"Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them, few of them willed or determined by the will --whatever we may think."
Lawrence Durrell

Monday, August 31, 2009

Hills and Headwinds

I swung south today after Trenton, Ne, which is where BRAN started in June. For those not familiar with BRAN, it is a 500 mile bike ride across Nebraska over the course of a week. I went on it this year for the first time and used it to train for this ride. After Trenton, I turned south and headed to Atwood, KS, which is where I ended up staying. Mason suggested this route to me and said it was decent. I decided to try it as I was going to turn to Kansas eventually and it was a beautiful ride. The only problem was the15 mph headwind. I don't mind hills as long as the wind is light. It is days like this that make one question why they ride a bike; why they put gear on it to catch all the wind possible; and then tell people it's fun. The only thing is...it is fun. Getting out and hearing, seeing, and feeling nature while also quenching a desire to travel is worth the days of hard work and frustration that occassionally come. It's what adds to the experience. Travel is not about where you go so much as the way you got there. Days like this I get off my bike and have sea leg experiences from wobbling all over the road. I'm sure the people who saw me eat tonight were wondering what bus I fell off of.

Atwood has a beautiful lake and park and as I rolled in I was greeted by a field of sunflowers that reflected the color of my gear, because safety yellow is cheap!

On a different note, I had a burr in my town shorts when I put them on. Thankfully it was only one and it was on my side.

1 comment:

Hannah said...

Wow. Sounds like you've had interesting days already! So glad strangers still help people out. And glad this journey is not about destinations for you...you're going to see so much along the way!

My co-workers and I prayed for you today. They think what you're doing is pretty neat.