Training and Packing

We biked 240 miles this week—two long rides (68 and 80 miles, respectively) with barely any wind and fewer hills; and three shorter rides with much wind and several hills.  That 20-mph sidewind was a challenge today!   

Our bikes and 80 pounds of our gear leave tomorrow for California.  We'll bring the other 40 pounds with us next week.   Choosing what to bring is an interesting experience, to say the least.   I’m already getting the itch to go through some closets to get rid of things I do not need or use.  Why do we let ourselves accumulate so much stuff? 

We leave a week from today.  Since our bikes have shipped, we won’t be able to ride for a whole week.  It feels counterproductive, but they--that is, Barb--says it’s good to take a break before the tour begins.  I’ve never done anything like this before, so I’ll take her word for it. 

I’m looking forward to a seven-hour retreat of silence and solitude tomorrow with 15 other retreatants.  It will be hard to let go of my to-do list but it’s what I need.  I want to be fully present and attentive.

This post resembles how I feel.  Scattered.  There are so many things to take care of before we leave.  I jump from one thing to another and back to the first.  I get to the end of the day and remember the things I did not get done.  One thing I/we did get done today was to meet up with my mom at the Ireton Super-Stop for a snack break before we turned around on our morning ride.  When I was in middle school (we called it junior high back then) I wanted to bike the five miles to Ireton on my 3-speed Schwinn bicycle, but as I remember it, I wasn’t allowed to bike to town.  One time, I road within a half-mile.  I know, living on the edge, right?  And now, just to think, I am planning, the Lord willing, to bike across North America! 

One of the things on my to-do list is to make a sign to put on my bike that says “End Poverty”.   We’re biking Sea to Sea to raise awareness and money, and this would be a way for people to know what we’re about, even if they don’t talk to us but just see us on their roads.  I’ll post a picture of it on the ride.

I have way more thoughts than I have time to write.