A Matter of Perspective (July 31, 2015)

Sunrise ... or sunset?

After what can only be described as a very difficult and depressing several weeks of riding into strong headwinds every day, I am very comfortably taking a few days of R'n'R south of Bend, OR.  My good and long-time friend Bill Burk has a wonderfully calm home nestled in the pine country ... quiet, serene and spiritually uplifting ... the world has once again become good.

Since the last posting, I have passed through Lewiston, ID/Clarkston, WA, Walla Walla, WA, and fought the wind along the Columbia River before heading south to the Bend area.  Riding into the wind along the river was extremely difficult ... three days of five-hour rides at around 25 miles per day.  But that is all behind me now.  In a few days I will be heading over to Eugene, then up to Portland (via Amtrak ... yes!!!).  A week from this evening I will once again be placing my feet on Tucson soil (YES, YES, YES!!!).

I am having a difficult time of figuring out this summer's ride.  While I have seen and experienced many locations and things that I have not experienced before, there seems to be an emptiness in it all.  Yes, many a mile was covered, and yes, many a day has gone by since leaving Globe, AZ on March 24 ... but I just can not figure out what I accomplished by doing this ... total mileage covered does not bring to me a sense of purposeful accomplishment (more a sense of "pointless pedaling", as a friend once labeled my adventures).  I met some interesting folks out on the road and continue to communicate with a few of them, which is rewarding.  I saw parts of the country I had not seen before (and frankly, don't plan to see again).  And I am terribly homesick for Tucson.  So at this point I just don't know ...

At this point I am having a difficult time thinking about the possibility of doing, or not doing, future rides.  At this point I am having difficulty in thinking about how to fill my days upon returning to Tucson.  At this point I just don't know ...

Perspective pretty much controls one's mental outlook and decisions ... is life good or bad?  ... does the future hold promise of interesting and challenging experiences? ... and most importantly, what's it all about, Alfie??

Perspective ..... sunrise or sunset?  The adjacent photo was taken at Lake Yellowstone, and is a sunrise.  Maybe that is an omen of where my life goes from here.


_____________

On a side note, today my nephew, Sky, is getting married in Santa Barbara.  Min and Sky, I wish you much happiness, good health ... and a very joyful life together.

On another side note, my granddaughter just celebrated (or rather her parents celebrated) her first birthday ... as is true of all good grandparents, I have a Power Point presentation (of Noe) I can email to you upon request!

Headin' home (July 21, 2015)

I had been planning on riding up to Seattle, then back down to Oregon prior to flying home in mid September.  No more ... now I am heading to Oregon directly and eliminating about a month of riding. Having been on the road for about 120 days, and having faced continual headwinds, I made the decision to cut this ride short. 

I am currently in Idaho, and will be reaching Clarkson, WA tomorrow.  Then on to Walla Walla, the Columbia River, Bend, Eugene and finally Portland. 

The adjacent photo is one of the many views one gets when riding along the Lochsa River.  Water level is lower than usual, and the air is "unseasonably" hot, but at least the wind let up yesterday.  The nice thing about riding along the river is that it is a gentle downhill ride ... ahhhh.

Flying home August 7.  Feels good to be heading home, even if it means several more weeks of riding.

Progress (July 16, 2015)

It has been about a week since last posting, so thought I would give a quick update regarding my travels ... lots of miles, lots of rain, lots of wind!!

This morning I am in Butte, Montana, and should reach Missoula in a couple of days.

The adjacent photo is of the Grand Tetons, which are spectacular.  From the Tetons, the route takes one into Yellowstone National Park.  Lots and lots of people and lots of miles of dangerous sections of road.

Currently heading west into the unrelenting easterly winds.  Not very exciting days, just long, hard rides.  I am getting pretty tired.

Without a lot of enthusiasm ... time to head out the door.

High Point (July 9, 2015)

As other cycling tourist  will tell you, seeing the sign in the adjacent photo is definitely a high point in a day's ride.  For me it was THE high point of the past week of riding.

After my visit with Ilene and Larry in Castle Rock, I rode north along the eastern face of the Rockies, passing through Denver and on up to Ft. Collins.  These were easy days.

From Ft. Collins I headed to Laramie, Wyoming ... a 77 mile day.  The high point of the day (actually the low point) started with about 27 miles remaining.  There had been a few light rains interspersed with warm/drying periods, so I had not been putting on my rain jacket and pants.  It began to sprinkle again ... but instead of enjoying a following warm spell, it began to pour.  Thinking it would let-up, I rode on.   Bad decision!  As it continued to pour heavily, I finally stopped to put on my jacket; however, the pants were at the bottom of one of the front panniers.  I did not want to get the contents of that pannier soaked, so I rode on in my (thoroughly soaked) shorts.

The wind picked up and it continued to pour.  Cars were stopping along the road or driving at about 20 mph with their flashers flashing due to the extreme down pour ... I had no where to find shelter, so I continued on to Laramie.  Three hours of this left me shivering and somewhat dazed, but I found a hotel and survived to ride another day.

The following "another day" was a 100 miler to Rawlins, followed by  two 65 mile days to Landers, WY.  Each of these days included periods of heavy rain (for which I was prepared with my rain gear readily accessible).  Wyoming is vast ... but other than earth and things that grow (other than trees), there just isn't anything here ... just mountains and grasslands.

Upon waking this morning in Landers, I intended to load it all up again for a 75 mile day to Dubois (pronounced "Da Boys") ... but just could not get it going, so I am taking an unplanned rest day.

From here, I will be heading to Yellowstone, then to Seattle by way of Missoula.  I am planning to reach Seattle somewhere around August 2nd.  I will be meeting up with Sarah, whom I met last year on the Sierra Cascades ride.  We will probably do a short multi-day ride somewhere in the Seattle/Victoria Island/Vancouver, B.C. area.  I also hope to see Linda and Ned Scarey (ex-sister- and brother-in-law) while in Seattle.

After leaving the Seattle area around August 12th, I plan on riding west and south around the Olympic Peninsula, make a couple of stops in Eugene and Bend, then fly home from Portland around the 1st of September.

But for today, I will be resting ... and for today, that is certainly the high point.

Finally ... (July 1, 2015)

...  out of Kansas ... out of the wind ... out of the depression that can some times overtake a long distance bike ride.

Ah, but life is good.  I am currently taking a few day's R&R at Ilene and (cousin) Larry McLain's house in Castle Rock, CO (just south of Denver), and life could not be more enjoyable at this moment.  Huge afternoon rain storm ... and rather than sitting on the wee bike saddle peddling through the wetness, I have been sitting on their spacious (covered) porch watching the downpour.

As to Kansas and wind, I had reached my limit.  The only thing I was looking forward to was getting out of both.  After leaving Greensburg, KS, I spent a headwind-filled day reaching Dodge City.  I think my best memory of Dodge City was the leaving of Dodge City ... hot, dusty, crummy, etc., etc., etc.  Passed a few of the massive beef processing plants (called slaughter houses in earlier times) that provide much of the beef products available at your local supermarket, and was amused at the general layout of the facility.  At the east end of the site was a seemingly endless line of cattle-hauling tractor/trailers, and at the west end a similar line of refrigerated tractor/trailers.  I do not think any of us want to know what goes on between these two lines of trucks.

After another day of riding into the headwinds out of the southwest, and seeing no end to this wind pattern, I decided to head north.  I knew it would be a long day between Garden City and Oakley (85 miles) and knew from the weather predictions that the wind would be coming out of the northwest late in the day, but I thought I could cover most of the mileage before getting into the headwinds.  Oh how wrong I was.  At about mile 20 the winds hit me leaving 65 miles of once again riding into a headwind.  I really don't know what I have done to piss off Aeolus, but I must have done something quite sinful.

After that painfully long day getting into Oakley, I took it easy, once again heading west.  Headwind conditions continued but with a lesser velocity ... but three mid-30 mile days brought me some relief.  One of the days ended in the small town of Goodland, KS, home of "The Big Easel" pictured above.  It is always interesting to see what small towns do to distinguish their town from other small towns .... Greensburg, KS = "Home of the World's Largest Hand-dug Well".

Anyway, two additional long days of riding have resulted in reaching Ilene and Larry's home ... and more importantly leaving Kansas.  As a side note about leaving Kansas, I have been reading the journals of two TransAm riders who are out ahead of me.  The first thought Kansas was a glorious, interesting and beautiful experience ... the second shares  my feelings ... want to guess which one had tailwinds and which one had headwinds??

Not jumping on the bike this morning felt wonderful.  I plan on taking another day of rest, then head north to Cheyenne.  From there I will probably head toward Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks.  After that I am not quite sure where I will go, but will be rambling around the northwest until around September 1, at which time I will be flying back to Tucson.

... finally.

Steve Correll (July 1, 2015)

A week ago, a friend passed away in his sleep.

Steve Correll was one of those quiet people that we noisey people tend to over look.  Fortunately for me, I got to know Steve via numerous GABA (Greater Arizona Bicycle Assn.) volunteering efforts at SAG stops, post-ride lunches and various registration tables.  Also, we shared many a ride with the weekly Tuesday morning group ride up Mt. Lemmon (although due to the fact that he was an exceptionally strong climber, we did not share many lengthy conversations going up the mountain).

I recall one ride up the mountain when I was feeling quite full of myself as I was hanging with Steve for quite a while ... then I noticed he was pushing his big ring and one of the smaller cog gears (needless to say, I was on my small ring and big cog gear) ... and I was breathing hard and he was effortlessly chatting away.

Two of Steve's qualities that I greatly admire are that he never spoke bad of others, and seemed to be always willing to assist others.  He loved to laugh, loved to ride and loved climbing Mt. Lemmon ... and his love of Melinda was clear to all.

His passing caused me to spend many a mile, over the past week, in contemplation of what awaits us all.  I do not fear death, I just find it interesting that we do not have much control as to how and when we exit this life.  I know there are several trite sayings indicating how we should conduct our lives, but I do believe it is true ... we should think about the quality of our remaining days, not the quantity of our remaining days.

I am happy that I shut down my own noise long enough to get to know Steve ... but I am greatly saddened by the fact that he is gone.