After work today, my dad asked me how I was feeling. I told him I was feeling sentimental. The past few days have been nothing but a series of goodbyes and even though I know I will be back home before long, I feel so emotional about leaving.
I got emotional saying goodbye to the people at my church, to my Sunday School kids, my coworkers, customers at work…I thought I was holding myself together well until I became emotional while biking my commute for the last time.
Logically, it doesn’t make sense for me to feel emotions for a road but for me this is not just a road. It has been my classroom. This is the road that taught me to love cycling. On this road, I learned how to ride in dark, how to ride in the snow, how to stay warm in cold weather and how to use clipless pedals without falling over, just to name a few things. I have learned about myself, grown in my relationship with God and gained so much confidence while riding to and from work on this road.
But that isn’t why I became teary-eyed on my commute this morning. The reason I started bawling my little eyes out is because winter threw a going-away party for me on my final ride to work. That’s right, there was snow. Oh, it didn’t really stick but for about ten minutes, the snowflakes were falling so furiously that I felt like I was transported back to February. It was beautiful.
And then, after work was over, the wind was strong and the gusts were overpowering and I took it as an invitation to ride home slowly and take time to enjoy the familiar river and the farms, fields and hills that make my commute so unique and beautiful.
But surging past these sentimental thoughts, is an irrepressible excitement . On Wednesday when I wake up, I will do something rather ordinary. I will hop on my bike and pedal down the road. But this time something will be different. I won’t be back home before the day is over. Instead, my brother and I will continue to follow that road (and many other roads).
And if there are no major disasters…
And we remember the difference between East and West…
…We will end up in Colorado with our brother.
Only two days left until “GO!” time, the next time I post we will be on our way. Thank you to all of you for your encouragement and support in this adventure, it means so much to me.
Good luck Bri!
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Thanks Jim!
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Still very excited for you!
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😀 Now to just survive until Wednesday…hopefully I can stay calm enough to get everything all set so that we can go!
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Safe travels! I can’t wait to read about it.
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Thank you so much 😀
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I hope you have an awesome trip….with the wind at your back.
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Thank you for the well wishes, Anthony! It would be nice if the wind pushed us the entire way…and who knows maybe it will happen 😀
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Safe journeys. There’s nothing quite like a long adventure to make you feel alive. Enjoy every moment.
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Thanks Doug!
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I hear it’s downhill all the way to Colorado. Seriously. Would I lie to you?
Have a great trip.
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All downhill!?!? Of course I believe you! This trip is gonna be a piece of cake 😀
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If by chance you are crossing into Indiana near Monroeville, the town maintains a community building that includes a bike touring hostel of sorts. It has cots and laundry and a shower. Don’t forget to sign and read the guestbook.
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That is very cool! I am sure there are lots of interesting things to read in that guestbook…but unfortunately we are not traveling through Indiana. I’ll have to save it until next time, and there is gonna be a next time because now that I know it is all downhill I am going to be riding to Colorado a lot! (And then using a plane to come back home, of course)
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What you’re doing is so amazing! Enjoy every minute. The moment you push off is so surreal and amazing!
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Aimee, I remember reading about your tour in France and thinking that I HAD to do something like that someday, but I had a feeling that I would never actually find the determination to leave home and go on a tour of my own…you helped inspire me! Thank you 😀
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Good luck! Enjoy your adventure 🙂
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Thank you, Taruza 😀
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Enjoy every moment, Bri. What an adventure! I’m looking forward to reading about it and seeing the pictures.
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Thank you, Nick! I can’t believe tomorrow is the big day 😀
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All the best! Keep’em rolling!
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Thank you, Adam! We will do our best to keep rolling, Rootchopper tells me it all downhill to Colorado so it should be an easy thing to do, right? 😉
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Ride safe! and have a wonderful adventure!
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Thank you so much!
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Have a wonderful bike ride Bri. Just maybe you will run into my friend Mike, who is also riding cross country. He will be leaving Virginia on Wednesday, riding to Portland OR.
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That is so cool! He has a great website, I poked around a bit, I will definitely be reading more when I get the time. Who knows maybe we will see him out on the road!
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Have a great time!
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Thank you, Brian 😀
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Good luck. Be safe. And, post often.
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Thank you, Gary! My plan is to write at least a bit each day and then post to my blog whenever WiFi is available…time will tell how this plan goes 🙂
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GOOD LUCK!!! HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
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Thank you!!!!
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Can’t wait to hear about your adventures!!! Have fun, enjoy the road, the sun, and the wind in your hair!
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Aww…thank you so much! I was thinking about you yesterday, as I always do when I see a giant white dog 🙂 I hope everything is well with you so far this spring
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I’m so excited for you! Stay warm and dry and safe my friend. And have blast with your brother.
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Thank you, my west coast friend! It is so amazing that my brother is joining in this adventure…I am so excited to explore the country with him 🙂
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Good luck and have fun! Your adventure is so exciting and brave! 🙂 I bet you’ll have so many stories to tell by the end of it that you can blog for a year and still not share all of them.
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Thank you for the well wishes, Chris, I know we will need them, hehe!
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Enjoy the trip! Hope you get some decent tailwinds 😉
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Tailwinds would be great! The more the merrier 🙂
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May the irrepressible excitement bloom into a wonderful adventure. Have fun out there! 😀
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Oh Gail, thank you so much! We had a lovely ride today and made it to the campground just a bit ago! We are beside Lake Ontario and it is really pretty 🙂
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Bonne route, Bri! Looking forward to following your trip!
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Thank you, Mary! We are pretty happy to be on the road 😀
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Saying good bye was hard to do but your excitement for this trip brought us joy to us as well. We love reading your posts and enjoy the opportunity to journey with you.
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Oh Amy! Thank you so much! I miss you all, but yes, this trip has been so wonderful so far. Hugs, friend!
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