Message from Chris: Thanks, Joe for the invite to join you on this ride. Even in “desolate” stretches, we found spectacular natural beauty and friendly, generous people. And, as retirees not entirely clear on our current abilities, it was reassuring to be able to meet the various challenges of this trip: our go-to response to shoulders too narrow, to hills too steep, to traffic too thick – was to get off the bike and walk … and that served us well.
Thanks, too, Joe, for being such an agreeable and determined companion on this trip. My only regret is that we did not keep some record of our respective calories ingested – you certainly were far more efficient than I in converting calories to miles – maybe it was due to the choice of beverage we each had each evening – on more than one occasion, the waitress suggested that she bring an entire pitcher of lemonade to the table.
Message from Joe: This segment of the transcontinental ride completed, we are staying with dear friends Karen and Brad Quinn at their lovely vacation home in Winter Park. There was a gentle rain through the night and I woke to a Dylan line playing in my head, “Try imagining a place where it’s always safe and warm / Come in she said I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”
I’m filled with gratitude for the blessing of lifelong good friends, for the love of family, and for the safe completion of a long and mountainous segment of the sea-to-shining sea trek.
I’m grateful to my trek companion Chris, who is an ideal teammate on this trek, especially on the very challenging segments such as the one we just completed. He is positive, resolute, funny, optimistic, incredibly strong, and always sees the glass as half full. Until our next journey together, I’ll miss his remark after reaching the top of a hill, sometimes with a 25 mph wind in his face of: “Making Headway!” A good motto for life, I think.
I head back to Minneapolis tonight, very excited to be with Becky on our anniversary tomorrow. On Friday of this week, I will head down to Nebraska for a week long group ride across Nebraska, and will do the blog from there. I can’t promise purple mountains majesty from Nebraska, but maybe some fruited plains.
This has been a great segment of the journey. I head back home with reinforced desire to see and feel the magic moments around us, to be the wind at others’ backs, and to see and act on the opportunities to be angels for others. Thanks for your interest in our journey and for being a part of the wind at our back!