I'm here. I don't have to get on my bike for the next month. It's good, cause my legs need some rest, and it's bad, because I feel at home on my bike. It's my life force, if you will. As the first leg of this journey comes to an end, my thoughts are directed to the following:
Leo: Bob, there's a groundbreaking new book, that has just come out, ah. Now, of course not everything in this book applies to you, but I'm sure that you can see, when you see the title, exactly how it can help.
Bob: Baby Steps?
Leo: It means setting small reasonable goals for yourself, one day at a time. One tiny step at a time.
Bob: Baby Steps!
Leo: For instance, when you leave this office, don't think of everything you have to do to get out of the building, just think of what you must do to get out of this room, and when you get to the hall, deal with that hall, and so forth. You see.
Bob: Baby Steps, oh boy! Baby Steps, Baby Steps, Baby Steps through the office, Baby Steps out the door. It works. It works. All I have to do is take one little step at a time and I can do anything. Baby Steps around the office. Baby Steps around the office.
Leo: That should give you a lot to digest while I'm on vacation.
Bob: Vacation?
As it is with Bob, so it is with me. One little step at a time and I am now in Portland. It has been an adventure. The good and the bad of traveling is that, when you are on vacation, you begin brainstorming your next vacation. Where will I ride next? I've met people along my trail that have cycled almost all of the world; all of Europe, South America, Southeast Asia, Australia. There is a lot to see on this planet of ours.
But what's next for me? I guess you could say I'm taking a vacation, from my vacation. Tomorrow morning Katy flies in to Portland, can't wait to see her. She's been a gem of wife to allow me this adventure before medical school starts in the fall. We'll poke around here for a couple days and then I'm off to Peru. I'm going to be a tourist in a distant land. Hope to see some beautiful sights and meet some people with different experiences and stories to share. Luckily I'll have my younger brother Elijah with me, turning Spanish into English. I hope to add to this blog while I'm away, but don't anticipate daily updates. We'll see what happens.
1,454 miles / 23 days on the bike = 63 milesish a day
1 pair of cycling shorts, washed them twice
dozens and dozens of bananas, best with nutella and trail mix
more rain than I would have cared for
55,262 calories burned (an equal number consumed?)
2 sore legs, feeling increasingly lethargic these past 400 miles
zero flat tires
zero days with a sore neck
two lost items, a sock and a phone charger
2 provinces and 2 states
6 ferries
and one wife kind enough to let me go
All in all, I hope to take away two important ideas from this trip, the first was written on the wall of the motel I stayed in last night:
1. "May your happiness be in your journey, and your journey never end." Enjoying the journey, and not always waiting to arrive at some distant destination is keep to happiness in this life. It was easy to be happy as I hopped on my bike each day and enjoyed the Canadian Rockies, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver Island, Olympic Peninsula and the Oregon Coast. I hope to be able to enjoy the journey 2 months from now when I'm sitting in a library late at night studying. The hardest part of this trip, you may wonder, is not logging long miles each day, it's knowing that every mile I ride won't be repeated, so I better enjoy it now cause I only get to see it once.
2. People in this world are much, much, much kinder than I ever expected. The overwhelming feeling you get watching the news is that you can't trust your neighbors, lock your doors, don't expect help from strangers, hitch hiking? are you out of your mind? Here is the thing I don't get about hitch hiking: People are afraid of picking up hitch hikers because they think they might get robbed or killed. However, hitch hikers are told not to hitch hike because it's not safe, they might get robbed or killed. Are we really afraid of everyone we don't know? Over the past 3 weeks I've stayed in the homes of complete strangers probably fifteen or so times. Each time is almost exactly the same: when I arrive I'm offered something to drink and a warm shower. They invite me to have dinner. After dinner we sit around and chat, exchange cycling stories and get advice on the next day's routes, places to see etc. Then, being cyclists themselves, they perceive my continual hunger and ask what else I would like. I eat breakfast with their family in the morning, and when they leave for work they say, make yourself at home and close the door when you leave. It's good to know people are so genuine and kind, hope to be able to return some of these same favors.
pedal -> perupedal
Leo: Bob, there's a groundbreaking new book, that has just come out, ah. Now, of course not everything in this book applies to you, but I'm sure that you can see, when you see the title, exactly how it can help.
Bob: Baby Steps?
Leo: It means setting small reasonable goals for yourself, one day at a time. One tiny step at a time.
Bob: Baby Steps!
Leo: For instance, when you leave this office, don't think of everything you have to do to get out of the building, just think of what you must do to get out of this room, and when you get to the hall, deal with that hall, and so forth. You see.
Bob: Baby Steps, oh boy! Baby Steps, Baby Steps, Baby Steps through the office, Baby Steps out the door. It works. It works. All I have to do is take one little step at a time and I can do anything. Baby Steps around the office. Baby Steps around the office.
Leo: That should give you a lot to digest while I'm on vacation.
Bob: Vacation?
As it is with Bob, so it is with me. One little step at a time and I am now in Portland. It has been an adventure. The good and the bad of traveling is that, when you are on vacation, you begin brainstorming your next vacation. Where will I ride next? I've met people along my trail that have cycled almost all of the world; all of Europe, South America, Southeast Asia, Australia. There is a lot to see on this planet of ours.
But what's next for me? I guess you could say I'm taking a vacation, from my vacation. Tomorrow morning Katy flies in to Portland, can't wait to see her. She's been a gem of wife to allow me this adventure before medical school starts in the fall. We'll poke around here for a couple days and then I'm off to Peru. I'm going to be a tourist in a distant land. Hope to see some beautiful sights and meet some people with different experiences and stories to share. Luckily I'll have my younger brother Elijah with me, turning Spanish into English. I hope to add to this blog while I'm away, but don't anticipate daily updates. We'll see what happens.
1,454 miles / 23 days on the bike = 63 milesish a day
1 pair of cycling shorts, washed them twice
dozens and dozens of bananas, best with nutella and trail mix
more rain than I would have cared for
55,262 calories burned (an equal number consumed?)
2 sore legs, feeling increasingly lethargic these past 400 miles
zero flat tires
zero days with a sore neck
two lost items, a sock and a phone charger
2 provinces and 2 states
6 ferries
and one wife kind enough to let me go
All in all, I hope to take away two important ideas from this trip, the first was written on the wall of the motel I stayed in last night:
1. "May your happiness be in your journey, and your journey never end." Enjoying the journey, and not always waiting to arrive at some distant destination is keep to happiness in this life. It was easy to be happy as I hopped on my bike each day and enjoyed the Canadian Rockies, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver Island, Olympic Peninsula and the Oregon Coast. I hope to be able to enjoy the journey 2 months from now when I'm sitting in a library late at night studying. The hardest part of this trip, you may wonder, is not logging long miles each day, it's knowing that every mile I ride won't be repeated, so I better enjoy it now cause I only get to see it once.
2. People in this world are much, much, much kinder than I ever expected. The overwhelming feeling you get watching the news is that you can't trust your neighbors, lock your doors, don't expect help from strangers, hitch hiking? are you out of your mind? Here is the thing I don't get about hitch hiking: People are afraid of picking up hitch hikers because they think they might get robbed or killed. However, hitch hikers are told not to hitch hike because it's not safe, they might get robbed or killed. Are we really afraid of everyone we don't know? Over the past 3 weeks I've stayed in the homes of complete strangers probably fifteen or so times. Each time is almost exactly the same: when I arrive I'm offered something to drink and a warm shower. They invite me to have dinner. After dinner we sit around and chat, exchange cycling stories and get advice on the next day's routes, places to see etc. Then, being cyclists themselves, they perceive my continual hunger and ask what else I would like. I eat breakfast with their family in the morning, and when they leave for work they say, make yourself at home and close the door when you leave. It's good to know people are so genuine and kind, hope to be able to return some of these same favors.
pedal -> perupedal
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