Sometimes out of the hardest challenges, come the greatest lessons learned.
As I sit at the airport writing this, I feel strange not having my bicycle alongside me. After 26 days and over 1200 miles of riding, my bicycle has become a home to me. The seat rubbing against my padded shorts, the noise of my un-oiled chains turning as I peddle, and the constant feeling of soreness in my legs, have all become familiar to me. My bicycle and I have developed a love/hate relationship, characteristic of two things that spend every waking moment together. I battled with the clip-ins at first, but I eventually developed a routine when it came to switching gears and manuvering through traffic. Biking quickly switched from being a casual hobby to my full time job, spending 7-8 hours a day leaning forward with arms outstretched and legs rotating almost unconsciously.
Before the trip I had never been to Canada nor the Pacific Northwest; now I can confidently say that I have.
When bicycle touring, life is fairly simple. I began to realize what things are truly important at the moment, typically being either food, water or finding a place to sleep. I learned that everything I need to survive can fit easily onto the back of a bicycle. I began to cherish the small things: moments of sunshine, clean clothes, dry towels, free food samples at the grocery store.
There were times that were rough; days filled with rain, falling over railroad tracks, moments when my entire body was cold and wet, never ending hills and even dog attacks (dogs leaped over streams and jumped through barbed wire fences to attack us). But, squeezed in between were some of the most memorable experiences I have ever had.
About half of our nights were spent camping, but the other half were spent staying at homes offered to us through couchsurfing.com and warmshowers.org (two of the best websites ever created). And those experiences truly defined our trip. To me, one of the best parts of traveling is your encounters with locals along the way.
Before the trip I had never been to Canada nor the Pacific Northwest; now I can confidently say that I have.
When bicycle touring, life is fairly simple. I began to realize what things are truly important at the moment, typically being either food, water or finding a place to sleep. I learned that everything I need to survive can fit easily onto the back of a bicycle. I began to cherish the small things: moments of sunshine, clean clothes, dry towels, free food samples at the grocery store.
There were times that were rough; days filled with rain, falling over railroad tracks, moments when my entire body was cold and wet, never ending hills and even dog attacks (dogs leaped over streams and jumped through barbed wire fences to attack us). But, squeezed in between were some of the most memorable experiences I have ever had.
About half of our nights were spent camping, but the other half were spent staying at homes offered to us through couchsurfing.com and warmshowers.org (two of the best websites ever created). And those experiences truly defined our trip. To me, one of the best parts of traveling is your encounters with locals along the way.
We stayed with people from many different walks of life: fishermen who informed us about the wind speeds we'd encounter ahead, a nurse who worked purely to fund his windsurfing addiction, a tree cutter who started his own business in the heart of the California redwoods, a hippie who converted a schoolbus into a place for travelers to stay, a jobless, homeless engineer who gave up everything he had to hit the road, a physicist who supported himself and his family through solar energy and farming, a German couple who had toured ten countries and spent two hours helping us fix a broken spoke, a retired couple who decided to embark on a two year tandem bicycle ride, a park ranger whose cooking and drawing skills were unmatched, a yoga instructor, falconer, and horse back riding instructor who all followed their passions to end up where they are. The generousity of the people we met along the way is indescribable.
Along the way, I learned some things...
- The rumors are true; it rains a lot in the Pacific Northwest. But people are willing to accept it in exchange for the mountains and beautiful coastline.
- You say and do ridiculous things when your body is exhausted.
- Leaving food outside the tent while camping is not a good idea.
- Goats can get aggressive.
- Oatmeal can taste good when smothered in sugar.
- Sometimes the most terrible moments later make for the funniest.
- Changing a flat tire isn't too hard if you know what you're doing. Changing a spoke is.
- Getting stuck in an elevator is a lot less scary when the door is transparent, and also a lot more humorous.
- A lot can be learned about a person by entering into their home.
- Taking your helmet off when not riding might sound like the appropriate thing to do, but sometimes it's just more convenient to keep it on.
- Biking without sunscreen can cause really awkward tan lines.
Along the way, I learned some things...
- The rumors are true; it rains a lot in the Pacific Northwest. But people are willing to accept it in exchange for the mountains and beautiful coastline.
- You say and do ridiculous things when your body is exhausted.
- Leaving food outside the tent while camping is not a good idea.
- Goats can get aggressive.
- Oatmeal can taste good when smothered in sugar.
- Sometimes the most terrible moments later make for the funniest.
- Changing a flat tire isn't too hard if you know what you're doing. Changing a spoke is.
- Getting stuck in an elevator is a lot less scary when the door is transparent, and also a lot more humorous.
- A lot can be learned about a person by entering into their home.
- Taking your helmet off when not riding might sound like the appropriate thing to do, but sometimes it's just more convenient to keep it on.
- Biking without sunscreen can cause really awkward tan lines.
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