Reflections

Having had some time now to at least start to adjust to life not on the road, it seems a good time to reflect on my vagabonding. I learned and experienced much more than I thought I would, and by the nature of learning, much of it was things I didn't expect (else I would have known it already).

First of all, people are generally good. Really, truly good. I had very little bad experiences with people (that is, who were "people" rather than "drivers", because that human goodness has a strange way of ending at the car door) throughout my whole trip westward. Strangers I knew only through websites let me into their homes and roam freely, complete strangers let me camp in their yard or porch, friends and family donated to my adventure, as did an awesome man I met on the road, people in Nebraska made me breakfast when I camped in city parks just because, a bakery owner here in Washington gave me free food...I could go on forever about the hospitality I've received biking cross country. And this is the experience affirmed by every other bicyclist I've met on the way. Not only are people generally more than happy to help you, as a cross country cyclist they find your story interesting enough that they often act like its a favor to them to provide you assistance. They want to play the heroic role in your story. And of course you couldn't be happier to give it to them.

It's seldom easy, and sometimes it isn't fun, but it's always worth it. I took shelter from hail under a bridge, rained on, covered in mud, sunburned, spent a night in Yellowstone curled in a ball to stay warm, and got a rather sore rear, and I wouldn't take back a moment of it. You simply can't know until you do it what it feels like to bike a mountain range, struggle and strain, fight a wind storm, reach a pass of close to 10,000 feet (9666, I'll never forget), be surrounded by snow in the Summer, and then finally get to spend all that potential energy karma you've accumulated, as you rush down a canyon at crazy speeds, your hands numb on the bars. It's something you've earned, purely yours, simple physics, coming up and then coming down, and it is satisfaction and fulfilment I've never felt before. You earn every mile. You have a machine to make your energy use more efficient, but there's no dead dinosaur fuel involved; it's all you. And that makes bike touring a whole other animal from other forms of travel. The distances are more real, the effort makes the sights more incredible, you are truly exposed to the elements and to actual troubles outside a safe metal box, and people respond to you in a whole other way (usually with a mix of respect and thinking you're crazy). It's like living in another world.

You realize how little you need. Every item you carry is a burden that you are lugging around, and that puts it in a whole other perspective. You need to eat, sleep, hydrate, keep well, stay warm, and maintain your equipment, and everything else is really just excess isn't it? When you can leave them behind for 5 weeks, are you really sure you need those sentimental objects? It's liberating leaving things behind and having all you need in a small space. And while I did miss television and video games and such, I'm truly amazed by how much I really didn't. My phone, in the limited times I was in the position for such, met all my electronic entertainment needs. There's a simple joy to a life governed by food, sleep, and covering the distance to get it. Goodness, showers and beds feel so much better and food tastes so much better, it's like appreciating it for the first time all over again.

Almost anyone can do it. I witnessed firsthand and heard tales of people of all ages, shapes, gender, and background picking up their lives and going bike touring. Generally it's the young and old, the in betweens, those not yet in a career or those already done, but there are certainly exceptions. The barriers holding people back are mostly illusory, artificial, or self-imposed. ...Of course there's nothing wrong with the sensible decision not to get on your bike and go, and there is something to be said for good planning, but there's a lot waiting to happen if you pull the trigger.

And the road does provide. One way or another. Through great people you meet, sights you see, good times, and through hard times and trial, you don't always get what you want, but there does seem a way of you finding what you need.

My next, and likely last for some time, post will be a list of my personal advice for anyone who wants to bike tour (i.e. how not to be as dumb as I was).