Episode 18: Fear

In the light of the upcoming commercial holiday, what makes one scared? Scary movies, haunted houses, creepy crawlies, or the dark hallway? I have spent many a night on the road wondering if I'd make it- "what if a gigantic animal decides to feast on me tonight?" "what if I simply freeze to death?" "what happens when I see the bogeyman?" Can't go running to mom and dad's room anymore.

I'm focused on survival: I become suddenly aware of my surroundings, my hearing more acute, and time seems to slow down. How do these instincts tap into our spidey senses and allow us the fortune of being spared from foreseeable peril? Answer: our ancestors. They did the same thing before there were automobiles, firearms, grocery stores, homes with running water, sewage, and electricity. We've all been bred to innately be scared when there is a reason to be.

What I wonder on the road is whether other animals sense fear in others. Growing up learning to be tolerant of house dogs that viciously bark but are instinctively weary of strangers to their patch of land, I have been chased by some who pursue out of play and some I'm not so sure would wag their tail if I were slower. But it's all part of that game of life: survival of the fittest. And I happen to have wheels; take that quadrupeds. Though I have yet to be chased uphill or on gravel. That'd be the end of me.

I came upon a book called Beyond Death's Door by Dr. Maurice Rawlings at a garage sale in Wisconsin. Perfect, because I was getting frantic with what I'd do with my time once I finished my current book. It was written in the late 70's when resuscitation techniques became proven and widespread. Dr. Rawlings discussed his documentation of the patients that were pronounced clinically dead and lived to tell the tale, whether pleasantly good or terrifyingly bad. A simple short read for those interested.

Then we have fear of reasonable things- our parent's wrath when we're little when we do something bad, or what happens if one of our love ones gets hurt, or if we fail. Those fears transform us into respecting our elders, respecting nature, and respecting failure. Respect is an essential part of life and why we are largely afraid of things. Or should I say the end goal is to develop respect for what we fear: God, nature, death, life. Which, by the way, is the origin of the term Halloween- All Hallows Eve/All Soul's Day, although it has Irish and Scottish pagan roots. It's a holy day of obligation for you Catholics out there (go to church!).

In other news, this is my 61st day of my bicycle trip, entering New Hampshire, typing this post in a cozy Bed & Breakfast:

Donna & John Andersen
Breakfast on the Connecticut
651 River Road
Lyme, NH 03768

I'll be staying in Lincoln tonight and arrival to Bar Harbor, ME will be Thursday. Some numbers for y'all:
Days: 61
States: 10
Days of Sun: 50
Days of Rain: 10
Days of Snow: 1
Days of Sickness: 4
Rest Days: 23
Mountain Passes: 3
Hikes: 4
Miles travelled: around 4,000
Miles by-
Bike: a lot
Train: 1,400
Car: 120
Days in Tent: 40
Days under Roof: 21
Showers: 28
Laundry: 12
Flat tires: 0
Ounces of gas consumed: 38
Calories burned: 250,000
Books read: 5
Days with Monks: 6
Days with Family: 12

Until next time.

Bicycle Banter: Aromas

These are the aromas of Ontario
Young tomatoes by the truckload all over the road dodged and smashed but plump and full of seed and juice.
Dehydrating burning tobacco kilns sending their pungent pervasive aroma easterly
Monsterly peppers hanging and laying on the fertile soil deceiving the eye but seizing the tongue
Brown cows black cows spotted brown and black cows signalled by lingering manure and hay grazing and perplexed by mammals mooing must be another cow they say
The faint charcoal BBQ smoke of suburban invisible families enjoying food and drink on the land while I move along the land
These are the aromas of Ontario.

Episode 17: Twitter 101

Before you do anything else, follow these instructions:

A) SMS "follow @across2worlds" to 40404 (Twitter),

or

B) Go to Twitter, sign up and follow me.

If you've been living under a rock the past 6 years, or one social-media website is enough, I give you Twitter. Not actually giving you, but educating you with the facts. Twitter is a micro-blogging service to tell the world what you're up to in 140 characters. You can follow famous people like the U.S. president (@barackobama) or your favorite actor/actress (@tomhanks/@zooeydeschanel). And find trending topics classified under hashtags (#monasticpilgrimage) to classify what's happening in the world. Yes I am simply using you to increase my followership.

If you kept on reading to this second paragraph and haven't followed me already, shame on you; you must have been one of those problem children in school. Just kidding, I still love you. Many people have been asking where I am at exactly this moment (Shawano, WI) and where I'll be the next few days so Twitter becomes better than Facebook because, unlike Facebook, you can follow and unfollow whomever you please and is more social-media acceptable than a Facebook unfriend. *gasp* If I indeed unfriended you on Facebook, it's because we haven't talked in years. I'm sorry and you're welcome to friend me again. I simply don't need 1,200 friends.

After this simple passive-committal step, you'll be able to get up-to-the-minute report of everything (via SMS, mobile app, and stationary app) that I don't post on Facebook or this blog. It's like one of those stalking relationships where you look at pictures of your 1st grade elementary crush. Yes, I just admitted that publicly... but this is rather useful information, like where to eat if you happen to be in Shawano, Wisconsin.

Woo. Completely transparent. Like Lance Armstrong, who for the record, passed every in-competition test. A winner in my book, not some sports politics on who has jurisdiction in deciding his fate. Doped up or not, he still won the Tour de France 7 times among others. He bested Miguel Indurain at the 1993 World Championship before cancer, the 5-time winner of the TdF and physiologically better than Armstrong with a resting heart rate of 29 compared to 33, and a VO2 max of 88 ml/kg/min compared to 84. And he survived cancer treatment. How many people do you know do that and accomplish more thereafter? Food for thought.

Last but not least, the two people I miss at the moment:

Cousin David and Kyle

Until next time.

Bicycle Banter: Numbers, Maps, and Things

For the rest of my tour route, click here. If you are remotely (~25 miles) close to this route and would like to provide your front yard, please contact me at across2worlds@gmail.com. Thanks!

Some numbers so far for y'all:

Days: 32
States: 7
Miles by bike: 1,200
Miles by train: 1,200
Miles by car: 100
Days of sun: 30
Days of rain: 1
Days of snow: 0

Mountain passes: 3
Hikes: 4
Average daily mileage by bike: 62
Average speed (mph) by bike: 12
Showers: 16
Laundry: 8
Flat tires: 0
Ounces of white gas consumed: 28
Calories burned: 160,000
Days with monks: 5
Days with family: 9
Bears: 3
Bald Eagles: 2
Animal noises I've learned to make: 4

 

AND a picture, for kicks- Gus the touring cyclist, and Gus the dog:

 

 

Until next time.

Episode 16: The Rising Sun

Kootenai Falls

We approach West Glacier in the late afternoon via treacherous highway 2. Some clouds with mild weather. We eat at the taco truck by the name of "The Wandering Gringo" and it doest indeed wander- south to Arizona (maybe that's why their tacos are darn good). The Apgar Village is recommended to us by bicycle path located at the mouth of Lake MacDonald. Canadians are our neighbors and share original Coors (the good kind, and stuff that can't be had in Canada) and good stories up to the night.

A highlight, if not the crowning jewel of the Northern Tier of the Adventure Cycling Association route is Glacier National Park. The look people get when one mentions Glacier, something happens- they swoon, or their eyes focus into the distance, or become animated, telling you the best hike to a lake or pass they've been to. It has become, for some, a place to be one with nature, become a place to go to for spiritual enrichment, become a place to be awed, inspired, fulfilled, and nourished. So I thought, "ok nature, show me: do your best."

The Highway to the Rising Sun. Sounds epic. Going-to-the-sun highway is the actual name but it doesn't roll of the tongue quite well.We set off by eight o'clock on a freezing morning. They close the only road that goes through the park to cyclists because it's a two lane road that has practically no shoulder when two-wheeled velocipedes carrying person and pack would certainly be secondary to motorists because of the view. A picture is worth a thousand words? Well, these will be the grandest thousand for a while:

The ascent took 4 hours (for me) to get to the top. We took pictures and did the tourist thing at Logan Pass, located at 6,646 feet above sea level. After descending into Rising Sun to set up camp, we met with Graham, an old high school buddy who tours people around St. Mary Lake, the second largest lake in Glacier to Lake Macdonald. The next day we spend lunch at Piegan Pass after getting to St. Mary Lake, a 4.5 mile hike that ascends 1,750 feet higher while a little creature's curiosity nagged our picnic of chili and rice.

 
After spending a week in Minneapolis, Kyle got a call for a potential job offer and had to head home. He made it to Washington by train safely and wish him well in the real world. So I'm on my own starting tomorrow, heading into Wisconsin in anticipation for the Great Lakes. I'll miss you Kyle. The one thing I've learned is that it's the journey that matters, not the destination. And so part two of the journey starts tomorrow.

Until next time.

Bicycle Banter: Travel

We travel day by bicycle.
Drink, eat, bike. Drink, eat, bike.
Drink, eat, sleep.

We travel afternoon by train,
plains running slower than the power lines.
The lounge car with people perusing-
city folk, farm folk, Omish folk, mountain folk.

We travel evening by train,
all wandering folk, all to leave a place to get to a place-
Glacier, The Oil Boom, Fargo for farewell,
Mom at the hospital, St. John's.

We travel morning by train.
The rising sun calls for listening with the heart,
a stranger pouring his life into my story.

I travel day by car, with monks.
Pray, eat, work. Pray, eat, work.
Pray, eat, sleep.

I travel day by foot.
Alone with God.

Episode 15: Just Do It

Sorry Nike, I'm stealing this for the day. People say things they want to do. Less people act upon what they say. What started out as a dream is about to become reality. I'm leaving to go on a journey, physical, spiritual and everything in between. So I'm acting upon what I said months ago. To get up and decide to do it was the easy part. To pray and discern if God wants me to is less easy. To actually walk out the front door with my life on a bike is the hard part.

My buddy Kyle and I are biking across the Northern Tier of United States of America, the place I've called home for most of my life. From Ellensburg, Washington to Bar Harbor, Maine. 11 states, 2 territories, 4,200 miles, 6,000 calories a day. Glacier National Park, The Great Lakes, Niagara Falls, the Appalachian Hills. And why you might ask? For the adventure of course, not for the attention. Not for a charity or for academic research; for a change of scenery, meeting new locals everyday, and eating food of the area. 

I have noticed that the people who inspire me, the ones I've met and read (and able to learn from) function on a higher sphere than most. They go out and... Just do it. They seemingly contribute to society effortlessly. They listen. They teach. They write poetry and compose music. They eat, pray, and love. So I go searching out there in the world and inside myself, and in people for something intangible, something more than money can buy. Maybe we'll find a paradise no one else has found.

This summer I have sold, auctioned, and given away all my possessions, besides my books and tools of trade. Since I've gotten back from Macau, I've earned my bachelor's degree, my wage as a musician, a bike mechanic, and librarian. I'm able to pay the bills, play music, ride the bike, float the river, throw dinner parties, go to dance parties. I've made new friends and gotten closer to old ones. And farther from some. If I were to impart any wisdom it'd be: if one walks the humble, respectful, just, and rightful path of life, everything works out in the end. People have good hearts and it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that. By the way, if you'd like to contribute, I'd give you my utter thanks and blessings. I don't think it's tax-deductible but you'd have a special place in my heart.

I write all this envisioning epic Wagner or ethereal Mahler in the background and guffaw at the idea: if a simple person like me would ever receive a drop their genius I'd be thankful. And their blessings for the trip. Thanks music gods. What I'd do to sit down for coffee with Rachmaninov. Or Beethoven. Or Bach. You probably won't hear from me as regularly because I'll be doing my soul-searching. Not google searching. If I have something profound or funny to say I'll tweet something somewhere (@across2worlds), or post some pictures that inspire. Maybe someday I'll write a book about it but as of late, I have nothing to say. 

Godspeed gentlemen. And gentlewomen.

Until next time.
劉暢