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
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Days 4, 5, & 6.. and today. --- Kinda boring, kinda good.
As you can see my last blog was a few days ago and it consisted of me spending a morning at the doctor and me not getting to ride. I don't know if a lot has happened really since then but a whole bunch has at the same time. I should probably write everyday to help me remember things going on but i mean i don't have a computer. i just have to use one of the guys that i have met. haha. These people up here are really nice though.
Day 4, I mean Daniel left on day four. Me sitting at the house. I honestly was pretty bummed while he was getting ready and all that. Why wouldn't i be? I had put so much into this trip. He is meeting me in Denver, Co in 3 weeks. which should give my knee enough time to heal. I am keeping my fingers crossed. It's not up to me. i am taking care of it like i am supposed to so ya as far as i know i can ride in about a week and a half. I had a bunch of alone time that day though.
I was really sad and pissed and everything that day. As i sat down at a local coffe shop though i really started to think about why i came out here and what i am doing. What i kept asking myself was what good am i if i am constantly pissed that i am not going on my way with DKAL. As i sit there though a girl sits beside me and just starts talking. We go on to talk for a good hour or so. Then as i am leaving the coffee shop the girl at the counter stops and talks to me for like 20 minutes as well. We talked about life, God, music, and really just everything. I have decided that either way if i am on my bike or not i am out here for a reason just gotta make the best of it.
Day 5, honestly this was a really boring day but it's whatever. I hung out with the fellas of HQ, did nothing, and then a bunch of people got together and hung out. This night was probably the most i have missed home since leaving. minus being on the plane heading this way. People all came over, listened to music on the TV, had a hookah going, and just overall a really chill feel. It just reminded me of home so much. It was a tough night for me to have fun. I tried though. It's just harder sometimes that others.
Day 6, Yet another day of pretty much nothing. I have gone to a coffee shop almost every day here. it's been nice. I enjoy it. The coffee out here is nuts good. Like for reals... east coast doesn't have anything on that west coast cuppa joe. This day i went to a coffee shop with my friend Tristan. He is a hella cool dude. We honestly sat there for an hour. Mostly because i was eating and if you know me i eat forever. ha. But that's about it for yesterday. I went to dinner with my aunt and had Top 5 Pizza i hav ever had. It was called Woodstocks. So good. Also we watched all three matrix movies today. that was a great time. Although i think the only one worth anything is obviously the first one.
Today, i woke up and had some leftover lasagna from a couple nights ago and let's be honestly... it's always better a couple days old. Ha. Then i haven't done much of anything. I found out that a good friend of mine is going to be heading down to California from Washington and he and i are gonna road trip to sacramento... should be a good time. I don't have anything to do there but i will prolly get into something. i never know. I have nowhere to stay and i can't really do much about it... adventure here i come. I have never been to california... so that will be fun! As for meeting up with daniel, i have a train ticket for sunday and i will get to denver on monday... i am going to meet him there in a couple weeks.
Thanks to everyone who has been encouraging me. It's been a tough week. My knee is still hurting and i want it to get better but it's not on my timing and i realize that. All i can do is take care of it and live where i am. So for now i am making the best of my stay in Corvallis, Or.
Also random fact about oregon... all they drink is coffee and beer... they even have espresso beer... weird right!?
Day 4, I mean Daniel left on day four. Me sitting at the house. I honestly was pretty bummed while he was getting ready and all that. Why wouldn't i be? I had put so much into this trip. He is meeting me in Denver, Co in 3 weeks. which should give my knee enough time to heal. I am keeping my fingers crossed. It's not up to me. i am taking care of it like i am supposed to so ya as far as i know i can ride in about a week and a half. I had a bunch of alone time that day though.
I was really sad and pissed and everything that day. As i sat down at a local coffe shop though i really started to think about why i came out here and what i am doing. What i kept asking myself was what good am i if i am constantly pissed that i am not going on my way with DKAL. As i sit there though a girl sits beside me and just starts talking. We go on to talk for a good hour or so. Then as i am leaving the coffee shop the girl at the counter stops and talks to me for like 20 minutes as well. We talked about life, God, music, and really just everything. I have decided that either way if i am on my bike or not i am out here for a reason just gotta make the best of it.
Day 5, honestly this was a really boring day but it's whatever. I hung out with the fellas of HQ, did nothing, and then a bunch of people got together and hung out. This night was probably the most i have missed home since leaving. minus being on the plane heading this way. People all came over, listened to music on the TV, had a hookah going, and just overall a really chill feel. It just reminded me of home so much. It was a tough night for me to have fun. I tried though. It's just harder sometimes that others.
Day 6, Yet another day of pretty much nothing. I have gone to a coffee shop almost every day here. it's been nice. I enjoy it. The coffee out here is nuts good. Like for reals... east coast doesn't have anything on that west coast cuppa joe. This day i went to a coffee shop with my friend Tristan. He is a hella cool dude. We honestly sat there for an hour. Mostly because i was eating and if you know me i eat forever. ha. But that's about it for yesterday. I went to dinner with my aunt and had Top 5 Pizza i hav ever had. It was called Woodstocks. So good. Also we watched all three matrix movies today. that was a great time. Although i think the only one worth anything is obviously the first one.
Today, i woke up and had some leftover lasagna from a couple nights ago and let's be honestly... it's always better a couple days old. Ha. Then i haven't done much of anything. I found out that a good friend of mine is going to be heading down to California from Washington and he and i are gonna road trip to sacramento... should be a good time. I don't have anything to do there but i will prolly get into something. i never know. I have nowhere to stay and i can't really do much about it... adventure here i come. I have never been to california... so that will be fun! As for meeting up with daniel, i have a train ticket for sunday and i will get to denver on monday... i am going to meet him there in a couple weeks.
Thanks to everyone who has been encouraging me. It's been a tough week. My knee is still hurting and i want it to get better but it's not on my timing and i realize that. All i can do is take care of it and live where i am. So for now i am making the best of my stay in Corvallis, Or.
Also random fact about oregon... all they drink is coffee and beer... they even have espresso beer... weird right!?
Friday, May 13, 2011
Days 2 & 3- interesting couple of days.
As i sit here and type this i am in a room with about 10 people, I met each of them within the last 36 hours. We have played disc golf twice, eaten pizza twice, and hung out constantly. Been a glorious time. Even met a new friend as i started this blog. It's been an interesting couple of days.
Since posting my last blog about my knee and the rides, a lot has happened. It's been on a DL for the most part and i have only told a couple of people, but i hurt my knee day 1 of the ride. It's been pretty bad. It takes a lot for me to admit being hurt but i spent all morning today at the hospital. Not fun honestly. I spent all night last night being frustrated with myself and all morning just being pissed at all the time i had spent on the trip and the thought it could be shut down for me, i was def bummed and still am a bit. The doctor told me that i couldn't have prevented it and i couldn't do anything to fix it. So that's the bummer.
I get to the doctor's office and every possibility was going thru my head. It was killing me. I go back and he does a few tests with moving my leg around, and then he kinda moves my other knee around and wow... It hurt really bad. I told him to stop at one point. ha. Then he sends me back to get x-rays. That was fun for sure. (hopefully you can read the sarcasm)!
The doctor sits me down at the end of everything and tells me not great news but not the worst news. I have to take 9-14 days off of riding. Everything in my knee is inflamed and am on a steroid of some sort. It hurts but imma make it. I have spent the past 24 hours really trying to figure out what i am going to do and tonight i kinda nailed it down. I am going to snag a train (since they have bike racks on them) to denver within the next week and a half, might even go multi city and spend a day somewhere else too). Plus if i go to Denver i can hangout with my sister and future brother in law for a week or so which would be hella rad.
Daniel is leaving in the morning and forging on with out me. He is gonna meet me in Denver where i will continue the journey after my knee heals up. (hoping it does, if not, Cortisone injections might be next on the list of things to do.) I have been super frustrated and i have been super sad with this whole thing but i have decided my plan isn't the best one so i am stickin it out and living it up.
Thanks for all your encouragement and texts and facebook messages. Leave comments if you want. This trip has already been the trip of a life time. Thanks also to Amy Chapman and her Husband John for letting up stay at their house and they cooked us an incredible dinner and to the people of HQ (janae, charlotte, and taylor included) for taking Dan and i Disc Golfing 2 days in a row.
Since posting my last blog about my knee and the rides, a lot has happened. It's been on a DL for the most part and i have only told a couple of people, but i hurt my knee day 1 of the ride. It's been pretty bad. It takes a lot for me to admit being hurt but i spent all morning today at the hospital. Not fun honestly. I spent all night last night being frustrated with myself and all morning just being pissed at all the time i had spent on the trip and the thought it could be shut down for me, i was def bummed and still am a bit. The doctor told me that i couldn't have prevented it and i couldn't do anything to fix it. So that's the bummer.
I get to the doctor's office and every possibility was going thru my head. It was killing me. I go back and he does a few tests with moving my leg around, and then he kinda moves my other knee around and wow... It hurt really bad. I told him to stop at one point. ha. Then he sends me back to get x-rays. That was fun for sure. (hopefully you can read the sarcasm)!
The doctor sits me down at the end of everything and tells me not great news but not the worst news. I have to take 9-14 days off of riding. Everything in my knee is inflamed and am on a steroid of some sort. It hurts but imma make it. I have spent the past 24 hours really trying to figure out what i am going to do and tonight i kinda nailed it down. I am going to snag a train (since they have bike racks on them) to denver within the next week and a half, might even go multi city and spend a day somewhere else too). Plus if i go to Denver i can hangout with my sister and future brother in law for a week or so which would be hella rad.
Daniel is leaving in the morning and forging on with out me. He is gonna meet me in Denver where i will continue the journey after my knee heals up. (hoping it does, if not, Cortisone injections might be next on the list of things to do.) I have been super frustrated and i have been super sad with this whole thing but i have decided my plan isn't the best one so i am stickin it out and living it up.
Thanks for all your encouragement and texts and facebook messages. Leave comments if you want. This trip has already been the trip of a life time. Thanks also to Amy Chapman and her Husband John for letting up stay at their house and they cooked us an incredible dinner and to the people of HQ (janae, charlotte, and taylor included) for taking Dan and i Disc Golfing 2 days in a row.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Days 0 & 1 - Ups and Downs.
Yesterday was day 0. What a day. Leaving Knoxville yesterday morning was one of the hardest things i have done3 in so long. I mean it was hard. I was basically miserable all day. Once i got on the plane it got a bit easier but landing in Denver, well it was miserable again.(ups and downs... get it, like my emotions were up and down) Every 2 seconds i was thinkin i had made a mistake. There is still a part of me that thinks that, but i will talk about that later. So i get to Portland and i call Daniel and he says he is at baggage claim, he lied, he was at my gate waiting and i was so stoked to see him . It had been far too long. He and i are just chlilin at the airport throwing frisbee waiting on our shuttle and we met a lady named Amy. Amy talks to us for a bit and we finally get on the shuttle to go to portland she offered to have us over the next night, tonight, for a salmon bbq and a bed to stay in. We obviously said yes to that, but hey we were like let's see. sometimes stuff happens and things call thru. After getting to my aunts house we put our bikes together and all that then decided we had to eat. Carbs! Went and got pasta. had a really cool server too, Janae was her name. Kinda told her abotu what were were doing and we decided we would get a group of people to go for a bike ride after she got off of work. Daniel and i were so excited. Ended up falling thru but hey stuff happens. He and i went to bed at like 1030... so it was a good night.
Day 1, what an epic day. It was our first ride together. We decided we would leave by 1 today cause we had a few things to do beforehand. Woke up around 10... i did at least and ended up getting coffee with Janae and her friend Charlotte. Best dirty chai i have ever had in my life. No questions asked about that. SOOOO Good. She ended up showing us to the bike shop and how to get the the grocery store. We had no clue where we were going. it ws quite funny! So ya after all that we loaded down our bikes and hit the road. So abotu 5 miles in we started climbing a hill... we climbed for literally 7 miles at about a 7 percent grade. it was awful. the other side wasn't even that much of a downhill... it was totally bull. haha. Then after the short decent we find yet abnother climb waiting on the other side. I think total out of our 57 miles... 45 of those were climbing miles. Everytime we rounded a blind corner there was another climb waitiing for us. Which i will say every climb had a crapy downhill side. So hopefully tomorrow will be a good one! Took us 6.5 hours to go 57 miles... Keep in mind that we are riding into a headwind and to top it off it rained for 6 out of the 6.5 hours. We ended the day though getting into Newport, Or and having dinner with an amazing family. They are even letting us stay the night here in a bed. Feels so good. plus the hot shower after our ride... what a night! I forgot to mention about 3 inutes after getting into Newport, well, Daniels handlebars go boom and i turn around and he is on thte ground. He is ok, but it scared us both for sure.
Today though mentally that rain was demoralizng. I honestly have thought if i leave now i have enough money for a plane ticket. I wouldn't leave this trip but today broke me quite a bit. I miss home, i miss people, and i really just struggled today. My knee isn't doign so great so if you can send a good vibe or prayer my way for my knees healing. I am not gonna back out of this trip. I might have my knee looked at tomorrow in Corballis... we will see how it is feeling. So ya, there is my day 1 and 0. Overall this trip has been epic thus far. I can't complain. I am falling asleep as i type this so i think i am going to go to bed. i hope you enjoy reading these. ia m not the best writer but i am really trying to make it interesting.
Yesterday sucked then got a lil bit better. Today was good then sucked. ha. (ups and downs??)]g'night to everyone. Encouraging tweets or text or FB messages are amazing and help me make it thru. Love you all!
Day 1, what an epic day. It was our first ride together. We decided we would leave by 1 today cause we had a few things to do beforehand. Woke up around 10... i did at least and ended up getting coffee with Janae and her friend Charlotte. Best dirty chai i have ever had in my life. No questions asked about that. SOOOO Good. She ended up showing us to the bike shop and how to get the the grocery store. We had no clue where we were going. it ws quite funny! So ya after all that we loaded down our bikes and hit the road. So abotu 5 miles in we started climbing a hill... we climbed for literally 7 miles at about a 7 percent grade. it was awful. the other side wasn't even that much of a downhill... it was totally bull. haha. Then after the short decent we find yet abnother climb waiting on the other side. I think total out of our 57 miles... 45 of those were climbing miles. Everytime we rounded a blind corner there was another climb waitiing for us. Which i will say every climb had a crapy downhill side. So hopefully tomorrow will be a good one! Took us 6.5 hours to go 57 miles... Keep in mind that we are riding into a headwind and to top it off it rained for 6 out of the 6.5 hours. We ended the day though getting into Newport, Or and having dinner with an amazing family. They are even letting us stay the night here in a bed. Feels so good. plus the hot shower after our ride... what a night! I forgot to mention about 3 inutes after getting into Newport, well, Daniels handlebars go boom and i turn around and he is on thte ground. He is ok, but it scared us both for sure.
Today though mentally that rain was demoralizng. I honestly have thought if i leave now i have enough money for a plane ticket. I wouldn't leave this trip but today broke me quite a bit. I miss home, i miss people, and i really just struggled today. My knee isn't doign so great so if you can send a good vibe or prayer my way for my knees healing. I am not gonna back out of this trip. I might have my knee looked at tomorrow in Corballis... we will see how it is feeling. So ya, there is my day 1 and 0. Overall this trip has been epic thus far. I can't complain. I am falling asleep as i type this so i think i am going to go to bed. i hope you enjoy reading these. ia m not the best writer but i am really trying to make it interesting.
Yesterday sucked then got a lil bit better. Today was good then sucked. ha. (ups and downs??)]g'night to everyone. Encouraging tweets or text or FB messages are amazing and help me make it thru. Love you all!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
..and let the good times roll...
Today i graduated. I am officially done with college and an MTSU graduate. It's a bit odd to say i am done with school, but i don't think it will really hit me until the fall when i don't have to go back to Murfreesboro, TN. It's been an amazingly great day. I had family and friends come in town for my Graduation and it was so good to be with people who really love me.
On another note i leave for Oregon in 3 days! I am so ready to go... but not at all. My body is ready but honestly i have so many mixed emotions about leaving for 50 days. I want to do this so bad though. It's been in the works since July. It's gonna be nuts
At one point my riding partner is going to take kids to camp and i was a bit bummed at first (i thought i was going to have to ride on by myself) but i discovered i get to spend a week with one of my really amazing friends and her family for a week. Which i think during that week will be 4th of July which is such a great holiday! That's quite a ways in the future though.
I leave Murfreesboro tomorrow to go back to Knoxville, then i will have all day Monday in Knoxville to get ready for my trip doing things like packing and getting stuff together. I need some cycling shorts, i need to pay the rest of my bike off, and i have a bunch of other stuff also (i.e. chamois cream, knee brace, a new bike tire... i could go on and on honestly a bunch of little things) but it's whatever. i will get it done... I hope. My mind is everywhere so i really am just hoping i don't forget anything.
While blogging i am watching Ghost Adventures on Travel Channel and looking at cycling short reviews online. Woo hoo... fun times right?
On another note i leave for Oregon in 3 days! I am so ready to go... but not at all. My body is ready but honestly i have so many mixed emotions about leaving for 50 days. I want to do this so bad though. It's been in the works since July. It's gonna be nuts
At one point my riding partner is going to take kids to camp and i was a bit bummed at first (i thought i was going to have to ride on by myself) but i discovered i get to spend a week with one of my really amazing friends and her family for a week. Which i think during that week will be 4th of July which is such a great holiday! That's quite a ways in the future though.
I leave Murfreesboro tomorrow to go back to Knoxville, then i will have all day Monday in Knoxville to get ready for my trip doing things like packing and getting stuff together. I need some cycling shorts, i need to pay the rest of my bike off, and i have a bunch of other stuff also (i.e. chamois cream, knee brace, a new bike tire... i could go on and on honestly a bunch of little things) but it's whatever. i will get it done... I hope. My mind is everywhere so i really am just hoping i don't forget anything.
While blogging i am watching Ghost Adventures on Travel Channel and looking at cycling short reviews online. Woo hoo... fun times right?
Sunday, May 1, 2011
9 DAYS!
Just got done playing basketball... i realized 2 things while playing...
1. I suck at basketball.
2. I would rather be on my bike than playing basketball.
I am sitting here at my place right now watching the Tour de Romandie, i feel like i am torturing myself. I don't have my bike yet i am just sitting here watching people on their bikes. The trip is on the horizon and it's more surreal now than it has ever been. I am going back to East Tennessee tomorrow to train this week and really try to ride everyday, rain or shine.
After my post maybe a week or so ago about why i am going on this trip i got some really good feedback from some of my friends who liked my reason for going. I have thought about it a bunch but there is also another reason i am going that most people don't know except a few close friends and i feel like it should be known why i am really going.
I want to love people. I want to show people what being a Christian is about. I don't want to judge anyone and i want to spend time with people and hear their stories. I want to build relationships with each individual i meet along the way and hopefully in some way, shape, or form impact people's lives. I feel like so many people are pushed away from the church by many different reasons, but the one i have heard the most of is that they have felt judged. Jesus didn't judge. He loved. No matter what. That's what i wanna do. I may not agree with things people do but i am in no place to judge them. So this is why i am going.
The trip is my right to passage but also i want to hopefully meet people and build friendships with people each day. I can't explain how excited i am about leaving.
While blogging: Obama's Speech, Tour de Romandie, and listened to my friends talk...
1. I suck at basketball.
2. I would rather be on my bike than playing basketball.
I am sitting here at my place right now watching the Tour de Romandie, i feel like i am torturing myself. I don't have my bike yet i am just sitting here watching people on their bikes. The trip is on the horizon and it's more surreal now than it has ever been. I am going back to East Tennessee tomorrow to train this week and really try to ride everyday, rain or shine.
After my post maybe a week or so ago about why i am going on this trip i got some really good feedback from some of my friends who liked my reason for going. I have thought about it a bunch but there is also another reason i am going that most people don't know except a few close friends and i feel like it should be known why i am really going.
I want to love people. I want to show people what being a Christian is about. I don't want to judge anyone and i want to spend time with people and hear their stories. I want to build relationships with each individual i meet along the way and hopefully in some way, shape, or form impact people's lives. I feel like so many people are pushed away from the church by many different reasons, but the one i have heard the most of is that they have felt judged. Jesus didn't judge. He loved. No matter what. That's what i wanna do. I may not agree with things people do but i am in no place to judge them. So this is why i am going.
The trip is my right to passage but also i want to hopefully meet people and build friendships with people each day. I can't explain how excited i am about leaving.
While blogging: Obama's Speech, Tour de Romandie, and listened to my friends talk...
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Short blog? ...YUP.
Today i wake up to a call from Daniel, mind you it was at like 11 in the morning... i shoulda been up already anyways, and he asked me my aunts address... I was confused at first but i realized it is time to ship our bikes! He shipped his today and i am shipping mine pretty soon also. Mine should be sent out by no later than Wednesday. Might have to pay a bit more to get it there on time but it is the only time i can ship it.
A bunch of people keep asking me why i am doing this trip. I kind of explained it a few posts back but be prepared for another "deep" blog later tonight. i will go into more detail but i am more excited about this trip more than most anything i can recall being excited for!
Listening to Afroman... yes... Afroman.
Eat before you are hungry.
Drink before you are thirsty.
Rest before you are tired.
Cover up before you are cold.
Peel off before you are hot.
Don't drink or smoke on tour.
Never ride just to prove yourself.
A bunch of people keep asking me why i am doing this trip. I kind of explained it a few posts back but be prepared for another "deep" blog later tonight. i will go into more detail but i am more excited about this trip more than most anything i can recall being excited for!
Listening to Afroman... yes... Afroman.
Eat before you are hungry.
Drink before you are thirsty.
Rest before you are tired.
Cover up before you are cold.
Peel off before you are hot.
Don't drink or smoke on tour.
Never ride just to prove yourself.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Time keeps on slippin slippin slippin.
Yes my title of this blog is a song reference but a cover... totally a cover song from the space jam soundtrack. Don't judge.
I sent a text to Daniel today it read,
2 weeks. 14 days. 336 hours. 20,160 minutes... No biggie
All those numbers keep getting smaller and smaller. These are the numbers of weeks, days, hours, and minutes till we fly out of here to head to Oregon. Not training is driving me crazy. Like i want to be on My bike so bad. I am hoping this down time before the trip won't hurt my first couple weeks of the trip and slow us down too much. It's gonna be the challenge of a lifetime.
Good news though, if anyone was wondering, my bike is named. She was named just yesterday and i wanted to break the news to you all.
Her name is Jolene "The Green Goblin". It is lovely but a lil bit strong. ha.
As for things that don't have to do with biking... i wrote this blog while watching NBC's the voice. My friends Josh and Nicole were on there and killed it. Their new coach Blake better get ready to be wowed. #teamelenowen all day everyday.
I sent a text to Daniel today it read,
2 weeks. 14 days. 336 hours. 20,160 minutes... No biggie
All those numbers keep getting smaller and smaller. These are the numbers of weeks, days, hours, and minutes till we fly out of here to head to Oregon. Not training is driving me crazy. Like i want to be on My bike so bad. I am hoping this down time before the trip won't hurt my first couple weeks of the trip and slow us down too much. It's gonna be the challenge of a lifetime.
Good news though, if anyone was wondering, my bike is named. She was named just yesterday and i wanted to break the news to you all.
Her name is Jolene "The Green Goblin". It is lovely but a lil bit strong. ha.
As for things that don't have to do with biking... i wrote this blog while watching NBC's the voice. My friends Josh and Nicole were on there and killed it. Their new coach Blake better get ready to be wowed. #teamelenowen all day everyday.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Bike or no bike, cardio is cardio right?
I took my bike into the shop yesterday. She's gonna be there till i leave, so i guess my training has come to a halt. I am trying to find a bike in Murfreesboro to train on. We will see how that goes though. I am a bit nervous. I don't feel like i have trained well enough but if all else fails i will treat my first week or two of the trip as training. It will work out i am sure. All i know is that i am going on my trip.
My Bike is in the shop right now getting the last few things done to it: rack, panniers, brakes fixed, a tune-up, and a 3rd water bottle cage. I mean i guess i can't be too prepared for having water right?
I have 2 days of college left. It's kinda nuts to even think about for me. Like i can't even fathom that i am almost done. I am just so ready to get on the road and be in the saddle. I am done with school this Tuesday and i don't have any finals... i am trying to decide if i stay in Murfreesboro, bike less i might add, and do nothing. Or possibly come back to Knoxville and train for a week before i have to go back for graduation... I wanna stay there and spend time with people but i also don't wanna ignore training. I guess i have a few days to decide but being car less also helps me in making the decision to stay in Murfreesboro. If i stay there i will prolly just run, cardio is cardio right?
Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person's physical, emotional, and mental states.
Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person's physical, emotional, and mental states.
My Bike is in the shop right now getting the last few things done to it: rack, panniers, brakes fixed, a tune-up, and a 3rd water bottle cage. I mean i guess i can't be too prepared for having water right?
I have 2 days of college left. It's kinda nuts to even think about for me. Like i can't even fathom that i am almost done. I am just so ready to get on the road and be in the saddle. I am done with school this Tuesday and i don't have any finals... i am trying to decide if i stay in Murfreesboro, bike less i might add, and do nothing. Or possibly come back to Knoxville and train for a week before i have to go back for graduation... I wanna stay there and spend time with people but i also don't wanna ignore training. I guess i have a few days to decide but being car less also helps me in making the decision to stay in Murfreesboro. If i stay there i will prolly just run, cardio is cardio right?
Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person's physical, emotional, and mental states.
Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person's physical, emotional, and mental states.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Slight reality.... or epiphany?
I had a really amazing friend ask me the other night why am i doing this trip. She went on to tell me how insane i was and that i was just crazy for going all in on this trip. It was cool though, it made me think a whole lot. I mean i know i wanna do it and i never really thought about why i said yes in the first place. This will prolly be one of the only blogs I have that are somewhat "deep" but this is basically why I decided to go.
Thinking about this trip i really couldn't put my finger on why i am going but once i did a bit of soul searching the other night i realized why (i think) i am going. I have been afraid of growing up for a long time. I was terrified of it. (I might still be... i don't know) As a child, teenager, or kid you don't have to think logically, you don't have to be anywhere really, and overall you can just do what you want (with parents allowing it). Your imagination is amazing as a child. You haven't a worry in the world really.
After my trip i have to get a "real" job, i have to work everyday, and i have to start to think about the future more than i ever have. This trip subconsciously (becoming more conscious) is my last hoo rah, my right to passage, my pilgrimage, or something along those lines. I am just going, not to find myself, but to really just see the country and do one last really illogical and crazy thing. Who knows, maybe i will still do stuff like this depending on where i end up in life. I feel like life is meant to be lived. Me, as a person, I'm a bit random, which i am totally ok with. I just don't feel like i need to graduate college, get a job, get married 3 weeks later, get a dog 3 months after that, and then have a kid a year later. I wanna live life and i know i may never ever have a chance to do something like this again.
I honestly don't know if that makes sense but to me it really does. I'm having trouble putting my thoughts onto paper i guess. What i am really wanting to say i think is don't worry about how old you are, or what you are "supposed" to do. Don't think about "what ifs", and just live. Be yourself.
This bike trip... is me being me and living.
Thinking about this trip i really couldn't put my finger on why i am going but once i did a bit of soul searching the other night i realized why (i think) i am going. I have been afraid of growing up for a long time. I was terrified of it. (I might still be... i don't know) As a child, teenager, or kid you don't have to think logically, you don't have to be anywhere really, and overall you can just do what you want (with parents allowing it). Your imagination is amazing as a child. You haven't a worry in the world really.
After my trip i have to get a "real" job, i have to work everyday, and i have to start to think about the future more than i ever have. This trip subconsciously (becoming more conscious) is my last hoo rah, my right to passage, my pilgrimage, or something along those lines. I am just going, not to find myself, but to really just see the country and do one last really illogical and crazy thing. Who knows, maybe i will still do stuff like this depending on where i end up in life. I feel like life is meant to be lived. Me, as a person, I'm a bit random, which i am totally ok with. I just don't feel like i need to graduate college, get a job, get married 3 weeks later, get a dog 3 months after that, and then have a kid a year later. I wanna live life and i know i may never ever have a chance to do something like this again.
I honestly don't know if that makes sense but to me it really does. I'm having trouble putting my thoughts onto paper i guess. What i am really wanting to say i think is don't worry about how old you are, or what you are "supposed" to do. Don't think about "what ifs", and just live. Be yourself.
This bike trip... is me being me and living.
We grow neither better nor worse as we get old, but more like ourselves.
20 days and counting... it's happening! (help me name my bike)
I haven't blogged in a while and that is cause honestly i haven't wanted to put up pointless things i have been doing. I think most people would just wanna read about my trip and not all the crap i am doing leading up to it. Therefore i am now back into blogging and i will be keeping this thing up to date more and more frequently starting this week. The trip happens in 20 days. My bike is in and i love it. Been training on it as much as possible. It's amazing. Marin made an incredible machine. I haven't named her yet so if you think you would like to help me name my bike just leave a comment.
I have a bunch of amazing stuff coming up. The next month or so is going to be awesome. I am ready for the activities to engage. I turn 24 this weekend on April 24th, i graduate college on May 7th, and then i fly out to Oregon on May 10th to begin this journey. Words can't express my desire to get the show on the road. The main struggle i am facing right now is finishing strong where i currently am. i only have 1 weeks left of college... it's NUTS! I'm really graduating.
This trip is going to be epic. I have ZERO money saved for food so i shall keep my fingers crossed for sure (if you wanna support my trip let me know). My riding partner, Daniel, and i have started talking everyday. The closer it gets the more anxious i am... but it can't get here soon enough!
Listened to YelaWolf and watched Home Improvement while typing.
I have a bunch of amazing stuff coming up. The next month or so is going to be awesome. I am ready for the activities to engage. I turn 24 this weekend on April 24th, i graduate college on May 7th, and then i fly out to Oregon on May 10th to begin this journey. Words can't express my desire to get the show on the road. The main struggle i am facing right now is finishing strong where i currently am. i only have 1 weeks left of college... it's NUTS! I'm really graduating.
This trip is going to be epic. I have ZERO money saved for food so i shall keep my fingers crossed for sure (if you wanna support my trip let me know). My riding partner, Daniel, and i have started talking everyday. The closer it gets the more anxious i am... but it can't get here soon enough!
Listened to YelaWolf and watched Home Improvement while typing.
Monday, February 14, 2011
You down with O.P.P.?
So, I'm finally about over this sickness. I've been feeling pretty rough this past week. Haven't done much of anything at all, although it's been nice... i am ready to workout and train for cycling and rugby. This post isn't going to be too long but i wanted to kind of tell you about how my last week got 10,000,000x's better on thursday:
After being so sick and being in bed for so long i rejoined society on Thursday morning during my 8AM class, which i didn't really want to go but went anyways. I felt like i had to. Thursday afternoon I ended up driving home to Knoxville and that was a rad choice. I had an amazing weekend there and really dug my whole weekend. had some down time and i loved that. I am sure you are starting to wonder what this has to do with my trip... well Thursday night once i got to Knoxville i got a Facebook Message from the owner of FC Pedaler, the shop i am getting my Bike from, that said my bike had shipped from Marin in California. So get excited for me because i was and am beyond excitement. I can't wait.
My bike should be in Knoxville by Wednesday and It's getting some work done to it all next week and i am hoping to be in the saddle by last week of the month. I can't wait. The long awaited arrival of this bike has been driving me crazy and i know for sure it will have been worth the wait! I will post some pictures asap!
Lastly, i will be getting a professional website made here in the next couple of weeks... This blog will move over there. I will make sure to give you the heads up on that. Thanks for reading up about my trip. It's getting closer and closer. It's going to be so nuts.
While writing this blog i listened to an OWEN pandora radio station. It has been delicious!
After being so sick and being in bed for so long i rejoined society on Thursday morning during my 8AM class, which i didn't really want to go but went anyways. I felt like i had to. Thursday afternoon I ended up driving home to Knoxville and that was a rad choice. I had an amazing weekend there and really dug my whole weekend. had some down time and i loved that. I am sure you are starting to wonder what this has to do with my trip... well Thursday night once i got to Knoxville i got a Facebook Message from the owner of FC Pedaler, the shop i am getting my Bike from, that said my bike had shipped from Marin in California. So get excited for me because i was and am beyond excitement. I can't wait.
My bike should be in Knoxville by Wednesday and It's getting some work done to it all next week and i am hoping to be in the saddle by last week of the month. I can't wait. The long awaited arrival of this bike has been driving me crazy and i know for sure it will have been worth the wait! I will post some pictures asap!
Lastly, i will be getting a professional website made here in the next couple of weeks... This blog will move over there. I will make sure to give you the heads up on that. Thanks for reading up about my trip. It's getting closer and closer. It's going to be so nuts.
While writing this blog i listened to an OWEN pandora radio station. It has been delicious!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Livin' the dream. Dreamin' of sports.
I am sitting here in bed... I'm feeling miserable. I say that cause i am coming down with some sort of sickness that is making my days fairly awful. On top of that rugby season has started back up and i am so sore from 2 games yesterday. I feel like i have been hit by a fright train within the past 24hrs. Oh well and oh joy.
Yesterday i had 2 rugby games but my wrist had been bothering me since the week before. Swollen, bruised, and range of motion not so great... It's been a tough week. So ya, yesterday at my games i saw a trainer. Super nice lady, but she put her hand on my wrist and just said, "oh..." I responded with basically, "what does "oh" mean?" (knowing good and well what she was about to say wasn't very positive) She preceded to tell me three things it could be, none of which was it could be fine Keeping my fingers crossed like no one's business though:
1.It was an old fracture i never tended to and the bones are rubbing together, because i re broke them.
2. I just broke it and the bones are rubbing together.
3. (this was the one she thought was the most feasible) I tore a ligament or tendon and the squeaking/pulling noise could be that lil bit of tendon hanging on for dear life working really really hard to keep my hand moving.
So this week i am going to be doing a whole lot of thought about rugby. I don't have a game for another 3 weeks which is great. I can have time to heal up if it's nothing major. I have decided that i will not risk my bike trip though. My heart is in this trip more than it's been in anything as far back as i can remember. The support i have received from friends and family has been incredible. I just feel like this trip will be life changing and i am all for that. So, if rugby isn't in my future this season so be it. Just one of those things that i have to take in stride. I want to play so much though. We will see Tuesday or sometime this weekend. At least i will still be coaching Oakland High School's rugby team. Go Patriots!
I am going Tuesday to get Xrays and such at the doctor so if you don't care send some good vibes, wish me luck, pray for me, just do whatever it is you do. Cause i am a bit nervous. my wrist has been swollen for over a week now and bruised... which can't be that good.
As i blogged this i been jammin' out to Trey Songz. So soulful and chill. i am diggin' it for sure.
Yesterday i had 2 rugby games but my wrist had been bothering me since the week before. Swollen, bruised, and range of motion not so great... It's been a tough week. So ya, yesterday at my games i saw a trainer. Super nice lady, but she put her hand on my wrist and just said, "oh..." I responded with basically, "what does "oh" mean?" (knowing good and well what she was about to say wasn't very positive) She preceded to tell me three things it could be, none of which was it could be fine Keeping my fingers crossed like no one's business though:
1.It was an old fracture i never tended to and the bones are rubbing together, because i re broke them.
2. I just broke it and the bones are rubbing together.
3. (this was the one she thought was the most feasible) I tore a ligament or tendon and the squeaking/pulling noise could be that lil bit of tendon hanging on for dear life working really really hard to keep my hand moving.
So this week i am going to be doing a whole lot of thought about rugby. I don't have a game for another 3 weeks which is great. I can have time to heal up if it's nothing major. I have decided that i will not risk my bike trip though. My heart is in this trip more than it's been in anything as far back as i can remember. The support i have received from friends and family has been incredible. I just feel like this trip will be life changing and i am all for that. So, if rugby isn't in my future this season so be it. Just one of those things that i have to take in stride. I want to play so much though. We will see Tuesday or sometime this weekend. At least i will still be coaching Oakland High School's rugby team. Go Patriots!
I am going Tuesday to get Xrays and such at the doctor so if you don't care send some good vibes, wish me luck, pray for me, just do whatever it is you do. Cause i am a bit nervous. my wrist has been swollen for over a week now and bruised... which can't be that good.
As i blogged this i been jammin' out to Trey Songz. So soulful and chill. i am diggin' it for sure.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
MAY you get here sooner?
Being back at school has been a tough thing for me this time around. I really don't know what the deal is but i think since it's my last semester and i only have 6 PE classes it's pretty hard to find my motivation. I want May to be here now. I really am tired of waiting. I know it will be totally worth the wait.
I have gone home a few times the past couple of weekends which has been super rad too. Just a weekend away from school. I know i know, i have been here two weeks and i have left 3 times. Don't judge me. ha. This weekend i am staying in Murfreesboro as far as i know, but we'll see though. I never know what i am doing till the day before and to me... well, that's ok. This trip is actually the farthest in advance i have ever probably planned which is pretty crazy for me.I am super excited for May 10th to get here...
This blog actually doesn't have much of a theme except the fact i want my bike asap, Marin is busy making it perfect before releasing it to the public which it will be worth the wait also. Marin does great work and i don't see why anyone would complain about that. Here is my bike though. i haven't posted it yet so enjoy. If you have any name ideas for my bike let me know. i feel like naming it is going to be a MUST DO.
Listened to today while blogging:... No music... listening to my teacher lecture. Rabbi Rami Shapiro is currently teaching on Judaism.
I have gone home a few times the past couple of weekends which has been super rad too. Just a weekend away from school. I know i know, i have been here two weeks and i have left 3 times. Don't judge me. ha. This weekend i am staying in Murfreesboro as far as i know, but we'll see though. I never know what i am doing till the day before and to me... well, that's ok. This trip is actually the farthest in advance i have ever probably planned which is pretty crazy for me.I am super excited for May 10th to get here...
This blog actually doesn't have much of a theme except the fact i want my bike asap, Marin is busy making it perfect before releasing it to the public which it will be worth the wait also. Marin does great work and i don't see why anyone would complain about that. Here is my bike though. i haven't posted it yet so enjoy. If you have any name ideas for my bike let me know. i feel like naming it is going to be a MUST DO.
Listened to today while blogging:... No music... listening to my teacher lecture. Rabbi Rami Shapiro is currently teaching on Judaism.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Slackin?
So, i moved back to school this week... It's been good and bad. I started training again which has been great. I'm a bit sore but i am feeling great. Fell right back into the routine of exercise and training everyday. "Fitness" this is exactly what my rugby coach told us when he said our new game plan... aka we run our faces off on a normal basis! Although rugby is off topic training isn't really so that's why i'm kinda talkin about it.
Onto the trip... My bike can't get here soon enough. I can't wait to get some saddle time. I think it's around t-minus 2-3 weeks! I also am currently enrolled in a "beginning" bicycling class. Pretty excited about that. We actually ride 11 miles a day at least for class. not far at all but saddle time is saddle time, right? I told my teacher i wouldn't have a bike for at least 3 weeks of the class. She was like why not? i told her about my trip and she is all for me missing 3 weeks of class. which is soooo rad.
Overall it's been a good week though. Found panniers to use that are completely waterproof with roll top! From a company called Avenir. The panniers are called the Rain City. Luke over at Fountain City Pedaler is being more than helpful for sure. Great guy. check out there stuff, like them on facebook, or just give a visit here in Knoxville, TN.
Listened to: Jason Aldean and Lonely Island.
Onto the trip... My bike can't get here soon enough. I can't wait to get some saddle time. I think it's around t-minus 2-3 weeks! I also am currently enrolled in a "beginning" bicycling class. Pretty excited about that. We actually ride 11 miles a day at least for class. not far at all but saddle time is saddle time, right? I told my teacher i wouldn't have a bike for at least 3 weeks of the class. She was like why not? i told her about my trip and she is all for me missing 3 weeks of class. which is soooo rad.
Overall it's been a good week though. Found panniers to use that are completely waterproof with roll top! From a company called Avenir. The panniers are called the Rain City. Luke over at Fountain City Pedaler is being more than helpful for sure. Great guy. check out there stuff, like them on facebook, or just give a visit here in Knoxville, TN.
Listened to: Jason Aldean and Lonely Island.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Pain it Temporary.... Right?!
Sorry or the gap between posts. I have been in the act of moving back to school and it's been a long process for me this time around. Honestly i want this semester to be over. I didn't wanna come back at all, but hey, here i am in Murfreesboro, Tennessee typing away in my townhouse. I missed my first class today, epic fail. I mean i didn't come to school on Thursday and i missed my classes that day. So today all i had to do was go to 2 classes... FAIL!
Tonight starts the process of training though. Tonight is the start of a long process of getting in tip top shape for a rugby season and a cross-country bike ride. I have been on hiatus from training and my nutrition plan over this past Christmas break which i am ok with, just not gonna be fun tonight when i get to practice. I will kick myself back into shape within 2 weeks though. Just gonna take a bit of drive on my part.
Not really any new developments about the trip really. The only thing is that my bike should be here 2nd week of February. Which i am more than excited about. Imma be training really hard in the saddle once it gets here. Marin BIkes is making a legit bike and i am excited to get the opportunity to ride their bike across the country. I will keep you posted on the bikes arrival. I will be posting pictures soon.
Today while blogging i listened to: Drake, Metro Station, Lil Wayne, Aloe Blacc, Secret and a Whisper, and lastly i listened to Caspa & Rusko.
Tonight starts the process of training though. Tonight is the start of a long process of getting in tip top shape for a rugby season and a cross-country bike ride. I have been on hiatus from training and my nutrition plan over this past Christmas break which i am ok with, just not gonna be fun tonight when i get to practice. I will kick myself back into shape within 2 weeks though. Just gonna take a bit of drive on my part.
Not really any new developments about the trip really. The only thing is that my bike should be here 2nd week of February. Which i am more than excited about. Imma be training really hard in the saddle once it gets here. Marin BIkes is making a legit bike and i am excited to get the opportunity to ride their bike across the country. I will keep you posted on the bikes arrival. I will be posting pictures soon.
Today while blogging i listened to: Drake, Metro Station, Lil Wayne, Aloe Blacc, Secret and a Whisper, and lastly i listened to Caspa & Rusko.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Coffee & Bike Shops
I stumbled on a great bike shop in Knoxville, TN called, Fountain City Pedaler. It's run by a guy named Luke who knows his stuff. Go check em out. People had mentioned the shop to me but i could never find it... One day i did though and went in with nothing particular in mind. I heard they carried Jamis bikes (which they no longer carry) and that was something i hadn't seen. So i was gonna go look. I get there and just ask about Jamis and Luke was like ya we don't carry them anymore. He and i talked about my trip for a bit. I just kinda told him about what i was wanting to do, how long it would take, and who i was doing it with. He was super helpful.
Luke mentioned a bike that wasn't out yet from a totally different company, MARIN Bikes, and i fell in love with it. It has absolutely everything i would want in a touring bike, no compromise, plus to top it all off Marin is an amazingly ran company. The original owner still owns and runs the company. Read about them and support them. You can check out their story here. I think companies like this deserve our support. I am more than excited about the arrival of my new bike, keep your fingers crossed it comes out in time for me to train on it. It's incredible though for sure. They seem to pay so much attention to what a rider would ever want and then add a lil' bit more. I'm stoked.
Overall the past few days i have been laying quite low key though. I move back to Murfreesboro, TN on Sunday to head back to school. Technically i had class yesterday but my teachers didn't care if i missed... so i stayed home.
116 days till i am in Oregon. 117 days till i am on the road!
While blogging i have listened to Kayne West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Secret and City and Colour's Live at the Orange.
Luke mentioned a bike that wasn't out yet from a totally different company, MARIN Bikes, and i fell in love with it. It has absolutely everything i would want in a touring bike, no compromise, plus to top it all off Marin is an amazingly ran company. The original owner still owns and runs the company. Read about them and support them. You can check out their story here. I think companies like this deserve our support. I am more than excited about the arrival of my new bike, keep your fingers crossed it comes out in time for me to train on it. It's incredible though for sure. They seem to pay so much attention to what a rider would ever want and then add a lil' bit more. I'm stoked.
Overall the past few days i have been laying quite low key though. I move back to Murfreesboro, TN on Sunday to head back to school. Technically i had class yesterday but my teachers didn't care if i missed... so i stayed home.
116 days till i am in Oregon. 117 days till i am on the road!
While blogging i have listened to Kayne West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Secret and City and Colour's Live at the Orange.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Antici...PATION!
Guess where i am... Yup, the coffee shop. Been here everyday for a while now, minus the few days i was snowed in with a couple awesome friends. All we did was watch movies and Paris Hilton's "The Simple Life"... Don't judge me. It was quite relaxing.
To the point though, daily i have been thinking about leaving for this trip. It can't come soon enough. I am ready, not physically, maybe not even mentally... i am just ready to go. I wanna see the country by bike. I want time to just go. The anticipation is killing me. Daniel, my riding partner, and i talk thru email every other day... if not daily. We have split the trip up into halves and are both working on exact routes and places to tentatively stay along the way. I have from Alexander, Kansas all the way to Folly Beach, South Carolina. Not too bad. pretty even split honestly. I have about half of my half of the route mapped out. This being said if anyone knows places to stay in Kansas, Missouri, or West Tennessee, camp grounds, houses, people they know, any help would be appreciated.
This is something i am going to start doing... i am going to post what i listened to while blogging since i love music so much. Hopefully this is something people can enjoy.
Cee Lo Green, Bruno Mars, Wiz Khalifa, TI, Lil Wayne, Drake, and Currently Lupe Fiasco.
Not sure why but today was a very Hip Hop, r&b day. I like it.
To the point though, daily i have been thinking about leaving for this trip. It can't come soon enough. I am ready, not physically, maybe not even mentally... i am just ready to go. I wanna see the country by bike. I want time to just go. The anticipation is killing me. Daniel, my riding partner, and i talk thru email every other day... if not daily. We have split the trip up into halves and are both working on exact routes and places to tentatively stay along the way. I have from Alexander, Kansas all the way to Folly Beach, South Carolina. Not too bad. pretty even split honestly. I have about half of my half of the route mapped out. This being said if anyone knows places to stay in Kansas, Missouri, or West Tennessee, camp grounds, houses, people they know, any help would be appreciated.
This is something i am going to start doing... i am going to post what i listened to while blogging since i love music so much. Hopefully this is something people can enjoy.
Cee Lo Green, Bruno Mars, Wiz Khalifa, TI, Lil Wayne, Drake, and Currently Lupe Fiasco.
Not sure why but today was a very Hip Hop, r&b day. I like it.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Training? You talkin' bout training?
Training... (insert a long drawn out sigh) It's been in the back of my mind quite a bit. I have to start training for my rugby season in a week (aka 2 practices a week for the next 3 months), then i have 4 days of weights/conditioning a week, and on top of that i have 6 PE classes this semester. I have been mentally preparing myself for a very strenuous semester of training a whole lot and i just am not sure how i am going to get it all done. It will get done, it's just gonna be really tough. Hopefully i have some friends who will put in gym hours with me. Honestly though i am just gonna be eating all the time and training everyday, it won't be cycling training everyday, but i will still get fitness, flexibility, muscle building, and core training done, just not saddle time everyday. I am shooting for at least 4-5 days a week at least 2 hrs on the bike. I am banking that i can put in 50 miles a day 3 days a week and have a slow day of saddle time 1 or 2 days a week. Which saddle time probably won't start till i get my new bike mid-February or early March... hope that's enough time to get all my training in.
Here's the deal though. i will need all the motivation i can get from anyone reading this. Send me emails, texts, calls, wall posts, comments, or tweets. I am gonna train my butt off for this trip and i couldn't be more excited. This adventure is going to be one of the hardest things i have ever done in my life and i wouldn't have it any other way. So thanks again to whomever is reading this and please tell everyone you know about it.
Here's a lil map of the route. it's not exact cause i just did it with a paint brush in photoshop but you'll get the idea.
Here's the deal though. i will need all the motivation i can get from anyone reading this. Send me emails, texts, calls, wall posts, comments, or tweets. I am gonna train my butt off for this trip and i couldn't be more excited. This adventure is going to be one of the hardest things i have ever done in my life and i wouldn't have it any other way. So thanks again to whomever is reading this and please tell everyone you know about it.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
BeCAUSE why?
Today was a good day. I really didn't do too much planning for the trip but i honestly didn't too much of anything so that was nice. I move back to school in a few days so it's really nice to have a break from anything that seems like working, although i have a whole bunch of fun planning this trip so, i hardly consider it work. It's just nice to have a day off.
Although today may be called a ZERO day i did think a little (a lot actually) about if I wanted to ride for a cause on this trip. Do i want to tell people about something i am passionate about? Do i feel like it? Part of me says yes, which that is about 99% of me. That stupid self-centered 1% is saying, "Do it for fun and for yourself." Which today i decided i really wanted to ride for a cause.
If anyone wants to throw out ideas about a cause that they are really passionate about i would be all about hearing something about it. I love a few causes but most of which are so big that my raising awareness wouldn't really spread the word. (i.e. TOMS, Invisible Children, PDA, United Way)
I am going to talk with a friend of mine pretty soon (which you should check out her work. she is an incredible Jewelry Designer in New York City i will put up a link at the bottom) about some causes and i will keep you posted. Hope today is a great day. Hopefully hear from some people soon. Since i highly doubt many people are even reading this yet, which i hope that changes soon.
My friend in New York... AMAZING Designer.
Although today may be called a ZERO day i did think a little (a lot actually) about if I wanted to ride for a cause on this trip. Do i want to tell people about something i am passionate about? Do i feel like it? Part of me says yes, which that is about 99% of me. That stupid self-centered 1% is saying, "Do it for fun and for yourself." Which today i decided i really wanted to ride for a cause.
If anyone wants to throw out ideas about a cause that they are really passionate about i would be all about hearing something about it. I love a few causes but most of which are so big that my raising awareness wouldn't really spread the word. (i.e. TOMS, Invisible Children, PDA, United Way)
I am going to talk with a friend of mine pretty soon (which you should check out her work. she is an incredible Jewelry Designer in New York City i will put up a link at the bottom) about some causes and i will keep you posted. Hope today is a great day. Hopefully hear from some people soon. Since i highly doubt many people are even reading this yet, which i hope that changes soon.
My friend in New York... AMAZING Designer.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Cycling Across America.
I haven't ever really blogged and don't know what it is supposed to look like but this is my best shot. I am hoping that progressively these blogs will become more and more interesting and capture the attention of people who i might never even meet face to face.
As I sit here in a coffee shop, keep in mind that i have been here everyday for the past week for at least 4 hours everyday, looking online at maps, parts, and equipment for this cross-country cycling trip i am embarking on in May of this year. I have been planning pretty consistently for the past month. I have been on break from college for Christmas, which i am overly thankful for the break. I graduate this year on May 7th and i am flying to Oregon on May 10th getting my bike put back together on the 11th and hitting the road in Otis, Oregon toward Folly Beach, South Carolina. This trip is going to take somewhere around 55 days and it is 3311 miles... ish.
I am embarking on this journey with a fellow named Daniel. If you all haven't had the pleasure of meeting him you should check out his blog at http://dkalbikesamerica.blogspot.com/ He's a great dude. We met at a Young Life Camp working in the kitchen and threw around the idea and it has come to fruition.
I will be posting on here almost hopefully daily as i learn more and more about this trip and get more and more prepared for it. Please give me any feedback that you have and any info you have that could help me on this adventure. Places to stay, people to meet, places to visit, and anything else you wanna let me know.
As I sit here in a coffee shop, keep in mind that i have been here everyday for the past week for at least 4 hours everyday, looking online at maps, parts, and equipment for this cross-country cycling trip i am embarking on in May of this year. I have been planning pretty consistently for the past month. I have been on break from college for Christmas, which i am overly thankful for the break. I graduate this year on May 7th and i am flying to Oregon on May 10th getting my bike put back together on the 11th and hitting the road in Otis, Oregon toward Folly Beach, South Carolina. This trip is going to take somewhere around 55 days and it is 3311 miles... ish.
I am embarking on this journey with a fellow named Daniel. If you all haven't had the pleasure of meeting him you should check out his blog at http://dkalbikesamerica.blogspot.com/ He's a great dude. We met at a Young Life Camp working in the kitchen and threw around the idea and it has come to fruition.
I will be posting on here almost hopefully daily as i learn more and more about this trip and get more and more prepared for it. Please give me any feedback that you have and any info you have that could help me on this adventure. Places to stay, people to meet, places to visit, and anything else you wanna let me know.
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