Portland-to-Portland Post Trip Reflections (updated 12/9/15)

Portland-to-Portland was a wonderful and challenging journey - the perfect way to celebrate my 70th birthday! I feel so fortunate that I could even attempt a second cross-country cycling trip and, frankly, somewhat amazed that I was able to fulfill the goal of "riding every mile".  I was not only fortunate - I was very lucky. A visit to an emergency room after my crash on the 2nd day of the trip would have revealed a broken left collar bone and, almost certainly, brought my trip to a premature end. Luckily I didn't make that visit and didn't find out about the break until after the trip was completed.

I'm often asked what motivated me to bicycle across the country at age 67 and again at age 70.  I do enjoy the physical challenge, particularly the tough climbs - but what I most enjoy is the serenity of mind and sense of calmness that comes over me as I pedal through nature and the small towns of America.  Bicycling forces me to stay in the moment and to stay present - something that's very hard to do in today's connected world where it seems that everybody is always electronically somewhere else instead of where they actually are.

I enjoyed getting to know my fellow cyclists and certainly appreciated their unfailing support and encouragement. Whether it was helping me up after my crash, pulling me through the worst of the headwinds, letting me loiter at the back of pace lines, or simply respecting my preference to solo they were always there to help in any way they could. 

As on any journey, this one had its highs and lows - but mostly highs.  Several of the most memorable highlights were soloing along side the beautiful Lochsa River through the wilderness of Idaho; the solo  climbs over the Bighorn Mountains and up Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills; and pedaling up to our summer home on Littlejohn Island in Yarmouth ME to finish the trip. I hit my emotional low point as we fought unfriendly winds through the never changing landscape of South Dakota - but quickly snapped out of it as I soloed into the very nice town of Sioux Falls SD. Besides Sioux Falls, I really enjoyed Walla Walla WA and Missoula MT - all examples of wonderfully livable mid-size American towns.  When you start feeling down about the future of our country, go spend a few days in one of these towns - it will boost your spirits.

Physically the entire trip was a highpoint - even the days immediately following my crash.   Although I sucked at walking and had trouble using my left arm, the fact that I could pedal with only moderate discomfort was actually both physically and mentally encouraging. As the trip progressed, I just kept getting stronger with none of the leg cramping and muscle soreness that I had experienced on the 2012 cross-country trip.  I credit most of my success to the fact that this time I rode my own ride.  By soloing most of the time I was able to listen to my body and adjust my pace accordingly. Soloing is not for everyone, but it certainly works for me - both physically and emotionally.

Having done both the southern and northern routes, I am now being asked which one I liked best.  Both trips were great, but I would give a slight edge to the one just completed.  The western portion of this trip was more interesting and scenic than on the southern route. However, on the southern route, the ride through Tennessee and the Carolina's was superb - better than the northeast. My physical condition was certainly better on this trip. And the fact that I rode every mile makes this trip much more satisfying than the southern route where I missed about 10% of the miles due to leg cramping, weather, and a board meeting. And, of course, being able to end this northern trip by dipping my bike wheel into the Atlantic from my own dock was the "icing on the cake" - my 70th birthday cake!

This likely brings an end to my x-country cycling adventures. However, my love of cycling is definitely not diminished. I plan to continue cycling about 5000 miles/year - it's enjoyable and a great way to stay in shape.  I am intrigued by the thought of doing some self-supported, self-guided multi-day cycling trips of 50-70 miles/day with overnight hotel stays - either solo or with a few others.  And for a change of pace, there is always ultra-light backpacking (my son Matt is into this) on the John Muir and/or Appalachian Trails.  It's too early to set my 75th birthday adventure goal, but I'm starting to think about one. Call me crazy, but it's important to me to always have a big, audacious goal which will test the outer limits of my physical capabilities.

As I write this final posting from our home in Scottsdale AZ in early December, my collar bone has pretty much healed (without surgery) and I am attempting to rescue my golf game while enjoying about 120 miles/week on my bike. Cycling in the high Sonoron Desert of Arizona during the late Fall and Winter is just about as good as it gets!

Thanks to all of you for following my blog.  I hope you found it interesting.  Over the coming weeks I will be adding more pictures and doing some clean-up of the daily posts from both trips in preparation for self-publishing the entire blog in book form for my kids and grandkids.

Signing off,

Steve