Today was a short trip, only 55 miles and relatively flat, all on hwy 1 next to the ocean. I had a no-problem day driving the motor home, I even maneuvered around some cars getting into the gas station and out. The fill-up cost $205 😩😭.

We went through the town of Santa Cruz and the beach area was like a circus. There was rides like Ferris wheels and roller coasters as well as volleyball in the sand. One of the photos shows a bunch of people getting kayak lessons sitting in a kayak in the parking lot. There were also hundreds of people surfing, and I also saw some people surf fishing – smart people!

Today started with me second guessing my decision to retire from bicycling, at least from the long distance, cross country rides I have done for the last twelve years. I thought of all kinds of options to try and make it work, shorter trips with less miles per day, buy a bigger e-bike that would do more of the work, schedule rest days every other day, and a host of other options. The problem is that what has made these trips fun was the challenge, the hardness or difficulty of doing them.

What drew me to these cross-country rides in the first place was their difficulty, the challenge, the harder it was, the crazier it was, the more fun it was. But suddenly, that is no longer true of me; I have changed. I don’t know if it is the Parkinson’s, old age, if I have turned into a wimp, or what, but now I seem to be much more attracted to adventures like hunting and fishing, where I can sit down while doing it and I don’t have to walk much. I remember when I said I was done with playing basketball, it hurts too much; I am done with climbing Mt Adams, I can’t get my body to do it anymore; I am done with running marathons, half marathons, ten k’s, and triathlons; sheeesh why did I do those anyway! And now I am done with bicycling. Today while driving I came to a peace about the decision and am embracing the new chapter in my life of easier, not easy, just easier, I don’t want to turn into a lazy old man.

I will probably still go skydiving with Lloyd Smith who is ten years older than I am.