(Oops. I put this aside to reread and it got lost in the busyness of my life at home. It's now been several weeks and this is still pretty much how things feel.)
We've been off the bikes for a week, and home for five days. All my dreams are still about being out on the bike. The second night on my own bed, I woke up feeling not at all sure that I knew where I was, but slowly, slowly, things are starting to feel normal. If there is such a thing.
Last night as I settled down to read, I saw a big flash of light. Bruce had seen a couple, too, so we climbed up in the big window seat to see what was going on. The sky was clear above us. The moon was almost full, and was shining down. There was a thick blanket of fog, very low to the water. We could see the tops of the Bay Bridge's lighted cables. But within a very few minutes, I saw a huge lightning bolt strike somewhere in or around the Marina. Hmm. I really though we were home, but home never has that sort of weather. We continued to see flashes of lighning, although no more were as close or as vivid. After all the summer's weather excitement, I felt almost guilty, as though the more severe weather had somehow followed us back.
Even before we left, I wondered what it would feel like to have done this. Would we want to toss our bikes in the Atlantic and be through? Would we wish we could simply turn around and ride back to the west coast? Would we be physically exhausted, or stronger than we could have imagined at the start? Would we be really, really excited to be able to change into different clothes?
So I gave it a week, and here's what I have been thinking.
Our routines are so well established that I fell back into mine pretty easily. I remembered all my passwords at work. I knew which bus lines I wanted to take if I wasn't riding my bike. I even remembered most of the places I had left things in the house, and since we had only gotten the drawers built fairly recently, that was not something I could be too sure of. I went to tap today, and my feet don't seem to have frozen up from three months of bike shoes. Home is very welcome. Getting back is every bit as good as I expected it to be.
I did not want to throw the bike in the Atlantic. I actually felt quite sad about ahving to leave it to be shipped home. Fortunately, my other bike is here so I have been able to commute on it and go out on my first Velo Girls ride in months.
Some days, I almost feel as if it didn't happen. Then someone asks me a question about the trip, and I start answering and the memories flood back and fill my brain. I am once again in the Michigan Upper Peninsula, or discovering North Dakota, or Montana. I am thinking of views, of special places we stayed, of spectacular birds, of (the relatively rare) good meals, long days, short days, hard days, easy days.
Then I get back to work and it is once again as if I had never been away.
So, the big questions:
Would I do it again?
No. Too long to be away from home, from friends and family, from other things I really love to do, like tap, and my work.
What would I do differently on another bike tour?
I'd attach more importance to support. On a long distance ride, I would like to have more flexibility in the schedule. On the other hand, having all those reservations was very reassuring. But the trips I would choose first right now would have us stay for several days, maybe even weeks, at a single place, and do rides out from it, or maybe even rides from nearby locations we could drive to. I would like to get to know areas more thoroughly.
How soon would I think of doing another long bike tour? How long would it be?
I'd be ready to go almost any time. It would be anything from a long weekend to a 4-6 week tour.
Where would it be?
Almost anywhere. There were several parts of our route that we would like to see more of. Eastern Washington, Montana, Minnesota & Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula, New England. It would also be fun to do more exploration of the west coast. I would like to complete the parts of the coast we have not yet ridden - Seattle to Mendocino. Bruce would probably choose to do the new Adventure Cycling route in the Sierras. I would like to spend some time in the deserts, especially in Arizona and New Mewxico. France. Italy. Australia. I guess we have a lot of riding to look forward to.
Am I glad we went?
Absolutely. This is an amazing country. I have a better sense of its size and diversity, of the amount of space we still have dedicated to wilderness. I am more than ever certain I am lucky to live in the San Francisco area, but also more certain that I am lucky to live in the United States. We met people everywhere we went who were kind and thoughtful. We tend to think diversity means the cultural and ethnic diversity we enjoy in our area; I have now seen firsthand that there are lots and lots of life elements in rural states that would feel very unfamiliar to us. We should not underestimate their importance.
What about the clean clothes?
I hope I will never again take that for granted!!!!
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
4200 miles, some details
Days away: 98
Ride days: 68
Highest miles in a day: 99
Lowest miles in a ride day: 10
Average miles per day (all): 43
Average miles per ride day: 62
Total pedal strokes: 1,470,000
Total calories burned: 96,600
Rest days: 30, including Vermont wedding time and Connecticut babysitting
Different places stayed: 72
States visited: 10, including Ontario
Days per state:
Washington, 10
Idaho, 1
Montana, 22
North Dakota, 12
Vermont (no riding), 5
Minnesota, 6
Wisconsin, 5
Michigan, 14
Ontario, 4
New York, 10
Massachusetts, 6
Connecticut, 3 (no riding)
Named passes climbed:
Rainy & Washington, 5477'
Loup-Loup, 4020'
Wauconda, 4310'
Marias, 5213'
Kings Hill, 7385' (highest altitude reached)
Bike issues:
3 new tires, 2 flats (Winnie), 2 new tires, 4 flats (Bruce)
2 tune-ups & chain replacements each, one new big ring (Winnie)
No big problems on the road
Weather issues:
3 days of mostly rain, 4 with significant showers, several with minor showers
2 days when thunderstorms took us off the road
Extreme heat & humidity in parts of North Dakota & Minnesota
1 tornado siren
1 tropical storm
Health issues:
Almost none. 1 minor cold, 1 brief episode of conjunctivitis, occasional mild tingly hands, plenty of saddle sores (went away as soon as weather cooled down), plenty of sore muscles, although they, too, had pretty much disappeared by the end. No falls.
Best food: Whitefish, Minneapolis, Blue Mountain Lake, Natick (not much in the most rural areas)
Places we'll want to see again: eastern Washington, Montana, especially the areas near Glacier and Choteau, Michigan upper peninsula & Lake Michigan shore, Minnesota, especially near Xanadu & Minneapolis, Wisconsin, the Adirondacks, western Massachusetts. In other words, almost everywhere we went.
Favorite hotels, motels, B&Bs: The Listening Inn, Horse Creek B&B, Bullfrog B&B, DelMonte Lodge, Freestone Inn, Lodge at Sand Point, Pine Butte Guest Ranch, Bunkhouse B&B, Hemlock Hall, Xanadu Island B&B, Great Northern Motel, Edgewater Inn, Garden Gate B&B, Inn on the Harbour, and there are lots more we would be happy to see again.
Best birds: eagles, bald and golden, ospreys, evening grosbeaks, lazuli buntings, Wilson's phalaropes, pileated woodpeckers, sandhill cranes.
Best views: Northern Cascades, parts of Montana, Great Lakes where shoreline was accessible, Highway 12 between Miles City & Baker, Montana.
Interesting people: the Glacier waiter who planned to sail & paddle a kayak from there to his Florida home; the quietly amazing couple at the Listening Inn who know their land & its creatures incredibly well, the 82-year-old woman who runs a B&B alone & made us breakfast on the wood stove, the guy in the Cascades who spends much of his year wandering on his Bike Friday, stealth-camping & doing an occasional Couch-Surfing night, and so many others.
Best people out there: Aline & Jim, Willie, Kitty, Stephanie & Ben, Liz & Raven. Without them we would have struggled far more to get comfortable with the trip, would have eaten far less well, would have feared the weather more, would have so missed the chance to have their company!
Ride days: 68
Highest miles in a day: 99
Lowest miles in a ride day: 10
Average miles per day (all): 43
Average miles per ride day: 62
Total pedal strokes: 1,470,000
Total calories burned: 96,600
Rest days: 30, including Vermont wedding time and Connecticut babysitting
Different places stayed: 72
States visited: 10, including Ontario
Days per state:
Washington, 10
Idaho, 1
Montana, 22
North Dakota, 12
Vermont (no riding), 5
Minnesota, 6
Wisconsin, 5
Michigan, 14
Ontario, 4
New York, 10
Massachusetts, 6
Connecticut, 3 (no riding)
Named passes climbed:
Rainy & Washington, 5477'
Loup-Loup, 4020'
Wauconda, 4310'
Marias, 5213'
Kings Hill, 7385' (highest altitude reached)
Bike issues:
3 new tires, 2 flats (Winnie), 2 new tires, 4 flats (Bruce)
2 tune-ups & chain replacements each, one new big ring (Winnie)
No big problems on the road
Weather issues:
3 days of mostly rain, 4 with significant showers, several with minor showers
2 days when thunderstorms took us off the road
Extreme heat & humidity in parts of North Dakota & Minnesota
1 tornado siren
1 tropical storm
Health issues:
Almost none. 1 minor cold, 1 brief episode of conjunctivitis, occasional mild tingly hands, plenty of saddle sores (went away as soon as weather cooled down), plenty of sore muscles, although they, too, had pretty much disappeared by the end. No falls.
Best food: Whitefish, Minneapolis, Blue Mountain Lake, Natick (not much in the most rural areas)
Places we'll want to see again: eastern Washington, Montana, especially the areas near Glacier and Choteau, Michigan upper peninsula & Lake Michigan shore, Minnesota, especially near Xanadu & Minneapolis, Wisconsin, the Adirondacks, western Massachusetts. In other words, almost everywhere we went.
Favorite hotels, motels, B&Bs: The Listening Inn, Horse Creek B&B, Bullfrog B&B, DelMonte Lodge, Freestone Inn, Lodge at Sand Point, Pine Butte Guest Ranch, Bunkhouse B&B, Hemlock Hall, Xanadu Island B&B, Great Northern Motel, Edgewater Inn, Garden Gate B&B, Inn on the Harbour, and there are lots more we would be happy to see again.
Best birds: eagles, bald and golden, ospreys, evening grosbeaks, lazuli buntings, Wilson's phalaropes, pileated woodpeckers, sandhill cranes.
Best views: Northern Cascades, parts of Montana, Great Lakes where shoreline was accessible, Highway 12 between Miles City & Baker, Montana.
Interesting people: the Glacier waiter who planned to sail & paddle a kayak from there to his Florida home; the quietly amazing couple at the Listening Inn who know their land & its creatures incredibly well, the 82-year-old woman who runs a B&B alone & made us breakfast on the wood stove, the guy in the Cascades who spends much of his year wandering on his Bike Friday, stealth-camping & doing an occasional Couch-Surfing night, and so many others.
Best people out there: Aline & Jim, Willie, Kitty, Stephanie & Ben, Liz & Raven. Without them we would have struggled far more to get comfortable with the trip, would have eaten far less well, would have feared the weather more, would have so missed the chance to have their company!
Friday, September 2, 2011
Made it!
What else is there to say? Late this morning we found a long pier jutting out into the Boston harbor and realized we were there at last. Or there already. Perhaps a little of each. We got a couple of pictures and moved back towards our regular lives. If you can call riding in Boston traffic anything like regular.
Right now we are in New Haven. Willie is asleep in the next room and Lillian is right next to me, working on getting sleepy. I couldn't have a better ending to our adventure.
Miles today: 30
Total miles ridden: 4200
Right now we are in New Haven. Willie is asleep in the next room and Lillian is right next to me, working on getting sleepy. I couldn't have a better ending to our adventure.
Miles today: 30
Total miles ridden: 4200
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The bird with the turquoise eye
I couldn't sleep very long this morning. It's all too exciting. We are in a very comfortable room, but I woke up thinking about our plans for the day, and our plans for tomorrow, the very last day of the ride.
Our first plan was not exactly exciting - unless it's exciting to visit our last laundromat for quite a while. We got directions from people at the hotel. They told us the shuttle driver could take us, but he had one more trip to make first. We started to walk there, but before long the shuttle pulled up beside us! The driver did not think we should have to walk. He's a nice guy from Brittany. He said he was pleased to have met us - now he had an interesting story to tell when he got home for dinner.
Once we had all that taken care of, we went over to the Wellesley campus. It is a beautiful school, and the weather was just right for a nice walk. We rode our bikes over. I had called the campus police; they kindly offered to house the bikes while we walked around Lake Waban. They really liked the idea of our trip.
We found lunch in the ultra-modern student center. Wellesley really has done a good job of integrating new with old. The food service is vadtly improved from our day, too. It was ok at Wellesley compared to other schools, but now there are all sorts of choices and apparently great flexibility in time.
After lunch we walked around the lake. I don't know how many times we took that walk while we were in school. It is a very good one. Not very long, maybe a couple of miles. There is now a boardwalk section that lets you look down into the reeds. The Honeywell estate still has the topiary hedges we remember so well; there is still the nice little stone bridge between the college president's house and the rest of the campus.
Naturally, I looked for birds as we walked. I was sort of surprised when Bruce noticed three double-crested cormorants resting on a fallen tree. Maybe the storm blew them in? Next time you see one of them, take a look. They are almost entirely black, with the dull yellow throat area (most of the time). Their eyes are a startling turquoise. A woman walking the other way seemed slightly interested. Then she looked through my binoculars & was amazed.
A couple of turtles, a family of swans, and we were back to pick up the bikes. The campus policewoman at the desk was busy working her way through a wave of students seeking their id cards, but not busy enough to fail to announce to the group what we had been up to. The students seemed, at first, to think she was joking. Then they began to stare and comment. So we left an admiring little crowd behind.
This evening we had dinner with Elisa & Michael. Elisa and I worked together a long time ago. Her second daughter was born very close to the time I had Elizabeth, and that probably was the thing that brought us close. We have stayed in touch ever since. She has been living in Massachusetts for several years now & we have managed to see her during Ride FAR. I feel so very lucky to have kept connected to lots of people over time. We really had fun this evening, and she found a great place for dinner, too.
So we are full and happy, and even more excited about tomorrow. It will be a shortish day, maybe 25 or 30 miles. Then, if I feel a little sad, I can remind myself that we spend tomorrow evening with Lillian and Willie. The perfect ending.
Miles today: 13
Total miles so far: 4170
Our first plan was not exactly exciting - unless it's exciting to visit our last laundromat for quite a while. We got directions from people at the hotel. They told us the shuttle driver could take us, but he had one more trip to make first. We started to walk there, but before long the shuttle pulled up beside us! The driver did not think we should have to walk. He's a nice guy from Brittany. He said he was pleased to have met us - now he had an interesting story to tell when he got home for dinner.
Once we had all that taken care of, we went over to the Wellesley campus. It is a beautiful school, and the weather was just right for a nice walk. We rode our bikes over. I had called the campus police; they kindly offered to house the bikes while we walked around Lake Waban. They really liked the idea of our trip.
We found lunch in the ultra-modern student center. Wellesley really has done a good job of integrating new with old. The food service is vadtly improved from our day, too. It was ok at Wellesley compared to other schools, but now there are all sorts of choices and apparently great flexibility in time.
After lunch we walked around the lake. I don't know how many times we took that walk while we were in school. It is a very good one. Not very long, maybe a couple of miles. There is now a boardwalk section that lets you look down into the reeds. The Honeywell estate still has the topiary hedges we remember so well; there is still the nice little stone bridge between the college president's house and the rest of the campus.
Naturally, I looked for birds as we walked. I was sort of surprised when Bruce noticed three double-crested cormorants resting on a fallen tree. Maybe the storm blew them in? Next time you see one of them, take a look. They are almost entirely black, with the dull yellow throat area (most of the time). Their eyes are a startling turquoise. A woman walking the other way seemed slightly interested. Then she looked through my binoculars & was amazed.
A couple of turtles, a family of swans, and we were back to pick up the bikes. The campus policewoman at the desk was busy working her way through a wave of students seeking their id cards, but not busy enough to fail to announce to the group what we had been up to. The students seemed, at first, to think she was joking. Then they began to stare and comment. So we left an admiring little crowd behind.
This evening we had dinner with Elisa & Michael. Elisa and I worked together a long time ago. Her second daughter was born very close to the time I had Elizabeth, and that probably was the thing that brought us close. We have stayed in touch ever since. She has been living in Massachusetts for several years now & we have managed to see her during Ride FAR. I feel so very lucky to have kept connected to lots of people over time. We really had fun this evening, and she found a great place for dinner, too.
So we are full and happy, and even more excited about tomorrow. It will be a shortish day, maybe 25 or 30 miles. Then, if I feel a little sad, I can remind myself that we spend tomorrow evening with Lillian and Willie. The perfect ending.
Miles today: 13
Total miles so far: 4170
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