Every year for the last twelve years, I have done a bicycle trip of at least 2,000 miles. The very first one was to Fairbanks, Alaska, with my brother Cliff and his wife Kathy; that was the first and probably the most memorable. We saw 92 bears on that trip, some very close. I have made three trips coast to coast across the United States, each with a different route and with different people. The longest trip so far was when four of us went to the Grand Canyon, then to Yellowstone, and then home. That 4000-mile trip was gorgeous, with the scenery of the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and all the rock formations throughout Utah.

This year’s trip will be interesting as I will use it as a test to see if I will make any more trips. My motive in all of the past trips was as therapy for my Parkinson’s disease. Well, I don’t have Parkinson’s now, so I don’t know what is going to happen to my motivation. It definitely will need to switch to some other reason for doing it. The question is if another reason, such as enjoyment, recreation, challenge, health related to aging, or emotional refueling, will be strong enough to motivate me to do something this strenuous and time-consuming.

It is an excellent time to study and write, but I can do that in my recliner and pretend I am riding my bicycle through the jungles of Africa. It is a hard challenge and positively affects my character traits, such as determination and self-control, which I definitely need to grow in. Still, I can probably get the same results going to the gym at the “Y” in Albany with my wife every morning at 5:00 am.

It is probably a good thing that we don’t have a support vehicle going with us; otherwise, I would probably be riding in it every other day because I was tired, and it was so haaaarrrrd!

Travel with me on this trip by reading my blog every day and see what happens!