike as I roll west.