2017 - Day 68 - Snohomish, WA

I apologize, blog fans, for not keeping everything up to date in the last 2 weeks.  It certainly is not the case that nothing happened during that time; I will definitely post more about what went on during that time.  But I just didn't get around to updating the blog.  I realize now that I need the structure of the bike rides to keep up to date with the blogging.  I think that at some level I feel that my life when I'm not on the bike is not interesting enough to be worth blogging about, which is a thought that might be worth pursuing at some point.  But anyway, on to the blogging.  Yesterday I did, in fact, get on a Bolt Bus from Portland to Seattle at 6:30 in the morning, get off the bus, hit up the flagship REI, get some work done there, and then - loading everything I have with me on to my bike - ride 37 miles to Snohomish, WA so I could hang out with the best group of people I know, my Northern Tier team.  It was very challenging and gives me new respect for those who ride fully loaded.  It was a fun challenge, though, and there was a great bike path and the weather was beautiful and so I arrived, soaked with sweat, at the laundromat where my friends sat, still a bit incredulous I think that I had actually ridden all that way just to hang out at a laundromat with them.  But it was totally worth it.  I met some new folks who had joined them in the interim, and slept beautifully, out under the stars one more time.  There were drinks had, and then there was the Bike the US For MS tradition: filling out the cards.  Basically everybody gets an index card and we pass them around, with each person writing something anonymously on each card.  For posterity's sake, here was my list:  

- The Smartest Person I Know
- Most likely to utter words that you would least expect to hear.  And it would be very entertaining.
- Strong rider
- most interesting person I've ever met :) in the best way possible
- BEST STORY TELLER
- You are loved
- IT Guy - Good Advice - Nice Guy
- Funny
- "Most likely to lose a bishop that doesn't exist" (this is because I was working on this Virtual Reality chess game that I showed some of them)
- "...or a straw that does"
- seemed very cool WISH YOU'D STAYED LONGER
- I loved your going away speech - still remember it (I gave this sobbing tearful going away speech, I think about how it's hard to make friends when you're older)
- So Glad To Have You Back To Roll In With Us (I'd left and come back to the ride)
- More life experience than you could ever imagine
- An amazing friend.  I would not have made it to Seattle without your help
- Getting to know you was enjoyable.  Settle down & relaax one of these years.
- Drinks in Buffalo!  Keep doing you.  (I'm guessing this is Brian who lives in Buffalo)

More about the other days later.

2017 - Day 56 - Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas, NV

Yesterday I got to do something I'd wanted to do for a while, ride the loop road at Red Rock Canyon.  It's approximately 16 miles total.  The first 5-6 miles is a fairly steady 1000' climb, in the 105 degree Nevada heat.  I met some nice people who wanted to chat about cycling, and another couple who offered me water.  At one point I had so much sweat dripping in my eyes I thought I might have to quit, and then I remembered my MS bandanna!  So I was so grateful to the folks from the Cleveland clinic once again for helping me even across all the miles.  I stopped off at a couple of places I hadn't seen yet but didn't see anything too interesting, and then it was an 8-10 mile descent, out of the canyon and then along Route 159 back to my car.  I'd forgotten to take my pass with me but they waved me on through, and about an hour and a half later I was back at my car.  It was quite a nice ride, even in the heat.

2017 - Day 51 - Hollywood, CA

Today was mostly driving, but one mildly interesting thing did happen today which is what I'm going to blog about; in stopping by LA I got to go to Umami Burger and eat an Impossible Burger.  For those who don't know, Impossible is one of a handful of companies trying to break through to the next level of creating meat without having an actual dead animal.  They claim to have broken the code of meat, by using a heck of a lot more science and being very meticulous about creating the actual constituent parts of meat, instead of just messing with grains to try and make something meat-esque.  So, the big questions:  Is it delicious?  Yes, definitely.  Does it taste like meat?  Yeah, it does, actually.  Would you be able to tell the difference in a blind taste test?  Yeah, you would.  It's the texture that gives it away.  Don't get me wrong; it's close.  It's a hell of a lot closer than anything else I've ever tried.  But it still isn't quite right.  It's a bit too soft and the strands are too, well, strand-y, for lack of a better word.  I will say this, though: at some level, I felt as though I was having an actual meat experience.  Like, not to be gross, but I totally had those satisfying cheeseburger burps a half hour later.  It went really well with cheese and grilled onions on a bun.  One of the secret ingredients is this thing called heme, and it really does feel a lot like blood; it runs into the lettuce and turns a sort of brown and it's satisfyingly fatty and salty and sorta, well, meat-y.  It looks pretty good, too; not perfect, but close.  It has kind of a potato-chip-y sorta feeling, not in a bad way but just in the way it browns up on the bottom.  I definitely could see people getting into it if they can get the cost down.  It's close enough to meat that I wouldn't miss actual meat, to be totally honest.  I mean, I'm not a big meat guy per se, but what I am is a cheeseburger guy, and to make a good cheeseburger the meat is just one part, and this stuff is good enough to play the part.  I'd like to see what it tastes like if you cook it up medium-rare, actually.  And maybe salt it a bit more.

It's clearly a major step forward, that's for sure.  Way way better than a veggie patty or some other junk.  I'd eat it again, for sure, especially if it didn't cost $16.

2017 - Day 49/50 - Cook County Campground, CA

The last two days of the festival were a ton of fun.  I was sad to leave the group on the ride, but looking back over the whole experience, I feel clearly that I made the right choice.  It's always nice when that happens and you don't have any regrets.  The main point of the trip was to connect with my brother, and that was a total success.  We laughed at Bananaphone, we tubed down the river over and over again, and I enjoyed myself.  We took it pretty esay; we didn't exactly rage.  One night we just went to sleep on a giant king sized bed out under the trees in the Grove.  And we drank a lot of coffee and, to a lesser extent, a bunch of booze.  The natural setting was really the star here; we camped ten feet from the river and could just get in and slowly float down next to a stage where DJs were spinning hits.  From a *music* standpoint, I can't say I got too much out of it; the music was more of the ambient soundtrack for the weekend.  The one band we made a point to go and see was Nombe, and they were really good - until they decided to play the same song four times for an encore (because they were shooting a music video)!  Kind of a giant middle finger to the audience.

It was also fun to reconnect with Breckin.

So lots of good memories; I'm exhausted but it was worth it.

Oh, and there will be more pictures; my brother took a lot of them, and he uses this old-fashioned device called a "camera", so they have to get uploaded later.

2017 - Day 47/48 - San Francisco, CA and Cook County Campground, CA

I suppose now is as good a time as ever to launch into the killer blog post, the wall of text.  First, though, the basics: Two days ago I left Carlsbad and drove up through LA, stopping off to see somebody briefly and then head up to San Francisco.  It was a hell of a drive; there was traffic, there was a brush fire, and I ended up getting in at 1:30 AM and getting 5 quick hours of sleep before launching up to Northern Nights, a music festival, with my brother, which is where I spent most of yesterday.  The point of the trip was to hang out with and bond with my brother, and on that score it's been a smashing success; it's good to see him, and the good news is that, all things considered, he looks good.

It's at times like these, when I have time to think, that it really comes home how important it is that all of us each take individual responsibility for figuring out how to make ourselves happy.  It's my job - or maybe even my delight - to try to figure out, out of all the ways to pass this short time on this earth, what I personally want to do.  And it doesn't matter what other people think; it's just my life. 

The problem is, sometimes I don't know what I want to do.  The good news is that I do have some clarity around certain things.  I love to work out and be active.  I love Bike the US for MS.  I do want a relationship.

One of the challenges is that there are so many doors you can go through that are "almost good".  There are lots of things that I enjoy doing, with the right company.  Take the music festival I'm at this weekend, for example.  I'm having a good time; it's fun.  I like the trees, the river, the yoga, the company.  I even like the music.  But I don't feel 100% comfortable there.  It isn't exactly "my thing".  I'm not sure I could even tell you why.  Maybe it's a bit too image and style-conscious (but I kinda like those things, so....who knows). 

At times like this, I do tend to get so confused.  Sometimes that confusion even leads to a place where I feel frustrated or cynical.  But the only thing I can say is that the cynical moments don't outweigh the moments of joy.  Sometimes all you can do is stop and say "Do I have regrets?  Am I happier than I was before?  Do I feel, deep in my heart, that I'm headed the right direction?"  And the answers to all of those are "Yes".  So onward we go; right now, back to the festival and my brother and the river, and then points forward.  Onward.

2017 - Day 46 - Carlsbad, CA

Yesterday was a bit of a "filler day".  I got caught up on a lot of things work and life-related, fascinating stuff like installing drivers and buying bandages for my elbow.  The "breather time".  I snuck in a trip to the gym to run my 6.5 miles and hit up the hot tub.  Also had lunch with Geoff and John Malaska.  Filler time is something I've always struggled with, just as I struggle with delayed gratification in general.  It's so important though for life and happiness in general; one of my favorite studies is here: https://www.livescience.com/15821-cookie-test-control.html which talks about this.  And Carlsbad is not a bad place to spend a couple of days while setting up for the totally awesome weekend I'm about to have with my brother and his friends.  Did I mention I'm about to have a totally awesome weekend with my brother and his friends?  Because, I am.  Catch you on the flip side!

2017 - Day 45 - Long Beach, CA

So as time starts to pass since I left the ride behind, there's more clarity that is coming and more that I feel like writing about.  There are a few experiences and feelings that I've had since I left that are so striking that I really just can't help but write about them.  The contrast between how I've felt since I left the trip and how I felt on the trip is just so stark.  Now, I don't mean to exaggerate.  The bike trips aren't perfect; it's not some kind of nirvana.  Sometimes I'm cranky; sometimes other people are cranky.  And nothing all that bad has happened since I left, particularly.  And yet, for all that, the feeeling, the sensation is no less intense: there is a real difference in people.  When I am in the Bike the US for MS world, in general, it's a positive place to be and interact with others.  The people on the trip are intelligent, inquisitive, interested in me and in themselves.  They tend to be understanding and gentle and kind.  The people we meet along the way are grateful, intrigued. There is a lot of laughter, sharing, kindness.  Yes, my clothes are dirty and there are mosquitoes and sometimes we have to eat Pop Tarts, but nobody cares because we are happy with each other.

In Real Life, there is just such a difference.  To be fair, I rarely encounter behavior which I would describe as mean or evil.  Rarely is anybody overtly unkind.  Nobody steals my stuff or punches me in the face.  But there is a lot of disinterest, mixed with a sort of unenlightened self-interest.  People just seem caught up in their own worlds, barreling along, uninterested in the world around them, much less me.  I've had some incidents where people I counted on to do something; something small or something big, just let me down. Again, not to be mean, but because they lacked their own time/conviction/desire to do the right thing.

The overall effect is that, when I'm on the bike trips, I feel *safe*.  I don't mean physically safe; I mean emotionally safe.  I feel like the people around me "have my back".  I feel welcome, and wanted, and surrounded by love and kindness.  It feels *really good*; like that's the way life should be *all the time*.  But I don't know how to make my real life work that way.  I don't, honestly, want to be on a bike 365 days a year, nor could I if I wanted to.  I want to have a job and a house and a spouse and kids and a real life.  But I still want that feeling of belonging, of emotional safety.   Don't misunderstand; I'm grateful for what I have.  I just yearn for more!!  More true connection.

On a more prosaic note, I stayed tonight in a hostel here in LA's South Bay.  I ran along the beach, which was beautiful.  I headed out for 7.5 miles to match the team, but my hip is acting up (still from the accident) and I only made it 6 miles.  So I used up 15 of my cycling miles.  Headed back down to Carlsbad today.

2017 - Day 44 - Las Vegas, NV

As time passes, I do feel like I have some time to start thinking about the trip and what it means to me.  First, though, today was a pretty good day of resting.  I got my 7.1 miles in at the gym, got some errands run and some work done.  Unfortunately, I chipped my tooth on a plastic fork :( and so I have to go to the dentist tomorrow.  I'll be getting up super early and heading down to Carlsbad, hopefully I can make it through LA before the traffic gets too insane.  Life is always an adventure with me I guess!  

A few quick things about the trip: one of the things I really have learned is that it is so hard - but so important - to have people around you, people you can interact with regularly.  I find being out on the road with folks so fun because I love bouncing ideas off of other people and just having random unscheduled encounters with all kinds of interesting people.   

OK, more later: time to make a dental appointment! 

2017 - Day 43 - Las Vegas, NV

I still feel like I don't have enough distance to think about the deeper philosophical ideas around the trip, so once again I'll just stick to the facts.  I did wake up yesterday morning at the Lindvigs house in Bismarck, ND, pack up my bike in a box, do some light yard work, then get driven to the Bismarck airport, fly to Las Vegas, where I then put my bike together in the airport, loaded it up with 30+ pounds, rode 20 miles through the heat, got my car, rode back to the airport and picked up my duffel bag, and finally went shopping before collapsing in a bed in a beautiful suburban house.  A few observations: first, it's amazing what people will tell you you can't do.  My team gave me this amazing book about a man's trip around the world by bicycle in 1884, and one of the themes is that he regularly just thumbs his nose at people who say he can't do something.  At the Vegas airport they told me there was no way I would get home in the heat with all those bags, but I did.  So for everybody out there: people like to tell you you can't do things.  Do what you want with that advice, but let me assure you: it almost always isn't true.   Also, don't pay a bike shop to box up your bike.  It's so easy to do.  

Vegas is exactly the way I remember it: hot, dry, and maybe a little poor.

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: I miss my team terribly.  I miss the clarity of waking up with a purpose, and knowing you're doing good work.  I miss having people around, the idle conversation between people with different backgrounds, different ages and genders and thoughts.  I miss playing cards.  I want to feel connected to my team and so I'm doing a few concrete things.  One is continuing this blog, which I hope they read.  And, of course, reading their blogs and posts with interest.  I'm also going to follow the Tour de France.  And, I've made arrangements to come up and visit them at the end and possibly even ride the last day.  But something else seemed necessary; something reflecting their athletic accomplishment.  I'm running a half ironman in mid-August and I have to start training for the running and swimming, so I'm going to try to keep up with the team by running.  I'm going to cheat, though, because I don't have 6-9 hours a day to work out now, so I'm giving myself credit: 10 miles for every mile I run, 25 miles for every mile I swim.  If I bike, I'll take 1/1 credit for that, too.  So yesterday I rode 20 miles and they rested, so I banked 20 miles against today.  Today they're doing 71 miles, so I'm going to try to run 7.1 miles and keep my 20 in reserve. 

Can't wait to see everybody in Seattle, but before that, it's time to work! 

2017 - Day 42 - Bismarck, ND

There will be time later for a more philosophical post about the trip and about what this all means.  But for now I just wanted to record the facts: that I did ride 75 miles from Napoleon to Bismarck, ND yesterday, to have dinner at a Mexican restaurant with 15 or so of my new friends, who did give me a new pair of socks, a card they all signed and a book about cycling, and I did basically choke up and almost cry like a baby.  The riding itself was good; we had a bit of a tailwind for a while and it was some flats and rolling hills.  We hit a really bad stretch of road around Moffitt, a chip seal stretch that made Matt have flashbacks to the Southern Tier and Texas in particular.  Once again, these trips come through for me; I find myself in a much better place and mood now than I was when I started.  I had less to gain or prove this time around; things were going well already and I felt good about life. Even still, it's been great.  The family we're staying with here in Bismarck is incredibly kind and has an awesome house for this sort of thing with a downtown den with comfy couch and chair and plush carpet.  I'm not overly impressed with North Dakota by and large; it's a bit too hot and muggy and just kind of uninspiring.  But I do dearly love this house and the people in it.   

2017 - Day 41 - Napoleon, ND

Well, here we go, the home stretch.  From a riding perspective, today was a *relatively* easy 100 miles long, almost exactly, from middle-of-nowhere to middle-of-nowhere.  It reminded me vaguely of Utah or Nevada, except still more lush and prettier and greener.  There were some small lakes that Fred says are called Potholes.  We had lunch at a Tastee Freeze in the absolute middle of nowhere (Gackle, ND).  I rode the first 30 miles with the pace line, then the next 30 mostly on my own, then the last 30 with Tony.  I really like riding with Tony.  Gonna miss that guy.  I feel like I should have some profound thoughts, but at the moment all I can think is that I love doing this, and I am also ready to go home.  And that I hate mosquitoes.  What I'll miss most is the people, and the conversations.  Riding a bicycle is so much more fun than doing just about anything else, but even better than that is making camp and grilling out and hanging out at the local bar that also serves ice cream and asking people - in a very serious voice - how to pronounce "Napoleon".  North Dakota isn't one of my favorite states to bike through, but I'm still having an absolutely amazing time. 

Oh, and Mike is probably a really cool Math teacher. 

A few few other random thoughts: my new sleeping bag was the most clutch purchase ever.  Clutch.  My tent is actually pretty great for its size.  Not all camp showers are created equal.  No town is too small for a bar, or an insurance agency. 

2017 - Day 40 - Kathryn, ND

Sometimes we stay in pretty remote places, and Kathryn, ND is one of them.  It’s off a road which is off a road which is off the highway which isn’t even really a highway, in the middle of nowhere in a state which is already the middle of nowhere.  Population 52.  We had dinner in the Sheyenne Saloon, which only opens from 5-6 PM and the owner sticks around if people show up.  It was very clean and nice inside though, and beers were cheap.  There’s a post office, where I mailed off a postcard to my “lunch buddy” from the MS clinic in Cleveland.  Life is good, but I’m ready to get off the road and get home!  I have a lot to look forward to, and I’ve started thinking more and more about my life off the bike.  But before we get there, there is a 97 mile day tomorrow, in the heat, starting at 5:30 AM!

Today’s riding was predictable, with a few hills at the end.  My physical ability on the bike has been steadily improving, balanced out by my fatigue and the pounding of the sun and the road.  I should be set up well to train for the half ironman in August.  I also can’t wait to get back to my job!  So many exciting things coming up, I love it that the end of the trip just feels like yet another beginning.

2017 - Day 38/39 - Fergus Falls, MN and Fargo, ND

To be honest, I really don't feel like updating my blog.  It's 11 pm and I'm in my tent with my little light on, sweating.  But I missed yesterday, and for posterity sake, and also because I like to be consistent, I want to update.  Days like the last 2 are hard to write about.  I'm honestly not - despite what some might think - a negative person.  Tony today had to remind me "this is something you enjoy doing".  And of course he's right - I love this, and I loved the last couple of days.  But it's been a tough love.  Last night was one of the hardest nights camping I've ever had.  The day before that day had been the wreck, and the night before I hadn't slept much.  So I was tired.  Then, we had a Fourth of July celebration, including a "Trailer Bar" which was amazing and fun but I drank a leeeetle bit too much.  When I went to go to sleep, my arm started pounding for some reason.  But after some ibuprofen, I managed to nod off for a bit, only to be woken by a terrifying Minnesota thunderstorm.  I felt like a prey animal out on the Serengeti, fearing for my life.  Finally I ran for the safety of one of the vans and cowered for an hour.  When I got back to my tent though I realized I had left the flap open and it was full of mosquitos.  The skeeters are really bad out here and they are cramping my style.  One of my fellow riders Brian got bit 30 (!) times on just his kneecap because it was touching his tent wall. 

Anyway, OK, enough.  If it sucks so much why am I out here?  A few answers there: one, it doesn't actually suck that much.  It's actually great.  The bike riding is great, for example.  I love the feeling of the road under my tires and it was a good day riding.  The company is amazing; I love my fellow riders.  But also, I ride because it makes all my experiences so vivid.  I ride because it builds memories, and turns the mundane into amazing.  After a long day on the bike, even a really boring hamburger in a crappy air conditioned dive bar becomes haute cuisine.  I don't suffer on purpose, but it is true that suffering builds character.  I bond with these folks out here over this; we're all in it together.  I'll be happy to leave, but also terribly sad. 

Oh, and North Dakota: put up a damn "welcome to North Dakota" sign!!

2017 - Day 37 - Osakis, MN

So, there we were, riding down the smooth, beautiful Lake Wobegon Bike Path (of Prairie Home Companion fame), tooling along at about 16-17 miles per hour, flashing past beautiful scenery.  It was, to be honest, perhaps a bit boring, and so Eric and I were chatting with each other.  He reached back to adjust his jersey and then, in a flash, we hit a bump hiding in a shadow.  Both of us swerved, he swerved to correct, flailed his front wheel, got caught between my wheel and my pedals, and then I was going down, sliding into the path as he fell near me, tumbling into the grass.  From behind I heard a tiny "Oh No" and Kaylyn hit me, rolling up onto my back.  And then it was over, and I was lying in the grass, panting and moaning or, as Eric said, "trying to have a baby".

Yep, I got in a wreck.  After 10000 miles, I guess I was due.  All told, I got pretty lucky.  Considering it was a full speed crash it could've been worse.  My hip hurts, my back and neck are sore, and my elbow took the brunt of it; there's a big gash on it and it hurts like hell.  The front wheel of my bike was bent (and thus unrideable), so for the first time ever, I got in the van.  I always said it would take a crash to get me in that van, and there you go.  I only missed about 25 miles of some fairly easy riding so nobody can say I chickened out.  There were some positives to the day; I got to go to Culver's (yay!) with Amanda and Bob (remind me someday to tell the story of Bob and pain and the thumb).  The bike is fixed and I'll be riding again today, so that's pretty good, only 25 miles missed.  And it was fun to hang out in the van.  Kaylyn did a great job of patching me up on the spot, tweezering out the gravel, wiping me down, wrapping it up.  And Jennifer V. has been keeping an eye on it, so I think it'll be OK.  I didn't crack my phone or my watch, which is kind of amazing really.

Whenever something like this happens, you realize - as I've often said - how important health is and how much we take it for granted.  I am so lucky to generally be healthy and able to ride and do this, and it can really all be gone in a flash.  Being grateful is not just some hippie trippy thing; it's a logical response to the way life works.  We have to value what we have while we have it.

2017 - Day 36 - Royalton, MN

Once again, the riding today was fairly uneventful, and the scenery, while pleasant, was not really worth remarking on.  When we arrived at camp, we got an immediate invitation to go tubing on the Mississippi - right now! - so Tony and I went and tubed with the family that runs the campsite, who gave us tubes and beer and let us hang out with their family.  Then, the local MS chapter showed up to make us all dinner - which was amazing - and after dinner we went around and talked.  Once again, the theme was how incredibly grateful they all were for what we were doing.

I've remarked on this before, but it really hit me today.  I understand that, to these folks, what we are doing is amazing, and they see it as a sacrifice that we're making in order to make their lives better.  But I don't, and can't, see it that way.  I'm doing this because I love it.  No - more than that - I'm doing it because I *have* to.  Because it's in my soul.  To not do it would feel terrible and awful and sad.  So it feels weird to have someone thank me for what I would do anyway, for what I am in fact paying to be out here doing.  I always just smile and say thank you, of course.  I guess maybe this is what life is about: doing something that makes you happy but also helps others, so you never have to choose between the two.

2017 - Day 35 - Dalbo, MN

Welcome to Dalbo, MN, an unremarkable stretch of Route 47 north of Minneapolis - with one exception for cyclists, which is the Bicycle Bunkhouse.  Picture the world's best treehouse, a two story barn with all the things a cyclist wants; bunks, cots, free (or very low cost) food, a coffee maker, a TV, wifi, power outlets.  All in a really classy hand-built barn structure that smells of delicious wood.  Couches scattered around, a beautiful piece of land, woodowrking tools on the walls, a table for playing hearts (which we did), and a couple that made us watermelon slices and sloppy joes.  Basically it's just the most amazing thing.  I feel instantly at home here.  We watched a movie made by a Scottish couple in 2010 about their own trip across country.  As happy as I am to get getting back to my life, I have to say it would be nice to just hang out here for a week or two.  Did I mention we're also allowed to use the house's basement?  Showers, beds, pool table - we didn't even get to use most of the amenities.  Oh, and an old grain silo that has a couple of cots in it as well.

Ah, life is so good.

2017 - Day 33/34 - Minneapolis, MN

The last two days were rest days here in Minneapolis.  Short version: Minneapolis is really nice.  It reminds me a lot of Portland, OR, and I mean that in a good way.  They have a killer mountaineering store, amazing bike paths, a super great and completely free art museum, and everybody has been super nice.  It feels like a slightly bigger city than Portland, even though I know it isn't, population-wise.  I know some of it is misleading because the weather is so good right now, but it does make me feel like this is somewhere I could live.  I listened to a special on NPR months back about all the immigrants here in Minneapolis and the refugees and how open Minneapolis has been, but to see it in action is interesting.  We had great Ethiopian food last night; there's a neighborhood right next to the dorm that is essentially all Africans (not African-Americans, either).   

A quick note about bike paths, because Minneapolis really does them right: a bike path is a nice thought, but for those of us that use a bike as transportation, a bike path is the car equivalent of a small, windy country road; maybe nice to take a stroll on, but not a good way to get someplace.  Normal bike paths are frustrating, so much so that usually we ride on the road right next to them.  Because, just like drivers, we want to get where we're going.  But here in Minneapolis, the bike paths are amazing, they are more like bike superhighways.  Even through campus, they are fully marked and signed like roads, wide, flat, straight and easy to follow.  The greenway even goes under the roads so you never have to worry about interacting with cars. 

And I didn't even get to talk about the MIA (Minneapolis Institute of Art).  So amazing, and totally free! 

I need to come back here sometime to visit. 

2017 - Day 32 - Minneapolis, MN

We're here!  Yesterday we had an easy ride into Minneapolis, where we will spend two rest days.  The morning we woke up in the church to the sound of pouring rain, and we had a hard time convincing ourselves to go out into it, but once we got out there, it wasn't that bad in the end.  The ride itself was uneventful.  I continue to be struck by this group's willingness to ride in a group, everyone at about the same ability level; no racers, and no scrubs.  Then, we met Mike in Stillwater!  Yay!  That was really good, to see him.  He's doing well and we're going to see his show tomorrow.  He took us along a beautiful bike path that really reminded me of the one in Portland.  In fact, Minneapolis reminds me of Portland in a lot of ways.  We went to the National MS Society office; I might have more to say about that later.  Then I helped Tony go and look for bikes; I think we found him one.  We're staying in the dorms at U of M; it's fun to be back in a dorm and these are actually pretty nice, for dorms; very small, but functional.  And the weather is great.  I fell asleep to wind blowing in through my little window and slept like a rock.  

Today I'm riding out to buy some new fancy wheels for my bike.  More later!

2017 - Day 31 - Prescott, WI

Wisconsin!  Today we rode about 70 miles into Wisconsin.  It was, once again, beautiful and deliriously awesome riding, which unfortunately makes for a boring blog post (who wants to hear about my 2 mile 35-40 mph descent on smooth roads), so I'll have to just talk about other things, like being excited to get to Minneapolis and see Mike Swan.  A lot of folks took shortcuts today, meaning they rode a shorter route than what was on the ACA maps.  I'm the only person who rode the entire route as it was printed on the maps.  That may seem pedantic, but to me, it's the only way to go.  In my view, I invested a lot of time and money to come out here and ride my bike; the last thing I want to do is shortchange myself!  Not only that, but I have a lot of respect for the ACA, and I like their style in general.  The route I took was a beautiful lonely country road that, yes, went up and down and around, but I still got there, and I got to see some cool goats.  And I got a souvenir!  When I went to take pictures of the goats, I found a Minnesota license plate buried in the road so I picked it up.  Kind of my own personal totem of my journey in life and the joy of taking "longcuts", to coin a phrase.

Welcome to Wisconsin!

2017 - Day 30 - Wabasha, MN

Yesterday was another day of fairly uneventful riding.  I continue to be impressed by how beautiful Iowa and Minnesota are, especially as compared to Indiana and Illinois.  The scenery has begun to change, from lush greenery to a more deciduous, forested look.  We're still riding along the mighty Mississippi; we had lunch along the banks overlooking the water, and you got to see up close how fast the water is moving and just how big the river is.  I have new tires, and they are road tires so I feel super fast; it makes a huge difference and I'm considering investing now in some new racing wheels and tires when I get to Minneapolis.  Can't wait to see Mike Swan and explore Minneapolis and have a couple of days off, maybe even get some work done!  I can feel the end of the trip coming and I'm actually looking forward to getting back to my life.

We biked straight to the National Eagle Center yesterday and took in the live Bald Eagle show, where they brought out a captive eagle.  It was very cool.  Learned a lot about how the birds live and work.  Few interesting facts; even though they look enormous, they're actually only about 10-15 pounds full grown.  80% of them die in infancy or childhood.  They live about 20-25 years if they make it to adulthood, 40+ in captivity.  They will try to scare things away from their food instead of running because they're an apex predator; and that includes cars or even a train (!).  So, yeah, they go hard.

I drank a 38oz margarita yesterday at dinner and we all (including me) got to laugh at Drunk Adam for a bit.  I think I'm off drinking for a while.  :) . Too much sugar and I love my body too much.

Oh, last thing: I'm definitely losing some weight.  I can feel it in my body!