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Midwest Tour Day 4.... 0 miles

Finally the rest day I was waiting for.  Not surprisingly I slept in on Lipsitz's couch, which felt great after three days of hard riding.  I hope I never get to a point in my life that I'm unwilling to crash on a friend's couch.

After a breakfast of overnight oats, a cyclist's best friend, I headed up to campus.  Funny story, Denison is at the top of a giant hill and part of me wants to say that walking up that hill took more effort than biking the 400 miles to Denison from Chicago.

I went to the Denison library and used my elite hacking abilities the login credentials Lipsitz gave me to get into the Denison computers for internet.  I worked on some random stuff, including writing a post for this blog - yes I do actually do that once in awhile.  Overall it was nice to not have to worry about biking for one day, even if I knew that three more long days were to follow.

After a quick stop at the Denison bookstore for obligatory stickers, I met up with Lipsitz and we headed into Granville, the town that Denison is located in.  To be honest that afternoon is a bit of a blur, but I do remember getting a hot dog and probably eating more than is necessary for a normal person.

Oh yeah, and this happened at some point back at Lipsitz's apartment.  The napchatting never stops.  Also, I'M the one who just biked 400 miles to get here and you fall asleep?!

What I do remember is that eventually I somehow ended up at Lipsitz's sorority house, where she gave a presentation on the 4K and what it was like to spend 70 days riding a bicycle.  In one sense the whole experience was comical - this short big haired extremely tan Asian guy, out of place in a well decorated sorority house filled with a bunch of Denison students who despite the brief introduction by Lipsitz was wondering who the hell I was.

In a different sense however it wasn't silly at all.  As she told me prior to her presentation, Lipsitz wasn't sure how to bring up Jamie and her death this summer.  In fact I think our entire team often struggles with how to bring Jamie up.  I struggle with knowing if and when to bring it up  - because I feel that if I don't tell someone about Jamie I am leaving out a huge chunk of what this summer was like.  At the same time I feel that if I bring it up too quickly or at the wrong time I'll be giving the wrong impression of the trip - that it was only dark and filled with grief.  Of course the truth is that the trip was all of those things, the best and worst times of my life, filled with grief and joy all at the same time, depressing but also inspirational.

Miss you

Sometimes I'm forced awkwardly to reveal the story of Jamie Roberts.  Once during my TEFL certification course I was asked in jest whether anyone hadn't made it the entire trip on the 4K.  I didn't want to lie so I told them about Jamie, which as you can imagine elicited some seriously awkward apologies.  Maybe Lipsitz felt like she was in a similar situation, having to give a quick and brief presentation about a summer that is possibly the most meaningful in her life in so many ways.  

After the presentation, we met up with our 4K teammate Dan who at the time attended Kenyon University, about 30 miles away (he just graduated from Kenyon, so congratulations to him).  The bastard Dan had the audacity to suggest that Lipsitz and I drive over to Kenyon, after I biked all the way from Chicago.  Actually in retrospect that could have been cool, as I would have had a chance to visit Kenyon, but oh well.

If you don't pay attention to the fact that Lipsitz is obviously hunching over, I look almost as tall as she is...

I ate yet another giant burger, and we reminisced about the 4K, how crazy our team is, and more.  I confess it's also a blur, but I remember feeling content and happy that I had managed to bike all the way to Denison from Chicago (with a quick shuttle in the middle).  No matter that I had the entire ride back left...

Midwest Tour Day 3 out of 6

Yes I have decided it is worth riding about this day... I know it's been about eight months since I did this ride, but I still want to write about it.  Afterall, I put a lot of effort into those days of riding (certainly more than the amount of effort I've put into writing about them), and more importantly, encountered a lot of amazing people who helped me along the way in numerous ways.

I know my memory of these days will be spotty at this point, but I do have a few notes jotted down here and there, as well as photos that will help me out.  Not to mention, it's pretty hard to forget four days when you cycled something like 500 miles.

But since it has been so long indeed, let me do a quick recap of what this ride was all about, as well as how the first two days went.

Pre-ride

As the 4K 2014 ride was drawing near the end, my teammate Emily Lipsitz (who just graduated from Denison, so congratulations on that) and I made plans for her to drive to Chicago to visit me sometime in September.  Unfortunately it turned out that when you're not on the 4K, you have to pay attention to things like school, work, and daily life.  It became clear that it would be difficult for Lipsitz to come visit me in Chicago.  Of course the next logical step was for me to say, well why don't I just come out to you on my bike?  So began this week of madness, of six days of riding and one day of rest in the middle, spanning three states, two hosts in the middle, some 800 miles of riding, endless rows of corn, and of course more Subway and Jimmy Johns sandwiches.

Day 1

I don't think I could have asked for a better day to start this tour.  I had good wind almost the entire day, and aside from one short stretch, the roads were very safe and almost empty of traffic.  Although 130 miles is certainly nothing to sneer at, the miles passed quickly and without incident and even at the end I felt fresh and ready for more.

I suppose the worst part was that I felt lonely sometimes during the day, but messages from my teammates got me through.  I also got to meet Caity and Jin, my generous hosts for the night.  Caity is a 2011 San Francisco alum, so while things were awkward between us for about 0.001 seconds, it ended as soon as we started talking about the 4K and trading stories.  Fortunately, Jin was familiar with how 4K alums are and made it clear that it wasn't an issue for me and Caity to talk non-stop about the 4K.

Runner / person extraordinaire Caity 

Day 2

After a great first day, the second day proved to be much more difficult.  Despite the fact I was headed west to east, which according to wikipedia and google is the same overall direction as the large wind patterns in North America, I had a headwind the entire day.  I remember even at the beginning of the day thinking that this day would be incredibly difficult, but fortunately thanks to messages of encouragement from my teammates and friends, I kept spinning.

This day also had a dark episode in its midst.  When I got to the Cardinal Greenway, a beautiful path of around 40 miles, I found out that minutes prior to my arrival a cyclist had been not paying enough attention as he crossed over traffic and had been killed.  Although I can't be positive, I'm fairly certain I actually saw the ambulance carrying his body drive away in the distance.  A dark reminder of the dangers of cycling for sure.

Unfortunately the day proved to be too tough for me, as I was not able to finish all of my miles.  Long story short, I got lost quite a bit and discovered myself much further from my destination for the night than I should have been.  My hosts for the night, Brian and Lori were kind enough to pick me up.  While at first I was incredibly disappointed, I thought it through and decided it was the right decision to shuttle.  It was quickly becoming dark and while I had planned for the possibility of biking at night, because I was lost now there were roads that I would have had to take that I hadn't cleared yet in terms of safety.  In a more comical sense, I figured it was the hallmark of a true 4K ride to get lost and have to get shuttled at least once.  Plus this way I got to spend a little bit of time with Brian and Lori and chat, so for all these reasons I decided I would shrug off the fact that I hadn't been able to finish.  I managed to complete about 150 miles, which I felt good about.

My silly hosts, Lori and Brian

The very sweet Ava

Day 3

Finally the day that got me all the day to Denison.  Fortunately this was the shortest day in my ride at approximately 100 miles, which is certainly a long distance, but compared to 130 or 150, isn't so bad.  So in the morning I didn't rush too much - I slept in a bit, I took my time to eat a big meal of oatmeal, pet Ava, talk to Lori (Brian had left early for work).  It was a  nice mini break after two long days of riding.

Unfortunately, I was a bit too relaxed, because next thing I knew it was almost noon and I had yet to leave.  Like I said, this day was a relatively short day of riding, but still it was a terrible idea to leave only at noon.  So I quickly said goodbye to Lori and started my ride.

One thing this day of riding showed me was how cycling friendly Ohio is, especially compared to Indiana.  During the first two days of riding, which were almost entirely in Indiana, most people I encountered had looked at me like I was some kind of alien.  Granted I probably looked a bit weird, decked out in tight shorts, but as soon as I crossed into Ohio people would talk to me about where I had come from, where I was riding to, etc.  During the 4K we had talked about how Ohio seemed very cycling friendly because of all the bike paths that ran from city to city (and not just within a city), and this day definitely confirmed what I remembered.

One of the highlights was when several hours into the ride I stopped at a gas station and talked to a couple of guys in a pickup truck.  Unfortunately for cyclists the phrase "a couple of guys in a pickup truck" is sometimes associated with screaming "get of the road!" or driving past way too fast and close.  But not in Ohio, as these guys were curious about my jersey which had the 4K logo on it, why I was doing this ride (they also thought I was crazy, but in a good way I suppose), and so forth.   Such conversations, even if they were short and isolated, helped keep the loneliness away.

However, something new in Ohio that was not so welcome, at least for this ride, were hills.  From my general cycling experience, Illinois is flat is as a table, Indiana is mostly flat, but Ohio is hilly.  Maybe not Pennsylvania level, but still quite hilly - the Midwest as a whole is less flat than their geographical reputations would suggest.  These hills of course meant that I was covering the 100 miles a bit more slowly than I had anticipated.  Although the riding was beautiful, especially as a large part of it was on paths, it was taking its toll on my legs and there was less and less daylight left.

As I rushed through Columbus and found myself about 25 miles away from Denison, I had a rather comical companion for a bit, my first wheel sucker!  For those of you who don't know, a wheel sucker is a cyclist who drafts behind another cyclist to take advantage of the slipstream, without ever returning the favor to the other cyclist.  In case the name "wheel SUCKER" wasn't obvious enough, it's a rather negative term.  Perhaps wheel sucking is acceptable when racing (although not really), but definitely not so courteous when touring or commuting.

What happened is that I passed the other cyclist as we were both climbing up a fairly steep hill.  It was the first cyclist I had seen in a long time, so I initially thought it would be nice to ride with him for a bit.  But then again he seemed to be moving a bit too slowly for me to make it to Denison before dark so I passed him, only to turn around about a minute after and find him riding directly behind my wheel.  Apparently the chance to wheel suck me was the inspiration this guy needed to go faster, and he really wheel sucked.  If we had been racing I almost would have been impressed by how closely he stuck to my wheel.  Initially I didn't mind him drafting as I thought he might offer to let me draft in a moment, but nope.  Perhaps I wouldn't have minded if I hadn't just biked some 350 miles in the past three days.  I'll stop before I get carried away with this rant.

I had relatively smooth ride the rest of the way.  Although most of the roads into Denison had no shoulder and were hilly and rather covered by trees, overall the drivers were great and patient and passed me safely.  Unfortunately there was an exception in one impatient driver.  I was climbing up a small hill in a wooded area where visibility was poor.  The car directly behind me was being patient, waiting to pass me only after I cleared the hill and you could actually see whether there might be a car coming in the other direction.  But the driver behind that car didn't want to wait, and attempted to pass both of us, only to discover that there was indeed a car coming in the other direction and be forced to swerve back into the lane.  Fortunately a potentially disastrous accident was narrowly averted, but it was a grim reminder of how some people seem willing to risk not only their life but also the lives of others to save an extra 15-30 seconds.  I'll always be mystified by the fact that cars seem to make normal people so angry and careless sometimes.

I kept spinning, aware that the sun was setting, and that I had to make it to a bike path that would take me all the way into Denison.  When I was about a mile away from the path, Lipsitz called and asked if I needed a pickup because it was already dark.  I politely declined, turned on my front and rear lights, and continued.  Fortunately I have ridiculously bright lights that border on being obnoxious.  So lit up like a disco ball, I cautiously made it to the bike path, ate a couple of energy chomps, and gave everything I had left in the last five miles.

Of course the moment I got into Denison I ended up lost for a few minutes.  My phone GPS seemed to give up suddenly with no explanation and it was difficult to navigate in the dark.  Fortunately after a few minutes and a few unnecessary climbs up a big hill, I managed to find Lipsitz, who was waiting for me with a giant cheeseburger with every kind of meat on it.

Guess which one of us is covered in sweat and grime

Lipsitz's caption for this picture that she sent to our 4K team, although slightly misleading as there were still some 400 mile to go in the Tour de Midwest

I felt relieved that I had made it, proud, thrilled, giddy even.  However I also felt a bit nervous that I had only made it halfway, that I would have three more days of riding.  My legs felt so dense and heavy I wondered how I would ever make it all the way back to Chicago.  But hey these worries could wait another day and I would take full advantage of my rest day in Denison.

Boulder, CO... AGAIN?

My new thing is to write more frequently, because I believe that like most other things, becoming a better writer isn't just about being smart or creative, but practicing.  So I'm making it my new thing to put up a blog post as often as I can, ideally between once a week to once every ten days or so.

My other new thing is that I have relocated to Boulder, CO.  You know, no big deal.  But really, when you consider how much I have been pinging around place to place in the past year, it really isn't too big of a deal.

That's right, this is no big deal

Just kidding.  Boulder is pretty amazing.  The first thing that greets you on arrival (at least if you fly) is that the sky seems so much bigger and the sun brighter.  Perhaps it's because I'm most used to the gloomy grey sky that belongs to Chicago for much of the year or perhaps it's just my overactive imagination, but when I left the Denver Airport I thought I was going to go blind from how bright it was.

As usual, my plan had been to show up to Boulder and figure out things as they came, but thankfully  my 4K teammate "cool mom" Caitlyn was kind enough to drive up from Colorado Springs to pick me up at the Denver airport and drive me to Boulder.  I am also lucky to have 4K friends in Boulder, on whose air mattress I have been crashing for over a week now (thanks Bradley and Chelsea and co).

For those of you who followed my 4K trip last year on this blog, we actually went through Boulder on our way to Portland.  It was definitely among our team's favorite stops, which is partly why I came out here.  Of course visiting a town is different than living there, but I would say so far Boulder has lived up to the hype, and I can see why it is often called the happiest city in America.  But of course there is no such thing as a perfect place (or a thing that I can't complain about), so here are my thoughts on Boulder after living here for a week, listed somewhat randomly.

Great commuting by biking- I don't think there is anywhere I have been in America that is as bike friendly as Boulder.  I suppose this is easier to accomplish in a smaller city like Boulder, but still I'm amazed by just how many bike lanes and paths are spread throughout the entire city.  A big plus is that bike paths are designed such that you don't have to constantly stop at every light, making commuting by bike much faster.

Proximity to the Rockies- I love the Appalachians and their general greenness, but in terms of embodying the essence of "mountain-ness", it's pretty hard to dispute that the Rockies reign supreme in North America.  They are where I first saw snow in July, where I first suffered from altitude sickness.

6,843 feet above sea level and out of breath

Privilege and leisure - this is one thing I'm not so crazy about Boulder.  A lot of people point out that Boulder is very white, but that isn't what I care about.  What I care about is the sense of privilege and leisure that people have in Boulder.  If I might be brutally frank and describe it in the worst terms possible, Boulder is the city where the wealthy come to get away from the problems of the poor.  I've heard the term "Boulder Bubble" multiple times already, and it is very real.  By no means is everyone here is rich, and I've loved my stay in Boulder so far.  But as one of my friends said, yeah it's great that Boulder has no crime, but that also means it doesn't get to have any superheroes.  What's a city without superheroes?

It's usually insane and absurd until you do it

So... remember when I said back in December I would be posting once a week, especially about my Midwest Ride?

Damn, I suck at keeping online promises.

But instead of flagellating myself over it (which I suppose I should be doing), I want to write a post about some thoughts I had yesterday.  I'll get back to the Midwest ride eventually...  Awhile back, I wrote about how the 4K gives you a certain thirst for adventure that persists with you long after you reach the end of the 70 days and your destination.

Yesterday, my teammate Chelsea Johnson and I were talking on the phone about how we both feel the need to do something crazy and adventurous and amazing again.  No need to get into specific details, but let's just say that the phrase, "4K on every continent" came up.  Of course, as soon as that phrase was uttered, we expressed frustration at the fact that we both knew just how difficult it would be to pull off an adventure like that.  The complexity of all the logistics - time, money, effort it would require - is incredible, and for a moment we both were resigned to accepting that no such adventure could ever be done.

But then I realized that before the first 4K ride in 2002, the idea of a bunch of young, inexperienced, college students riding their bicycles all the way from Baltimore to San Francisco must have seemed so utterly and completely insane.  Before Ryan Hanley decided in 2001 that this would be how he would honor the memory of his father who had passed away from cancer, there must have been at least some people who told him not to go, that it was too dangerous, too difficult, too insane.  Of course I'm sure he had his supporters, but others, who meant well, must have asked him, where will you sleep?  How will you pay for everything?  How will you navigate a 4,000 mile coast to coast trip?  What will you do when your bicycle breaks down in the middle of nowhere?  What will you do when you are too tired to continue and want to come home?

For that matter, when the founders of Adventure Cycling organized a cross-country ride by over 4,000 riders in 1976 to celebrate the American Bicentennial, people must really have told them that they were insane.  But here we are in 2015, both Adventure Cycling and 4K for Cancer stronger than ever, because back in 1976 and back in 2002 someone said, hey this thing that some people are calling insane and impossible?  Let's go do that thing.  Yes, I really mean the insane and impossible one.

The obvious lesson that I'm beating over your head is that such endeavors, seemingly so difficult and complicated, seem so much less difficult and complicated and so much more possible after someone has the guts and will to embark upon them for the very first time.  Of course this lesson doesn't apply just to bicycle riding, but also to so many other amazing human feats.

I find that it's so easy for me to know this lesson passively and never put it into practice.  Maybe because it's a different way to say, "if you can dream it, you can achieve it," which has become such an obvious and meaningless cliche.  But if I may put forth a cliche of my own, sometimes I find that the simplest and most obvious lessons, the ones that just intuitively make sense, are the lessons that we most often fail to heed.  We are so entrenched in this lesson that we twist it into something seemingly similar but very different.  We twist the lesson into, "if you can dream it, you WILL achieve it," as if the fact that you have dreamed of something is a guarantee that you will achieve it.  We replace the word "can" with "will"  and deny the fact that actualizing our dreams into achievements requires a lot of effort.  We want to experience the high of knowing that our dreams aren't mere fantasy, but not experience the low of recognizing that transforming said dreams into reality requires us to put in work that is often hard and even unpleasant.  I know I have spent so much of my life dreaming of amazing things I could do, becoming intoxicated by the possibility of accomplishing these things, only to fail to follow through on them.  So maybe the lesson, in its original form, isn't a cliche but rather a good lesson whose reputation has been damaged because we fail to pay enough close attention to what it actually says.

In the end, I know it's probably not likely that Chelsea and my other teammates and I will end up doing a 4K like ride on every single continent, and that's okay by me.  But the point I want to make is that I don't want us to not do it because we simply think that such an endeavor is too difficult or even impossible.  Instead, I want us to end up not doing it because we decide there are better ways to spend our time or money or effort, that there are new and even more amazing adventures to pursue (possibly adventures aside from biking... but only possibly).

Instead of saying, no, it's too expensive, no it's too time consuming, I want us to say, hey let's embark on this other amazing feat that will also have our family and friends questioning our sanity.  I don't think that's too much to ask, do you?

Finally I understand comparison line graphs

Midwest Ride, Day 2 out 6

Day 2, West Lafayette, IN to New Carlisle, OH, 180 miles (kind of)

The face of... pleasure?  pain?  I honestly can't remember

Ok as promised, I am blogging about day two in a more timely manner than I blogged about day one.  My current goal is write at least one post each week, and if possible, more.

Even though day one had been successful, I knew that day two would be much more challenging for several reasons.  The first reason was the obvious fact that my legs and lungs would not be as fresh or well rested.  The second was the fact that the mileage would be much longer, around 180 miles, from West Lafayette, IN to New Carlisle, OH (near Dayton).  Plus whereas the miles on day one had included a good chunk of riding through Chicago and some good bike paths, I knew that day two would include mostly nothing but cornfields.

Despite these difficulties, I was still optimistic because unlike the 4K, I was heading west to east rather than east to west.  As anyone who has ever biked directly against the wind knows, having the wind on your side makes a huge difference and makes everything much easier.  I’ll never forget Nebraska (for a number of reasons), when at times biking 10 miles an hour seemed incredibly difficult, but as soon as you changed direction and had the wind helping you, biking 25 miles an hour took almost no effort at all.  My hope was that I would have the wind on my side, so maybe I could average at least 15 or even 20 miles an hour comfortably, speeds which would allow me to cover 180 miles in about 9-12 hours.  Start riding around 6AM, and with water and lunch breaks, arrive no later than 8PM.  I concede that it was ambitious and if in the future I go on a similar ride I’m not certain I would be willing to plan it the same way.  But I suppose I was still riding the high from the 4K and at the time thought that it was going to work more or less… I mean come on, the plan was to leave at 6AM on my bicycle and stay on it until 8PM… what could possibly going wrong?

Plus I had an amazing start to the morning because my wonderful Caity Schram not only woke up at 5AM on a SATURDAY to see me off, but also made me a fantastic breakfast.  Could she have been a better host?  I think not.  I nominate that 4K go through West Lafayette, IN next year and some thirty riders pile into her house.

Unfortunately only an hour or two into my ride, I ran into a terrible headwind which would persist more or less through the entire day.  Curious (aka pissed off) that the wind was actually blowing east to west and wondering where it had been during the 4K, I struggled to keep a pace of 15 miles an hour.  Before I left Chicago, I had naively wondered if the abundant cornfields would protect me, but alas had no such luck.  Apparently despite years of genetic modification by Monsanto, American corn is still not tall or thick enough to protect cyclists from the wind.  So now I am issuing my challenge to Monsanto and other American bio-engineering companies to create even taller and thicker corn...

So there I was, probably less than 30 miles into 180 mile day, frustrated and dare I say even feeling defeated.  It's a good thing that I had such amazing people supporting me.  As soon as I vented a bit about how difficult the start of the day was, I received numerous messages of encouragement.  In fact I received so many of them (ooh keep bragging about how popular you are) that my phone battery was being drained and I had to put my phone on airplane mode for a bit.  But the point is that without these messages, it would have been much more difficult for me to continue.  It seemed like at the end of every hour, when the headwind had sapped all of my strength from me, I would look at my phone and see a message that encouraged me to keep my cadence up.

I stopped to stock up on some food in Kokomo, IN.  Maybe it seems a bit silly, but I will admit that part of the reason I love long distance biking is because I get to write sentences like that.  If you were driving from Chicago to Ohio, you would never stop in a town like that, far away from the interstate.  I had a really nice conversation with some ladies who worked at the CVS.  They asked me where I was going, and of course as soon as I answered proceeded to tell me that I was insane.  They were a nice change from the people that I had so far encountered on my trip.  Granted I probably looked really strange to them, wearing super tight shorts with weird padding on my butt and an equally tight cycling jersey and strange blue shoes   But most of the people that I had so far encountered had looked at me like I was some kind of an alien, so it was nice to meet people that realized that I was more or less a normal human being (despite what my friends might claim)

Not from this ride, but the 4K.  I ask you, what about my appearance is so weird?  The untamed hair?  The bright safety vest?  The pirate bandanna around my neck?  My scowl?

I continued, struggling against the wind but doing my absolute best to stay optimistic, knowing that there was a bike path coming up soon.  It was very tough for me to ride over a hundred miles with not much to entertain me besides corn, since it turns out that in addition to not be able to protect cyclists from the wind, corn is equally incapable of being good company.

Unfortunately, just a few miles into the Cardinal Greenway, I had one of the lowest points of the entire trip and a grim reminder of how dangerous cycling can be.  An Indiana park volunteer warmed me that just a couple of miles down the path, a cyclist who had not checked for traffic as he crossed over a road had been struck and killed.

I said I would be very careful, but my mind just went numb because I didn't want to think about it, and the truth is that I more or less repressed it until much later.  Another cyclist killed, another stern warning of the dangers of cycling.   From time to time I think about how insane of a machine a bicycle really is - a bunch of pieces of metal and rubber held together, resting on tires usually less than an inch wide, as you dive down the side of a mountain at 50 miles per hour.  Add to this insanity bad weather and reckless drivers and I can't help but feel like there is something wrong with me for loving cycling so much.

It didn't help that a few miles down the path, as I crossed the road, I saw an ambulance driving away in the distance.  I suppose I can't be certain that it was the ambulance, but to me that seems like wishful thinking.  I know that it's most likely that the ambulance I saw was the ambulance, taking away the dead cyclist.

I just looked at pictures of the accident site.  I won't post the link, but it's easy enough to find with the name Cardinal Greenway.  The first thoughts I have are that the pictures don't look so different from what I remember from Jamie's accident.  The ambulance, the mangled wheel, the numerous emergency responders standing around, for them more or less another day of work.

As if the last few paragraphs don't tell you enough, even now I can't help but wonder if I am some kind of damaged cyclist.  Each time that I end up rerouting or avoiding a road because I feel that it's not safe, I can't help but wonder whether the road is actually unsafe, or I'm just too sensitive.  I see other cyclists riding on roads I would deem unsafe, but they feel perfectly safe and secure.  Of course I've heard of cyclists being killed before, but Jamie's accident and death was the first time it was made so incredibly real for me.  I'm sure in my lifetime I've (unfortunately) seen many photos of cycling accidents, but I know it will never be the same again.  I can't help but wonder if from this point on, every accident photo will take me right back to Jamie's accident.  This is in spite of the fact that I know it might end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Jamie I miss you more than any words could say

At least the rest of the day ended well.  Not at all how I had planned, but even still when I think about it now, I'm grateful for the way it went.  I continued on the Cardinal Greenway, given a bit of relief by the presence of real trees (vs only corn), which blocked more of the wind, as well as provided something a bit more interesting to look at.

Apparently this substitution of trees for corn may have been a bit too much of a relief.  I was supposed to turn off of the Cardinal Greenway about about 25 miles before it ended, but I zoned out and ended up riding it all the way to the end.  OOPS.  By the time I figured out what had happened, I was way off course and had added a bunch of extra miles to the day.  I don't remember the exact figure, but I think I somehow added about 25 miles to the day.  25 extra miles are always tough, but especially tough on a day that is already 180 miles.  Plus now that I was way off course, I really had no clue about the terrain or the most important thing, which was the safety of the route.  So in the end I called my hosts for the night, Brian and Lori "Sunpatch" Byg, the parents of one incorrigible Blaire "Zuccini Blah" Byg (former roommate / fellow avocado enthusiast).

After much texting, they found me on a backroad in the dark, hungry, tired, and simultaneously feeling defeated and angry at myself.  At this point you might be wondering what I mean by "at least the rest of the day ended well."  So far I had gotten lost and forced my hosts for the night to drive out of their way and find me.  Well, yes that part of the rest of the day obviously sucked.  But what was amazing was how incredibly kind Brian and Lori were when they picked me up.

The fact that they had to drive out to pick me up didn't seem to have phased them at all.  Instead of asking me how I could have been so dumb (seriously), they were just happy to see me and that I had made it thus far.  Their kindness and graciousness restored me immediately and I found myself feeling more optimistic.  I know in the last post I already had a rant about how amazing my hosts for the first night were (Caitlin and Jin), but I think it would be unjust to not have a rant about how amazing Brian and Lori are as well.

As all 4K alums know all too well, there is definitely a 4K withdrawl period.  A period of time during which everything in the non 4K world seems less meaningful or perhaps even pointless.  During this time, you lament the fact that you aren't on your bike, constantly surrounded by your teammates.  You wonder if real life will ever be quite as good as the 4K, and if you're a super duper 4K addict, whether you'll ever be happy again.

It's pretty obvious that I fall into that super duper 4K addict category, seeing as I've done everything in my power to avoid returning to normal life.  After the 4K, I hung around Chicago for about 4 weeks, then took off on this crazy bike ride across the Midwest by myself.  Then I couchsurfed with friends up and down the East Coast for two weeks, before flying off to Europe.  However, as glorious and glamorous all that might seem, the truth is that it has been also really tough.  As grateful I am to have this amazing opportunity to continue the adventurous spirit of the 4K, "normal" life has caught up to me.  It turns out that despite what some of us in America might think, even if you live in Europe, you have to lead more or less a "normal" life.

Perhaps you think you can escape normal life by having the most exciting life ever.  Maybe you can work as a skydiving instructor, then a firefighter, then a safari guide, and so on.  Maybe you could figure out a way to keep the adrenaline high at all times.  But isn't there something equally sad about not being appreciate life for what it is, even if sometimes it is simple and not super duper exciting?  Isn't there something really sad about always needing the next fix for adventure and not being able to appreciate and give thanks for what you already have?  This is my post 4K dilemma, of always needing the next adventure fix and yet wanting to fully appreciate daily life.

"Can you tell marketing I'll probably have to reschedule this afternoon's meeting?"

But back to the Brian and Lori.  I've known them for over four years now, and every time I see them or Blaire tells me something about them, I can't help but have the feeling that they have conquered this dilemma.  They seem to be able to go about their everyday lives and yet not neglect nurturing their sense of adventure, something I think at this moment I'm not really able to do.  I always hear from Blaire that they are off at some festival or concert or beer this or wherever they were on day two of my ride that they had a meat pie for me in the car when they picked me up.  And hey, they offered to host me not once, but twice during my ride... that has to count as an adventure in itself right??? Cuz I'm so exciting??!!

Brian and Lori, if you read this, what I trying but failing to say adequately is that the two of you give me hope for my own future, and for the future of everyone else who might suffer from post 4K crises of identity.  I mean it when I say that whenever I feel upset about the fact that I am being forced to resume everyday life, I can always think of the two of you.  I can think of how you not only combine everyday life with an adventurous spirit, but also obtain joy and pleasure from everyday life itself.  When I think about life five, ten, twenty years in the future, I know that if I have your spirit and appreciation for life, I will be okay.  In fact, I will be better than okay.  I will be great, no matter where I am, no matter what I am doing.  So thank you, not only for hosting me for two days, but giving me hope and guidance in life.  As was said between me and your daughter a few days after I finished my ride, you are truly amazing people.

selfie with Lori and Brian, fantastic people

In addition to the previously mentioned meat pie, they had lasagna for me at the house.  And drinks of every kind, including great beer.  And lasagna at the house.  And drinks of every kind, including beer.  Pretty much everything I needed and more, including what was essentially my own apartment, complete with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living area with TV.

 Byg Hotel

 The concierge of Byg Hotel, the very very friendly Ava (sorry about the bad pic but I promise she is the sweetest of dogs)

I hope it's clear what I meant when I wrote earlier that the rest of the day went well, despite nothing going according to plan.  It's funny, during the 4K I realized over and over again that biking was a much smaller part of the journey than the people we met along the way.  I can't help myself from saying the same right now.  I might have been disappointed that I wasn't able to finish the mileage that day, but I take comfort in the knowledge that years down the road, when I look back at day two of this trip, what I'll remember and cherish the most isn't the miles, but the wonderful time I got to spend with my hosts.

Mileage for the day, taken the next morning

  

Midwest Tour Day 1 (out of 6) ... Finally

Ok so I'm in Barcelona... surprise!  At least to those of you who don't know...

Long story short, I found it difficult to find work in Berlin for the moment so I hopped over to Barcelona because work is generally more plentiful there.  I think I have to blog about this (at least according to Tori), so more about all this later...

For now, the ride I did in the Midwest in September... which I cannot believe was over two months ago now.  Something that I've said over and over again, and every 4K alum knows is the paradox of the 70 days of 4K, that the days pass by quickly and slowly all at the same time.   A common saying on our team was, each day seems like a week and each week seems like a day.  So it's incredible to realize that over 70 days have passed by since not only the end of 4K, but this Midwest ride.  They both seem like they took place yesterday... did I mention I love to be nostalgic and reminisce?

West Lafayette, clearly the better of the two Lafayettes... duh doesn't everyone know that?

Anyway... day 1 of the Midwest Ride!

But before... what exactly was my Midwest Ride?  As the impending gloom that was the end of the 4K became more and more of a reality, those of us on the team made plans to hang out post 4K.  Not just those of us who lived close to each other (looking at you lucky people in Maryland...), but all of us for future reunions and parties and celebrations (think New Year's, annual reunion, etc.).  Realizing that one of my buds on the team, Lipsitz, lived only about 6 hours away by car, we figured, hey what the hey, why not she visit me in Chicago?  Of course during the 4K you don't think about school, work, or other worldly obligations all too much.  So when said worldly obligations hit after the ride, Lipsitz realized that she would be far too busy to visit me.  I responded, still riding that high that is the 4K, well... why don't I just visit you at Denison (a college east of Columbus for those of you who don't know).

But of course, unlike Emily I had no car, so my only way of visiting her would be taking a bus or train or renting a car or  riding my 4K bike there.

No fossil fuels needed

For those of you who know, the weekend before this Midwest trip, I rode to Milwaukee and back to Chicago on the same day, for a personal best of 207.67 miles in a single day.  Although none of the days of this trip would have as much mileage, to be honest I was a lot more apprehensive about this trip than the Milwaukee trip.  This is because with the Milwaukee trip, I always had a safety net, the metra train that runs from Chicago all the way to Southern Wisconsin and back.  If I had serious bike problems or was too tired, etc., I could always come back on the train.

For this Midwest ride, however, things were different.  I was going to be a lot more out of civilization, no train to take me to Denison if things went wrong.  In addition, the Milwaukee ride lasted only one day, so I could give it my all and not worry about totally wearing myself out.  With the Midwest ride, I had to be careful to not overexert myself as it would consist of three days of riding, one day of riding, then three more days of riding back to Chicago.

But putting these fears aside, I began preparing for the ride.  I felt much better about the ride precisely because of the Milwaukee ride and what I had learned from it.  I prepared my ultra high tech pannier (aka my shoulder bag bundled up), filling it with exactly one change of clothing, one pair of non-cycling shoes, bike tools, and food, food, and more food.

Despite my concerns about the trip, overall the first day went incredibly well. The ride would be from the neighborhood of Hyde Park in Chicago to West Lafayette, IN, where Purdue University is.  I left around 6AM in the morning, hopping on the beautiful Chicago Lakefront Trail, and it seems for the first time in my life, I had a tailwind.  After being interrupted for a few minutes by a large ship necessitating the raising of a bridge, I crossed into Indiana from Illinois.

I'm pretty sure I could have jumped the gap with my bike... right???

I'm making this picture extra large so you can see where the ship that stopped me is from... CANADA JOCELYN I KNOW YOU SENT THIS SHIP TO STOP  ME FROM GOING ON THIS RIDE

Anyway, after crossing into Indiana I hopped onto a different trail called the Erie-Lakawanna trail, which kudos to Indiana, is really beautiful and frankly maintained far better than the Chicago Lakefront Trail.  Thanks to the tailwind the first couple of hours flew by and I didn't stop for a break until mile 30 or so, at the end of the Erie-Lakawanna trail.

Of course first I had to go through a tunnel.  It was a really short tunnel, but no good 4K ride is complete without one.

Unfortunately I knew that from that point on, I would be riding mostly through cornfields.  I stocked up on some more water from the town of Crown Point, IN, then headed out to meet the corn and the cows.

Wouldn't be a true American bike ride without some corn

Reason #1 that biking is better than driving... it's much easier to moo at the cows.  Ok so it's really hard to see the cows in this picture but you'll just have to believe me that they are there

Actually this was one of the few moments during day 1 of riding that something went wrong, or at least could have gone wrong.  Up to this point, the riding had been incredibly safe.  I rode mostly on bike paths and trails, with a few miles on some low traffic roads.  For most of day 1 after Crown Point, I was on roads that my 4K team would call farmer roads, or corn farmer roads.  These roads are used only by farmers, and are labeled County 1000 W or some other inconspicuous number + cardinal direction combination.  Aside from the one disadvantage of being boring, these roads are great for cyclists because of the practically non-existent traffic, aka very safe.

But as I left Crown Point, I had to take one stretch of US highway 231 to connect to the farmer roads.  While part of my preparation for the ride had been to do everything I could to verify the safety of my route, to be perfectly honest in the end there is almost no way to be absolutely certain that a roads is safe before you get there.  You can look on google maps, but the pictures might be super outdated or maybe they were taken when there happened to be little traffic on the road.  You can contact bike shops or cycling clubs in the areas and ask for their opinion, but of course it's possible that what they perceive as perfectly safe might terrify you.

So I ended up riding on a three or so mile stretch of US-231, with cars zooming past me a bit too fast and the shoulder a bit too narrow for my liking.  I've definitely been on more dangerous and scary roads, but it wasn't exactly ideal either.  And in the aftermath of Jamie's accident this summer, I'm aware that I'm probably more cautious than most cyclists and less willing to ride on dangerous roads.  I guess the litmus test I have is to ask myself whether my 4K team would take the road or not.  With regards to US-231, in the end I decided that while we wouldn't feel great about it, most of us would continue.  So I continued, a bit unnerved, but determined to keep riding.

In case that last paragraph was too grim, here is an adorable picture of a kitty and putty cuddling.

Anyway, after that brief episode, I was fortunate enough to ride almost the rest of the way on the farmer roads.  I suppose they don't really make for an exciting ride or good pictures, but I do love the safety they provide.  Honestly, the next 40 miles or so flew by thanks again to that good tailwind.  The only mistake I made was not bringing a proper lunch (for me at least granola bars are not a proper lunch), but it ended up not being a big deal anyway, because I soon ran into a gas station with a gourmet steakhouse attached to it.  Just kidding, a Subway!  That last exclamation might seem trivial to non-4Kers, but I think the significance is not lost to 4K alumni (and definitely my team).  The truth is up for debate, but I think the food chains from which we ate the most this summer are McDonalds, Jimmy John's, and Subway.

After finishing my subway footlong #9999 of this year and feeling refreshed (nothing like that processed chicken patty to keep you going), I headed out.  The rest of the afternoon went very well.  I supposed I should confess that I forgot that Indiana is actually in the Eastern time zone (OOPS), so I was going to arrive one hour later than I anticipated and WOW I am dumb sometimes.

Maybe one of the few bad things about day one was that I lonely, seeing as I'm rather used to riding with a group of 25 other cyclists.  And of course, all that I had to keep me company was endless fields of corn.  

Ok so there was also this and I had to reroute, but again, would it be a true 4K ride without rerouting?

Thankfully, around 25 miles before I arrived at Purdue, I passed by a lovely family with an adorable toddler riding their bikes around (I think the fact that a family with a toddler can ride their bikes on these roads shows how safe they are).  I chatted with them for a few minutes.  It was a lovely break from the crippling loneliness (ok I am exaggerating, at least for day one).  Maybe the only possibly awkward moment during the conversation was when the dad told his adorable son, "I bet his [referring to me] is Jamie."  He did so because I had Jamie written on my forearms, to inspire me and remind me of why I am riding (definitely more on this in future posts).  It was difficult in so many different ways to correct him, and it reminded me of the fact that almost three months after the accident, I still don't really know how to tell strangers what happened.

Ok so I didn't get a picture of them, but you can imagine your own version of an adorable Indiana farmer family

I'm tempted to write more about this difficulty, which I'm sure my entire team is facing, but I feel that if I do so I will get too distracted from day one of the ride.  I'm going to assert that it isn't a cop out, based on my claims that I will come back to this matter in a later post.

After being encouraged by the family that Purdue was not too far away, I waved goodbye and continued.  I arrived at my host for the night around 6PM, in excellent spirit and not feeling all that tired.  My host for the night was 4K 2011 San Fran Alum Caity Schram and her boyfriend Jin Tao.  To brag yet again about how amazing the 4K is, pretty much all that Caity needed to be told to be convinced to host me for the night is that I was a 4K alum and that I was on a bike ride.  That's right, I had actually never met Caity or Jin before this ride.  So what I'm saying is, Caity and Jin opened up their home and provided a hot shower and GUEST BEDROOM to someone who is essentially a stranger, because we are mutual 4Kers.  See why you should do the 4K (ok there are also other reason obviously)?

4K Hosts don't have to stop just because your 4K is over... thanks Caity and Jin!  A pre-shower picture, in case you needed to know why my hair is sticking up so much

After a much needed shower and a quick trip to the local bike shop, Caity, Jin, and I went out for dinner at their favorite hangout.  It's somewhat of a blur now, but I can remember thinking how wonderfully the first day of riding had gone.  It helped me put aside a lot of my worries and concerns about the trip.  Of course there would be many difficulties to come, but I enjoyed myself, had a few beers, a giant burger, I'm almost positive I ate a second entree I was so hungry.  Thank you Caity and Jin for not making fun of me for eating so much.  Actually I'm pretty sure Caity was egging me onto do it :)

Caity and Jin if you ever read this post, thank you so much for hosting me.  It's truly amazing to arrive somewhere new and strange on your bicycle, sweaty and tired, and be offered a place to stay.  It's one of the most amazing experiences of the 4K to realize that there actually are kind people out there, so Caity and Jin I want you to know that you helped me get back some of that 4K magic.

While I'm thanking people and to finish, I should thank all of the people that sent me messages and encouragements during the day.  Although it was a relatively easy day, the messages made the loneliness feel much more insignificant and I am very grateful for them.

Ok so I spent the last five minutes trying to figure out how to rotate this image.  I give up, but if any of you knows how to fix it, please comment below.  Mileage for the day at 131.75.

That's it for now.  I'm a little concerned that because so much time has passed, my memory isn't all that fresh... but no use worrying now - I promise it will not take me another two months to write about day two!