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.