to my BFF who sold me the bike, her
suggestion was that I should travel with a
companion. There I was, with a way to
get there and still waiting for someone
to take me for a ride! It felt more than
unacceptable and I wasn’t going to wait
for my life to start (again!), so I decided
that I would attempt the trip alone.
When I gave myself permission to do
this everything began to fall into place.
My stress over my child’s upcoming
surgery
dissipated. Anxiety
over a future that was
uncertain in many ways
made dreaming of the trip
an unexpected emotional
rescue; whenever I allowed
myself to be distracted
by the planning and
preparation, I experienced
immediate relief. I began
riding every moment that the
children were out of my care.
knew that even if I didn’t get close enough to home, I was
never more than a day away by truck.
From every angle this was an
achievable goal – it also put
me in line to domesticate my
worst demon – being alone.
The larger part of three weeks
without companionship was
the best way I could think of to
beat that bitch into submission
– riding head on into that fear
seemed the next logical step
toward wholeness.
On July 30th 2014, with a very
late start and the gentle sendoff
of my dear sensei, I set out in a downpour
hoping I would get to Longmont without
event. As I slowly moved through the storm
and maintained warmth, I pushed forward
and continued on to Loveland where it was
dry and ended my day in Fort Collins. The
weather forecast for the week indicated
that heading to Jackson Hole
would leave me traveling though
rain the entire week, so day two
altered my route to Yellowstone
– the Tetons would have to wait.
This would be the rhythm of the
trip – approach each day as a
mystery and see which direction is
most appealing. If I had been rigid
and attached to the initial route I’d
planned, I would have missed all
the wonder I experienced along the
way. I made it to glorious Yellowstone
via Casper and Cody, left the park in
Montana and continued exclusively on
the road less traveled until I hit I-90 in
Butte.
What began with solo rides
from Boulder to Berthoud
turned into trips up Golden Gate
Canyon, rides to Conifer and
comfortable cruising along the Peak
to Peak. My riding guru took me
up Trail Ridge Road, on a one day
round-trip to Buena Vista (280 miles
baby!) and taught me how to adjust
the drive chain on my bike! At
that point I knew I was ready to
attempt a trip that was a bit more
ambitious than I had initially
envisioned.
As my abilities
grew so did my desire to take a
longer trip and by the time I left
town I had cleared the calendar
for 3 weeks and was attempting
to see if I could make it to Friday
Harbor on San Juan Island in
Washington.
The route was familiar to me,
I calculated the time it would
take to get there based on my
capabilities and concluded it
was possible. I knew I couldn’t
fail because I only had to try,
all of it was a success from the
moment I left the driveway. I
had AAA, so I knew they could
tow me if the bike had trouble
and my mentoring friend shared
his story of having t