When bike touring in remote areas  there’s lots of time to think.  On this trip, through some of the remotest parts of the country,  some brain space went to mileage calculations – what percent of the day’s ride has been completed at a given point, miles to go – but there was ample alone time for reflection.  I thought a lot about lessons I could learn carry over from this bike tour into other aspects of my life.  Here are some lessons I hope will stick with me as I go back to my life in the Twin Cities:

• Uphills and downhills are all relative, and all part of the journey.  Especially when riding next to streams (as we did for much of our trip) it was often difficult to tell whether a stretch of road went uphill or downhill;  as in an M.C. Escher drawing there were optical illusions where uphill stretches looked like downhills,  and vice-versa.  When we rode upstream along a river (as we did for instance for 71 miles along the Lochsa River) long uphill stretches seemed flat even though we knew we were climbing.  Life lessons?   Sometimes we can be gaining altitude and not even realizing it as long, as we keep moving forward. Uphills and downhills are all relative, and all part of the journey. Thinking about whether we were going uphill or downhill at any shorter-term point wasn’t helpful,  and crowded out brain-space for more positive and productive thinking.   What was important was to keep advancing, with hope and trust that we would get to our destination.

• Be conscious of, and thankful for,  tailwinds.   Tailwinds are out there helping us along on much of our journey, even if they’re so subtle and we can barely feel them.  It’s easy to take for granted how much of a difference they can make in a journey.  Moving forward I want to be more aware of, and grateful for, the gentle tailwinds at my back, especially family and friends.  And I would like to provide more gentle tailwind for others;  maybe the kind that’s so subtle that people aren’t even aware that it’s there, but that is gently helping them move forward on their journeys.

• Headwinds are part of the journey.    As opposed to tailwinds, it’s challenging not to have headwinds front-of-mind,  especially when we’re tired or struggling.  But to whatever extent we can, it’s beneficial not to let them become too much of a focus.  They’re temporary.  They make us stronger – headwinds which were daunting on week one were much more manageable on week three because they had made us stronger.  Most importantly,  they’re part of the journey;  we can’t move forward without them.  And the tailwinds will return soon and feel all the sweeter when they do.

• Start early.  Given the record-setting heat wave in the West we didn’t really have a choice,  but this trip underscored that summer biking is best experienced in the early morning when the temps are cooler, the light warmer, the roads less travelled, mists in the fields, birds singing…. Time stood still.   Per Van Morrison, these early morning rides stoned me to my soul.

• There are angels in our midst, and we can be one too.   Like Lewis and Clark, whose route we largely followed for hundreds of miles, we encountered in our journey at least four Sacajawea-like angels who, very fortunately for us, were flying close to the ground.  These people enabled us to keep moving forward at critical points when the mission was at risk, asking nothing in return. All of these folks had lives to lead and lots of other things to do rather than help us. All of them could have easily said no and kept on moving past us.  But they stopped and were totally focused on helping us.  We can do this too.  We just need to see the opportunities, and then like these folks, stop what we’re doing to help.  And not ask for anything in return except for the satisfaction of having helped others stay on track on their journeys.  

Here’s a quote Becky from Adventure Cycling magazine about a long bike tour which Becky and I liked.  “Remember the bigger goal… I will forever be grateful that I listened to that voice in me that told me to go.” 

Special thanks to Chris and Mary Ann for taking a month away from their vegetable garden and other responsibilities to do this ride with me and make my dream of riding across the U.S. possible.   Without their willingness, this journey could have been one which got pushed off from year to year until one realizes that it’s just not going to happen.   Chris and Mary Ann overcame lots of challenges before we got to that Yellowstone sign.  I’ll be forever grateful to them for saying “yes”.

Special thanks to Becky for her unwavering support and encouragement of this dream of crossing the U.S. on bikes with friends. Her positive, loving spirit was there for every mile of the journey.

And thank you – family and friends – for being gentle tailwinds helping us along….