As i begin to type this, for the first time in over a month everything around me is familiar. I know where i am and i have seen this all before. It's weird. It feels so foreign to me. This might not make sense to you but it makes more sense if i tell you all that i am home in Knoxville, TN. I had to fly home yesterday morning.
Deciding to come home was one of the hardest decisions i have ever made. My last blog left off that i had ridden a 85-90 mile day. It was a great ride and honestly i felt pretty flippin' good afterwards. My knee was a bit weak but i felt good. We ended up finding a ditch to sleep in about 300 yards from this random racetrack in the middle of nowhere Colorado. I had a bit of trouble sleeping but most of that was due to the fact that i was using my helmet as a pillow. Plus i had been in Denver going to bed T 1am every night and Daniel and i were laying down and it was 9:15... i honestly didn't know what to do with myself. I just listened to music on my phone then forced myself to sleep about 20 minutes after that.
We woke up the next morning to the sound of racecars and their engine grumble It was a great alarm clock. You have to feel like a man if you sleep in a ditch and wake up to a car engine.. right? It was a bit muggy/foggy/overcast but i was ready to go. I stood up and felt great... minus just a bit of discomfort in my knee. I was actually ready before Daniel... mainly cause he had to replace his flat tire... gave me an extra 14 minutes of getting ready time. I wanted to start biking. We ate a lil bit of food and got on our way. People in Colorado kept talking about how Eastern Colorado was flat... WRONG! Hill after hill after hill after hill after hill.... it was ridiculous. I guess compared to the Rockies... it was a friggin slab.. but NOT flat.
So we are riding and climb after climb my knee was beginning to feel a bit weak but i felt great on the flats. At 10 in the morning Daniel had to make a call. So, we see a big climb in the distance and decide when we get to the top of that climb he was gonna make the call to one of his young life guys parents. We get to the top of the climb and he is on the phone. I was kinda just sitting there eating some bagels with peanut butter. I notice some ants on the ground so i try to stand up realizing i can't put any weight on my knee, I fell back down. I realized nothing was fixed about my knee. I knew it had been hurting on the uphills but that last big one got to me pretty good. I realized in that moment that i could finish the 100 miles on Saturday, but i wasn't able in confidence to say i could ride sunday or monday or the next day. My knee was hurting.
I pretty much broke down in that moment. I was sooo frustrated. I was soooo sad. I had been realizing slowly, for the first hour of our ride (about 15 miles) that i couldn't finish the trip. It all smacked me in the face while i was sitting there by myself waiting on Daniel. I sat there and cried out of frustration and sadness. I loved being out there. Being on the bike is my escape/release. It sucks.
Daniel finishes his convo and comes over to me and i mean obviously he knew something was up. My head was in my hands, tears on my face. I just told him, i can't finish dude. I can't promise i can ride tomorrow. I can't promise i can ride the next day. We weigh our options on what i should do since i am roughly a 100 miles from Denver and really and civilization. I remember that race track and the sound of the engines. I just said, "man, imma ride back there and hitch a ride i guess. I was so mad at life in that moment. As we rode i just thought about everything that had happened and realized there was more goign on than my plan. Nothing had gone "right" since the minute my trip started... why start now right? Daniel rode to the track with me which was great. we got a few more miles in together. I think all in all we road 25 miles together, including trips to the stores, coffee shops, and bike shops.
We get to this race track and it was awesome Porsches, Lotus, audi, corvettes, skylines... all these amazingly fast cars racing around a track. There Daniel and i sitting on our bikes. We got some funny looks to say the least. The track manager talks to me while Daniel called his mother to tell her he was finishing the trip by solo.
Daniel left and i was at this track by myself no ride to denver, can't bike it, and honestly didn't know a single person in the place. People start talking to me and really just loved what i was doing. I mentioned to someone i was trying to get back to denver and he offered me a ride to about 7 miles from my sisters place. I was stoked. I had a ride. I just had to stay at the track all day, which to some people sounds boring but they found me a helmet and i had the long sleeves and pants, and because of that i got to ride in a race car. It was nuts! I had never gone that fast in a car and i had never been on a racetrack either.
Finally i get a ride back and it was crazy to drive the same route i just biked the day before. It took me 8 hours to ride it and only 45 minutes in a car. ha. Craziness for sure. Tom Carlin was the guys name. He dropeed me off and i didn't know where i was. Chuck, the bike shop owner from lakewood, came to get me. He gave me a ride to my sisters with a slight detour to have a beer at a local bar. This is all just saturday. Sunday night i end up buying my ticket to fly out of denver. I left Tuesday morning at 1am.
Those few days happened so fast. I still can't fathom that i am home. It's weird, but i will say this, the past month of my life has been the most incredible adventure ever. I have done things i never thought i would do, met people i never would have met, and i have seen places i never thought i would see. I think from moment one i was so set on how things would happen and how things would go down that i wasn't willing to actually be on an adventure (an adventure being something nuts that just happens how it happens). I think over the course of this trip i have learned so much and i will hopefully post one more blog about that. This trip has honestly been life changing and i have learned more about myself in a month than i ever thought i would. Everyone's encouragement has been incredible and the support i have received has been baffling. Am i sad? A bit. Frustrated? Maybe a lil bit on that one also. Disappointed? Of course. Mainly though, am I completely thankful with how the past month has happened and how things have turned out? Yes. No questions asked, this trip has been perfect.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Laughing about BBQ.
I know i am a bit late but this is the blog from three nights ago. It was an awesome night. Thursday night to be exact. It's just hard to blog when the closet town is 40 miles away much less any wifi.
So daniel got here and we had a blast. thursday we decided to go down to the bike shop, hangout, work on fitting everything just right, and just do nothing with the guys down there. I also wanted to thank them for letting me help out and all of that stuff.
We ended up hanging out at the bike shop for about 3-4 hours, just laughing and goofing off. Dave owns the bike repair shop and Chuck owns the bike dealer part. They are both super amazing dudes. Dave had let me fix my bike and everything while chuch hooked me up with new sunglasses (i left mine in Daniel's friend's car... and my knife.) and these amazing hydration tablets called NuuN. Try them out if you can. they are amazing. Made me feel great for sure.
As we are leaving the shop though Chuck invited us to have dinner with he and his wife Francy (sorry is i mispelled that). We accepted the offer on the terms that we buy Chuck a beer (which he woudln't let us anyways). What a night? They took us to this little hip part of Denver to a place called Highland Tap and Burgers (i think). I had a lamb burger and it was delicious. Never had lamb before but it was nuts good. I wanna go back and have another for sure.
After we ate Chuck, Daniel, and I all argued over BBQ. Chuck is from Kansas, Daniel from North Carolina, and me from Tennessee... I don't think i have laughed that hard in forever. It was one of my most memorable nights from this trip so far. Just the hospitality of Chuck and Francy was incredible.
Daniel and i came back to my sister's and had to clean up before we hit the road on friday morning. So ya we did that and went to sleep.
Friday morning we woke up got loaded down and stopped for food for a couple days on the way out of Denver and got on out way. Friday was an incredible ride. We started in lakewood Colorado and it is such a pretty ride goign into Denver. We went thru some of the coolest little neighborhoods. It was a bit of a slow ride averaging about 8 miles an horu thru the city but it was gorgeous and not very tough. About halfway thru Denver a guy rolled up next to us on his bike, John. He asked us what we were doing and we told ihm so he actually showed us the quickest way out of town on some random back roads and paths. it was so incredible. I don't think we would have ever found that way out of Denver, so thanks to you John.
Overall is was a really rad couple of days. I was super stoked to be back on my bike hands down. It is gorgeous out here and the people are great! I will blog yesterday and today's blogs tomorrow sometime. i feel like this is getting way too long. Hope you enjoy the read. have an amazing day!
So daniel got here and we had a blast. thursday we decided to go down to the bike shop, hangout, work on fitting everything just right, and just do nothing with the guys down there. I also wanted to thank them for letting me help out and all of that stuff.
We ended up hanging out at the bike shop for about 3-4 hours, just laughing and goofing off. Dave owns the bike repair shop and Chuck owns the bike dealer part. They are both super amazing dudes. Dave had let me fix my bike and everything while chuch hooked me up with new sunglasses (i left mine in Daniel's friend's car... and my knife.) and these amazing hydration tablets called NuuN. Try them out if you can. they are amazing. Made me feel great for sure.
As we are leaving the shop though Chuck invited us to have dinner with he and his wife Francy (sorry is i mispelled that). We accepted the offer on the terms that we buy Chuck a beer (which he woudln't let us anyways). What a night? They took us to this little hip part of Denver to a place called Highland Tap and Burgers (i think). I had a lamb burger and it was delicious. Never had lamb before but it was nuts good. I wanna go back and have another for sure.
After we ate Chuck, Daniel, and I all argued over BBQ. Chuck is from Kansas, Daniel from North Carolina, and me from Tennessee... I don't think i have laughed that hard in forever. It was one of my most memorable nights from this trip so far. Just the hospitality of Chuck and Francy was incredible.
Daniel and i came back to my sister's and had to clean up before we hit the road on friday morning. So ya we did that and went to sleep.
Friday morning we woke up got loaded down and stopped for food for a couple days on the way out of Denver and got on out way. Friday was an incredible ride. We started in lakewood Colorado and it is such a pretty ride goign into Denver. We went thru some of the coolest little neighborhoods. It was a bit of a slow ride averaging about 8 miles an horu thru the city but it was gorgeous and not very tough. About halfway thru Denver a guy rolled up next to us on his bike, John. He asked us what we were doing and we told ihm so he actually showed us the quickest way out of town on some random back roads and paths. it was so incredible. I don't think we would have ever found that way out of Denver, so thanks to you John.
Overall is was a really rad couple of days. I was super stoked to be back on my bike hands down. It is gorgeous out here and the people are great! I will blog yesterday and today's blogs tomorrow sometime. i feel like this is getting way too long. Hope you enjoy the read. have an amazing day!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
VIVA LA MEXICO!
What a great couple of days. This trip is still living up to being the adventure of a lifetime! Wow. I have been in Denver for a week and a half and it's been nuts. Daniel finally caught back up to me last night and it was awesome to see him. He had done 140 miles yesterday and his legs and body were dead, so i rode my bike down the hill and we walked up the hill to my sisters together. I took him a cliff bar and some water too. He was in need of food and water for sure. He was straight beat. It was awesome to just kinda catch up. But shortly after he got here it was time for him to go to bed. He was exhausted. So ya that was that.
Today was great too. i woke up at 9:54 (i have woke up every day since being in denver at that exact time... it's a bit weird. i wake up at 6:52 go back to sleep then wake up at 9:54) Daniel and i sat around and watched Rob & Big and Fantasy Factory all day with a lil Man vs Food thrown in. It was overall a good day. I had 5 things of ramen noodles so that is always awesome. I love those things... i don't think they will ever get old. just gotta change it up here and there whether it be flavor or extra stuff you throw in 'em.
Yesterday though Daniel was on his way here and was at a gas station. This guy (Eric) started talking to Daniel and kept telling him how he had seen him a few times that day riding his bike. Turns out Eric works for Napa auto parts and was on a trip to promote at the Mexico vs New Zealand soccer match at invesco field. Eric gave us free tickets. and also gave us an extra one so Daniel's friend could come up to the game. Overall a legit day. I had never been to an international soccer match. it was so incredible, especially in an arena that large! It was sooo loud and the vuvuzelas were in action! Will, Dkal's friend, was awesome too, I had a great time getting to know him and hear about the adventure he is on with Compassion Ministries. Big things coming from there.
I get back on the road in like 34 hours. Super excited for that.
Also if you get the chance tell your friends about this trip. post my blog on your twitter or facebook. both of which would be awesome. there is a lil tihng on the right side bar that makes it easy. no cutting and pasted needed. Love you guys. My next blog should b from the road... but possibly another one tomorrow night!
Today was great too. i woke up at 9:54 (i have woke up every day since being in denver at that exact time... it's a bit weird. i wake up at 6:52 go back to sleep then wake up at 9:54) Daniel and i sat around and watched Rob & Big and Fantasy Factory all day with a lil Man vs Food thrown in. It was overall a good day. I had 5 things of ramen noodles so that is always awesome. I love those things... i don't think they will ever get old. just gotta change it up here and there whether it be flavor or extra stuff you throw in 'em.
Yesterday though Daniel was on his way here and was at a gas station. This guy (Eric) started talking to Daniel and kept telling him how he had seen him a few times that day riding his bike. Turns out Eric works for Napa auto parts and was on a trip to promote at the Mexico vs New Zealand soccer match at invesco field. Eric gave us free tickets. and also gave us an extra one so Daniel's friend could come up to the game. Overall a legit day. I had never been to an international soccer match. it was so incredible, especially in an arena that large! It was sooo loud and the vuvuzelas were in action! Will, Dkal's friend, was awesome too, I had a great time getting to know him and hear about the adventure he is on with Compassion Ministries. Big things coming from there.
I get back on the road in like 34 hours. Super excited for that.
Also if you get the chance tell your friends about this trip. post my blog on your twitter or facebook. both of which would be awesome. there is a lil tihng on the right side bar that makes it easy. no cutting and pasted needed. Love you guys. My next blog should b from the road... but possibly another one tomorrow night!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Beards are tough...
I am still somewhat bummed that i did use a Miley reference in my lasts blog's title. Oh well different day different blog, right? It's been a few days sincei have posted anything and honestly cause not much happens when you are off your bike and sitting at yoru sisters house on the reg. I enjoy it though. It's been nice to hangout with her i just haven't gotten to do much, minus work at that bike shop a couple days and then run errands with my sister and her fiance Mike. Been a lot of fun but i am getting a bit bored.
One thing i have done the past few days is i got to see an old friend. My friend Anne and i did a summer program about 3 years ago and we haven't seen each other in 2 years. It was cool for sure. She is from Colorado Springs, Co and her boyfriend and her were driving thru where i am staying here in Denver the other day so we got to have lunch and hangout for a couple hours. It was great to get out of the house and catch up. I needed a break from sitting here and watching TV very much so.
The title of my blog is "Good News for People who Like Good News", i guess you are probably wondering where the good news is right? Well i talked to Daniel the other night and he was in Rawlins, WY. He was 2.5 days away from Denver. I tell you this because that means i am going to be back on the road by Sunday for sure and maybe sooner. Also if we average 65 miles a day we realized we can finish the trip 2 weeks early, which would be so rad. I am a bit nevous about my knee though for sure. I rode yesterday. I did a six mile maximum output ride. It wasn't too bad honestly, but it was only 2 miles downhill and a 4 mile climb. I averaged about 13.1-13.5mph. The thing that worries me is that i can still feel my knee. I can feel right where it was hurt a few weeks ago, the only time i can feel it is on climbs though. My theory with this is that leaving my sisters place and Denver i am not really going to have many climbs. It's basically downhill from here to Denver then really downhill to Kansas. I am gonna push myself on this one cause i have dnoe what the doctor told me to do (even though he was a moron. What kind of doctor won't give you a rec. to an orthopedist when he can't tell you why your knee is getting inflamed?).
I have been doing well. I have been living here in Denver/Lakewood at my sister's place. It's gorgeous here but i am ready to go. If my knee doesn't work out then i don't know what i am going to do. I am gonna stay positive though. I think that i will be ok for the most part. Ibuprofen and ICE will be my new best friends. Throw in a lil icy hot and i will be golden for sure. I still have some really rough days, but i think that is to be expected. A few old friends who i haven't talked to in forever have been texting and calling me out of nowhere and just been really encouraging. It's been nice. Unexpected calls and texts are so rad. Especially from people who you haven't talked to in forever. I fell off the map this semester to a lot of people with being busy and the encouragement i am getting from those people is nuts. Thanks to everyone who is still following me even though i am not on my bike. It means the world to me and honestly it gets me thru the rough days.
Daniel should be here tomorrow. So ya, hopefully i will only have one more blog NOT on my bike. If all else fails and i can't make it all the to South Caronlina, my goal is to go to Joplin, MO and work there for a couple weeks with Tornado Relief. I never expected this trip to go how it has but honestly i wouldn't have it any other way. I am sad i am not on my bike (it's my escape, it's my "me" time, and it's just a time to be free), but i know that this is a journey i will never forget. Hardest thing i have ever done: emotionally, physically, and mentally. At the same time it is the most amazing thing i have ever done and if i could go back and change anything, i wouldn't.
I miss home, i miss my friends there more than they will ever know, but i will be home soon. I am goign to live where i am. The other day i was listening to my iPod and John Mayer's song "Stop this Train" came on and it made me super sad but then it made me realize i can't be sad about being out here.
(The part that bummed me out)
Stop this train, I wanna get off and go home again.
I can't take the speed it's moving in.
I know i can't, but honestly won't someone stop this train.
(this made me think about being a "grown up" when i get home)
So scared of getting older, I'm only good at being young.
So i play the numbers game to find a way to say that life has just begun.
(This made me just realize i am where i am. live for today)
Don't stop this train, don't for a minute change the place you're in.
I don't think i can ever understand
we'll never stop this train.
I am here and living for each moment i am in. Love each of you and hope to hear from you all!
p.s. My beard is getting burly.
One thing i have done the past few days is i got to see an old friend. My friend Anne and i did a summer program about 3 years ago and we haven't seen each other in 2 years. It was cool for sure. She is from Colorado Springs, Co and her boyfriend and her were driving thru where i am staying here in Denver the other day so we got to have lunch and hangout for a couple hours. It was great to get out of the house and catch up. I needed a break from sitting here and watching TV very much so.
The title of my blog is "Good News for People who Like Good News", i guess you are probably wondering where the good news is right? Well i talked to Daniel the other night and he was in Rawlins, WY. He was 2.5 days away from Denver. I tell you this because that means i am going to be back on the road by Sunday for sure and maybe sooner. Also if we average 65 miles a day we realized we can finish the trip 2 weeks early, which would be so rad. I am a bit nevous about my knee though for sure. I rode yesterday. I did a six mile maximum output ride. It wasn't too bad honestly, but it was only 2 miles downhill and a 4 mile climb. I averaged about 13.1-13.5mph. The thing that worries me is that i can still feel my knee. I can feel right where it was hurt a few weeks ago, the only time i can feel it is on climbs though. My theory with this is that leaving my sisters place and Denver i am not really going to have many climbs. It's basically downhill from here to Denver then really downhill to Kansas. I am gonna push myself on this one cause i have dnoe what the doctor told me to do (even though he was a moron. What kind of doctor won't give you a rec. to an orthopedist when he can't tell you why your knee is getting inflamed?).
I have been doing well. I have been living here in Denver/Lakewood at my sister's place. It's gorgeous here but i am ready to go. If my knee doesn't work out then i don't know what i am going to do. I am gonna stay positive though. I think that i will be ok for the most part. Ibuprofen and ICE will be my new best friends. Throw in a lil icy hot and i will be golden for sure. I still have some really rough days, but i think that is to be expected. A few old friends who i haven't talked to in forever have been texting and calling me out of nowhere and just been really encouraging. It's been nice. Unexpected calls and texts are so rad. Especially from people who you haven't talked to in forever. I fell off the map this semester to a lot of people with being busy and the encouragement i am getting from those people is nuts. Thanks to everyone who is still following me even though i am not on my bike. It means the world to me and honestly it gets me thru the rough days.
Daniel should be here tomorrow. So ya, hopefully i will only have one more blog NOT on my bike. If all else fails and i can't make it all the to South Caronlina, my goal is to go to Joplin, MO and work there for a couple weeks with Tornado Relief. I never expected this trip to go how it has but honestly i wouldn't have it any other way. I am sad i am not on my bike (it's my escape, it's my "me" time, and it's just a time to be free), but i know that this is a journey i will never forget. Hardest thing i have ever done: emotionally, physically, and mentally. At the same time it is the most amazing thing i have ever done and if i could go back and change anything, i wouldn't.
I miss home, i miss my friends there more than they will ever know, but i will be home soon. I am goign to live where i am. The other day i was listening to my iPod and John Mayer's song "Stop this Train" came on and it made me super sad but then it made me realize i can't be sad about being out here.
(The part that bummed me out)
Stop this train, I wanna get off and go home again.
I can't take the speed it's moving in.
I know i can't, but honestly won't someone stop this train.
(this made me think about being a "grown up" when i get home)
So scared of getting older, I'm only good at being young.
So i play the numbers game to find a way to say that life has just begun.
(This made me just realize i am where i am. live for today)
Don't stop this train, don't for a minute change the place you're in.
I don't think i can ever understand
we'll never stop this train.
I am here and living for each moment i am in. Love each of you and hope to hear from you all!
p.s. My beard is getting burly.
Friday, May 27, 2011
...always gonna be another mtn...
I feel somewhat guilty for having a Miely Cyrus refernce in the title to this blog but honestly it's quite fitting. I am in Denver where there is always another mtn... Especially when i am trying to get back to my sisters place from town... 3 mile hill at a 10% grade... it sucks, but at the same time it's some good training. the air is so thin here.
I decided yesterday to give my knee a lil test. Decided i was gonna do a three mile down hill and come on back up it. Honestly my knee felt pretty good the whole time down... why would it hurt? i barely had to pedal! I ended up goign to a bike shop here in Denver and sat and talked for quite a while. I was there for about an hour or two. Upon leaving i started the ascent, which at first wasn't bad. I had my headphones in and i was ready to conquer the hill. About half way up though i realized my bike wasn't shifting how it should. It was bouncing between gears, for those who don't know much about bikes, it's not good. I finally make it back to the top of the hill to my sisters place and start to work on my bike. I call Luke at my bike shop back home and he walks me thru a few things i can try and i fiddle and work on it for about 2 hours. it wouldn't work. I couldn't get it to shift right. i was so frustrated. I was honestly pissed. My head was yelling out why can't anything go right on this trip.
I am still working on my bike and my sister pulls into the drive way and she and i decided to go to yoga together. i was pissed about the bike but i was excited about time to relax and stretch out my body. I needed something like that. It was an hour and a half session i think. It was much need and the teacher was super cool too. It was a lot of fun to just kick it with my sister and relax. After Yoga though we really didn't do much. Just came home and ate some dinner. Which was good. I had some soup!
Today was kinda odd and random but not at all. ha. I started off the day eating (my favourite). While iw as eating lunch my sister's fiance invited me to go to his son's 4th grade awards ceremony... i accepted. i eman why not. i honestly didn't wanna mess with my bike so ya why not. It was a good time. I mean it was nice to run around with my future brother in law and go see my future nephew rock out a recorder ninja award. I don't know what that even means but it has ninja in it which makes it ok with me. It's like a math pirate award or something. On the way home after the award ceremony we went to kinkos and the store. It was nice. I decided to take my bike to the bike shop. I honestly couldn't afford it but it had to be done. nothign i could do would fix it. i mean i guess i could have... just didn't have the bike knowledge to figure it out.
So ya i end up at the bike shop and the guy there is super cool and he let's me use his tools. He and i looked at my bike and fixed everything i think... plus i got to clean my bike up and now Jolene is all pretty and spotless! The coolest thing though is he did everything for free, and we think my bike is fixed. He is having me come in a few days this week to work for him at the shop. I am super jacked about it. Tomorrow he is having me come in and put a few bikes together out of the box! So legit. Plus free lunch! woot woot. Dave at Full Service Bike Shop in Lakewood, Colorado knows his stuff. if you are around the area check it out.
Other than that i am goign on a ride tomorrow morning around 8 am which should be a lot of fun. I am a bit nervous about my knee but i think it will be ok. i will let you all know how the ride goes tomorrow or the next day. My biggest problem on the ride will be my cardio.. the air sucks here! Knee is feeling pretty good which is great news. It throbs sometimes but it hink that is mental... i don't know why it would.
Thanks again to anyone who reads this. You alls comments on here and texts and facebook posts help me more than you will know. Being this far away from home is super hard for me. I know i am out here though and this is where i am supposed to be. I am meeting people daily and it is a blast. It looks like i will be back on the road heading to south carolina sometime in the next 1.5-2 weeks! Daniel has made it to Jackson, Wyoming. He is doing well and we are both excited to get back on the road together!
I decided yesterday to give my knee a lil test. Decided i was gonna do a three mile down hill and come on back up it. Honestly my knee felt pretty good the whole time down... why would it hurt? i barely had to pedal! I ended up goign to a bike shop here in Denver and sat and talked for quite a while. I was there for about an hour or two. Upon leaving i started the ascent, which at first wasn't bad. I had my headphones in and i was ready to conquer the hill. About half way up though i realized my bike wasn't shifting how it should. It was bouncing between gears, for those who don't know much about bikes, it's not good. I finally make it back to the top of the hill to my sisters place and start to work on my bike. I call Luke at my bike shop back home and he walks me thru a few things i can try and i fiddle and work on it for about 2 hours. it wouldn't work. I couldn't get it to shift right. i was so frustrated. I was honestly pissed. My head was yelling out why can't anything go right on this trip.
I am still working on my bike and my sister pulls into the drive way and she and i decided to go to yoga together. i was pissed about the bike but i was excited about time to relax and stretch out my body. I needed something like that. It was an hour and a half session i think. It was much need and the teacher was super cool too. It was a lot of fun to just kick it with my sister and relax. After Yoga though we really didn't do much. Just came home and ate some dinner. Which was good. I had some soup!
Today was kinda odd and random but not at all. ha. I started off the day eating (my favourite). While iw as eating lunch my sister's fiance invited me to go to his son's 4th grade awards ceremony... i accepted. i eman why not. i honestly didn't wanna mess with my bike so ya why not. It was a good time. I mean it was nice to run around with my future brother in law and go see my future nephew rock out a recorder ninja award. I don't know what that even means but it has ninja in it which makes it ok with me. It's like a math pirate award or something. On the way home after the award ceremony we went to kinkos and the store. It was nice. I decided to take my bike to the bike shop. I honestly couldn't afford it but it had to be done. nothign i could do would fix it. i mean i guess i could have... just didn't have the bike knowledge to figure it out.
So ya i end up at the bike shop and the guy there is super cool and he let's me use his tools. He and i looked at my bike and fixed everything i think... plus i got to clean my bike up and now Jolene is all pretty and spotless! The coolest thing though is he did everything for free, and we think my bike is fixed. He is having me come in a few days this week to work for him at the shop. I am super jacked about it. Tomorrow he is having me come in and put a few bikes together out of the box! So legit. Plus free lunch! woot woot. Dave at Full Service Bike Shop in Lakewood, Colorado knows his stuff. if you are around the area check it out.
Other than that i am goign on a ride tomorrow morning around 8 am which should be a lot of fun. I am a bit nervous about my knee but i think it will be ok. i will let you all know how the ride goes tomorrow or the next day. My biggest problem on the ride will be my cardio.. the air sucks here! Knee is feeling pretty good which is great news. It throbs sometimes but it hink that is mental... i don't know why it would.
Thanks again to anyone who reads this. You alls comments on here and texts and facebook posts help me more than you will know. Being this far away from home is super hard for me. I know i am out here though and this is where i am supposed to be. I am meeting people daily and it is a blast. It looks like i will be back on the road heading to south carolina sometime in the next 1.5-2 weeks! Daniel has made it to Jackson, Wyoming. He is doing well and we are both excited to get back on the road together!
Monday, May 23, 2011
the past 30 hours... what a ride!
Probably the longest 30 hours of my life but some of the best i have ever had. I had written about my train ride and man what a ride it was. i was on that thing for 30 hours. I had never been on a train before and i mean why not make my first experience a good one right? Trains are impossible to sleep on if you are taller than 3 ft, the food is ok but totally over-priced, but i will say that the scenery and experience is incredible!
We will start where my last blog left off. I ended up staying with Ashley and her roommate Kendra. They were sooo awesome. Ashley worked so kendra and i went to the store and got a bunch of stuff to make dinner. It was delicious! We had grilled tri tip, pasta salad, and grilled veggies... It was sooo good. After dinner i laid there pretty mindlessly, seeing how i had been up since 430 in the morning. Kendra kinda played on her computer while i flipped thru songs on my iPod in the floor. I needed the down time. After laying there for a bit ashley got home from work around like 930-945. She came in ready to go out adn iw as like blah. haha. Although i gave in and went out anyways thinking that i could sleep on the train (suprisingly difficult to do). We ended up at their favourite bar called like the golden bear i think. (bear is the california state animal and the bar is on the corner of 24th and K st... get it 24K gold?!) We had a good time though. I made fun of people the whole time, and by people i mean these meat headed dudes who were dressed up like macho man... too soon anyone?
We hit the hay pretty early saturday night, i was exhausted for sure. Also something cool is we rode our bikes to the bar... i had never done that before. Ashley woke me up about 845 sunday morning. I slept on her living room floor. it was awesome. She had the most comfortable blanket i had ever laid under. GLORIOUS! I get to the train station to kinda check in and get my bike put on the train and that was more of a hassle than i thought it would be.
I got there adn they told me to take my pedals off... well i didn't have a wrench. I asked everyone at the train station and not a single person was helpful. I called Ashley, the girl i stayed with, and she went to a loacl bike shop for me. it was sooo awesome. She found out if it was open, which it was. It's quite unheard of for a bike shop to be open on a sunday. I ended up booking it down to the bike shop. it was about 10 blocks away and i had 20 minutes to be back at the train station. Luckily i made it... with about 3 minutes to spare. ha.
I bored the train and find a seat. I had 2 seats to myself which was awesome. I loved it. Behind me was Hailey (she had 2 seats), across from her was her friend Bonnie (also had 2 seats), and i didn't meet hime right away but in front of bonnie and across from me was chris! We ended up sitting and talking for about 2 horus to start the train ride off. it was so rad. Such great people. We all had so much to say and we really just had fun. I don't know how much fun i woulda had if i hadn't have met them.
24 horus into the train ride all my friends got off. Chris got off at 3AM this morning, and Bonnie and Hailey got off at noon today. I was alone. It was awesome. I hade a lot of time to think and listen to my iPod which was great. Being away from home has been extremely difficult. I have had some extremely lonely days and i have had some really good days. I don't have many friends out here, which is expected when you are 3000 miles from home.
I got to Denver tonight and my sister and i went to Chipoltle and it was delicious. She bought me a great meal... i was starving. I hadn't eaten today except for a couple clementines and a cliff bar (train food isn't too great and extremely over-priced). So i was pretty hungry. But ya it's been awesome to get to hangout with my sister. She's rad. I am here for two weeks so if you are in Denver and wanna kick it... let me know! Also i am super stoked my friend Emily from MTSU is from just south of Denver so i i think at some point she and i will get to do something this week. I am going to give my knee a go here in a few days. It's been 14 days since i have really ridden so we will see what happens. should be an interesting time. Doc said 14days... so imma give it 16. haha.
We will start where my last blog left off. I ended up staying with Ashley and her roommate Kendra. They were sooo awesome. Ashley worked so kendra and i went to the store and got a bunch of stuff to make dinner. It was delicious! We had grilled tri tip, pasta salad, and grilled veggies... It was sooo good. After dinner i laid there pretty mindlessly, seeing how i had been up since 430 in the morning. Kendra kinda played on her computer while i flipped thru songs on my iPod in the floor. I needed the down time. After laying there for a bit ashley got home from work around like 930-945. She came in ready to go out adn iw as like blah. haha. Although i gave in and went out anyways thinking that i could sleep on the train (suprisingly difficult to do). We ended up at their favourite bar called like the golden bear i think. (bear is the california state animal and the bar is on the corner of 24th and K st... get it 24K gold?!) We had a good time though. I made fun of people the whole time, and by people i mean these meat headed dudes who were dressed up like macho man... too soon anyone?
We hit the hay pretty early saturday night, i was exhausted for sure. Also something cool is we rode our bikes to the bar... i had never done that before. Ashley woke me up about 845 sunday morning. I slept on her living room floor. it was awesome. She had the most comfortable blanket i had ever laid under. GLORIOUS! I get to the train station to kinda check in and get my bike put on the train and that was more of a hassle than i thought it would be.
I got there adn they told me to take my pedals off... well i didn't have a wrench. I asked everyone at the train station and not a single person was helpful. I called Ashley, the girl i stayed with, and she went to a loacl bike shop for me. it was sooo awesome. She found out if it was open, which it was. It's quite unheard of for a bike shop to be open on a sunday. I ended up booking it down to the bike shop. it was about 10 blocks away and i had 20 minutes to be back at the train station. Luckily i made it... with about 3 minutes to spare. ha.
I bored the train and find a seat. I had 2 seats to myself which was awesome. I loved it. Behind me was Hailey (she had 2 seats), across from her was her friend Bonnie (also had 2 seats), and i didn't meet hime right away but in front of bonnie and across from me was chris! We ended up sitting and talking for about 2 horus to start the train ride off. it was so rad. Such great people. We all had so much to say and we really just had fun. I don't know how much fun i woulda had if i hadn't have met them.
24 horus into the train ride all my friends got off. Chris got off at 3AM this morning, and Bonnie and Hailey got off at noon today. I was alone. It was awesome. I hade a lot of time to think and listen to my iPod which was great. Being away from home has been extremely difficult. I have had some extremely lonely days and i have had some really good days. I don't have many friends out here, which is expected when you are 3000 miles from home.
I got to Denver tonight and my sister and i went to Chipoltle and it was delicious. She bought me a great meal... i was starving. I hadn't eaten today except for a couple clementines and a cliff bar (train food isn't too great and extremely over-priced). So i was pretty hungry. But ya it's been awesome to get to hangout with my sister. She's rad. I am here for two weeks so if you are in Denver and wanna kick it... let me know! Also i am super stoked my friend Emily from MTSU is from just south of Denver so i i think at some point she and i will get to do something this week. I am going to give my knee a go here in a few days. It's been 14 days since i have really ridden so we will see what happens. should be an interesting time. Doc said 14days... so imma give it 16. haha.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
what a few days... Adventures galore.
I have decided it's extremely hard to blog whilst on the road. I am no longer with Daniel and he has our computer. ha! Basically it's been a legit few days. My knee still isn't doing too great but i will get to that in a bit. A few nights ago i went on this adventure in Corvallis called the Mystery Ride Tour... it has nothing on the tour de fun (boro folowers... you know what's up). It is about a 7 mile bike ride thru the city of Corvallis where people deck their bikes in glow sticks and all that. It was a really god time. the only real bummer to the ride was that at one point there was about a 50 ft climb at a 2% grade... aka easy. Well my knee said no sir to that. which was super frustrating cause it had been doing soo soo well. I am not goingn to do anything on it for a while for sure. I am giving it it's precious lil time to rest. The Mystery ride was a good time for sure. It was pretty much our last hoo rah in Corvallis. I was pretty bummed to say bye to my friends there, but i think a couple of them are going to come to tennessee and i am going to try and go up there to Snowboard this winter. Keeping my fingers crossed for sure.
Also i had been loking for a place to stay in Sacramento, Ca for few days now and i had been quite unsuccessful... i decided to resort to couch surfing which turned out to work. I also didn't end up having to buy a train ticket fromm Oregon to Cali.My friend Ben Towne was heading to just north or Sacramento and he and i decided it was most economical to car pool. it was and it was a blast. we woke up this morning at 430 and got on the road. Man what a journey. 9 hours later we are on S Street in Sac town... and he was off to work at Woodleaf Young Life Camp all summer. What a stand up guy for sure. Real Pepsi, tons of pictures, and to top it off we agree on almost all music which isn't very common. But ya we get to Sac town and he just drops me off at this house where i didn't know the people but they have turned out to be super rad and i am staying here tonight and they are taking me to the train station in the morning. fun right?
This trip has been quite the adventure. My knee still hates me and an athletic trainer says he thinks it looks like something patellar syndrome or something like that... which isn't good but i have some time to rest it. Which i am going to do just that. I am going to attempt to ride out of Denver no matter what knee hurting or not. I figure since my sister lives there if i can't go further than 200 miles away then she can come get me. Who knows. I board a train in the morning around 1130 which wil be fun. i have never ridden a train before. They are packing my bike up in the morningto board as well. I am hoping to be able to blog a bit more once i get to Denver. We will see. Also though if you would like to keep me company at some point tomorrow or monday, i will be on the train for about 31 hours... my headphones broke and ya i will need company for sure. Love you guys so much.
Know that i am bummed i am not on my bike but i am completely ok where i am currently. Life has a way of taking you on the adventure it has for you rather than the one you planned. I have met some amazing people, seen amazing things, and i am only on week two of this trip. I am out here for at least a couple more weeks. Call or text me anytime. Check my facebook for pictures, as well as my flickr account (link at the top of my blog). Follow me on twitter as well. @Fletcher_knox
Also i had been loking for a place to stay in Sacramento, Ca for few days now and i had been quite unsuccessful... i decided to resort to couch surfing which turned out to work. I also didn't end up having to buy a train ticket fromm Oregon to Cali.My friend Ben Towne was heading to just north or Sacramento and he and i decided it was most economical to car pool. it was and it was a blast. we woke up this morning at 430 and got on the road. Man what a journey. 9 hours later we are on S Street in Sac town... and he was off to work at Woodleaf Young Life Camp all summer. What a stand up guy for sure. Real Pepsi, tons of pictures, and to top it off we agree on almost all music which isn't very common. But ya we get to Sac town and he just drops me off at this house where i didn't know the people but they have turned out to be super rad and i am staying here tonight and they are taking me to the train station in the morning. fun right?
This trip has been quite the adventure. My knee still hates me and an athletic trainer says he thinks it looks like something patellar syndrome or something like that... which isn't good but i have some time to rest it. Which i am going to do just that. I am going to attempt to ride out of Denver no matter what knee hurting or not. I figure since my sister lives there if i can't go further than 200 miles away then she can come get me. Who knows. I board a train in the morning around 1130 which wil be fun. i have never ridden a train before. They are packing my bike up in the morningto board as well. I am hoping to be able to blog a bit more once i get to Denver. We will see. Also though if you would like to keep me company at some point tomorrow or monday, i will be on the train for about 31 hours... my headphones broke and ya i will need company for sure. Love you guys so much.
Know that i am bummed i am not on my bike but i am completely ok where i am currently. Life has a way of taking you on the adventure it has for you rather than the one you planned. I have met some amazing people, seen amazing things, and i am only on week two of this trip. I am out here for at least a couple more weeks. Call or text me anytime. Check my facebook for pictures, as well as my flickr account (link at the top of my blog). Follow me on twitter as well. @Fletcher_knox
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