To Fender or Not to Fender

I chose to fender.

An easy way to help...

As plans come together for my trip next summer, I am in the continual process of listing what other equipment items I need. Some of the bigger, expensive stuff I have been researching so I am sure I get the right one to suit my needs. Therefore, a practical way to help and support my trip is to donate some funds so I may purchase some of these items. I have included some of them below with an estimated cost.

Ortlieb Pannier Travel Set - $450.00
New Bike Computer - $100.00
Action Camera - $150.00-$200.00
Front Headlight & Rear Flasher - $100.00

Those are the big items that I would like to purchase. Again, donations toward the purchase of this equipment is an easy way to support my "Perfect Circles" trip next summer. Trust me when I say "Anything helps." If you can donate $100.00 great, if you can donate $1.00 also great!

My address: 1123 Orchard Ct. N. Apt. C. Keizer, OR 97303
My phone: 503-990-4909
My e-mail: superwoolym@hotmail.com

Call or write if you have any further questions or inquiries about my adventure. Thank you.

Perfect Circles is a Pacific Coast odyssey, the first in a series of bicycle trips to raise awareness and support for a Christian bicycle adventure ministry & camp...because I believe in getting kids outdoors to enjoy the beauty of Creation. I believe Jesus has called us to change lives using creative options in His Name. The reason for such a trip is to embark on an adventure with God in tow to serve and share with those I encounter, the love and compassion Christ has shown us.

"Though the way is full of perils, and the goal far out of sight, there is no road to which there is no end: do not despair." HAFEZ

"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full." LUKE 14:23

Can I really complete 3,000 miles on my bike in 77 days?

Well, as October looms over me, Fall weather has set in. Rain has come and so has fog. Winter is around the next bend. But for right now, Fall is the season to take in. With the month of October comes the smell of pumpkins and apple cider. It also gets dramatically cooler and darker. In which case it becomes less and less fun to ride in. However, I have commuted to work and to church several days a week now and keep wondering how I will fare when the weather really turns for the worse. The goal here is not only to consistently ride the bike and to stay in shape, but also to save on gas money. At the rate I am going, I can probably save upwards of $50.00 a month. This is money well saved for my upcoming trip...in 8.5 months.

Wow...8.5 months. It seems like a long time when said aloud, but in reality, it is not. As I am constantly reminded of, it will indeed go by quicker than I think or want. September came and went...where did it go? Your guess is as good as mine. As time progresses, I get more and more excited and anxious about my upcoming trip. As I commute across town or become sore after a mini workout, I am confronted with reality: Can I really complete 3,000 miles on my bike in 77 days? That is a long way. But I am determined to complete it and I hope to be a better person for having done so. Adventure awaits...

As I think of all the things I must repair, purchase and plan in the coming months in order to fully be prepared for the big odyssey, I get overwhelmed, mainly because I am unfamiliar with some of this stuff. However, I have come to terms with the fact that this trip will happen no matter what...if I am ready or if I am not ready. That first week of the trip in Washington will be a relief because I will finally be on the road living and riding this dream and accomplishing this trek for this cause. I pray that everything will come together in due time. As I pore over maps and flip through my calendar and commute to work and errands, and as I purchase a new set of panniers and accessories for my bike, and as I contact places to stay and share my vision of a Christian adventure camp with...things will come together...come together...it's a beautiful thing when things come together like a puzzle. Right now, the puzzle pieces are strewn throughout my apartment, various stores, across states and within my own brain. Eventually I get to see the pieces come together slowly but surely. I ask for your support and prayer in this vast endeavor. Please join me, won't you?

Can I really complete 3,000 miles on my bike in 77 days?

What If...?

"We are not super-cyclists who put in hundreds

of miles a week on the bike. What it really

took was the realization that we could do it. I

think getting beyond all the ‘what ifs’ and just

getting on the bikes is all it takes. We finally

realized that all we really needed to do was

‘shut up and pedal’!"

-Dan, Alison, Sonia & Gus

www.shutupandpedal.org

What if I end up in a ditch? What if I get hungry or thirsty? What if I can't come to terms with such an endeavor? What if I am not ready to go in time? What if no one wants to travel with the likes of me? What if I'm not good enough? What if a storm bellows in? What if I get skin cancer? What if my camera gets stolen? What if I ride into a parked car? What if my tent leaks? What if my tent blows away? What if I get mugged? What if its too beautiful? What if things just don't work out? What if I'm not in shape to go? What if...indeed.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"I think getting beyond all the 'what ifs' and just getting on the bike is all it takes." Some folks hesitate to straddle the saddle. Well, many folks do that anyway. They think they cannot complete a ride across town let alone across state. They go through all the 'what ifs' in their mind. What if this? What if that? All those 'what ifs' portray all the negative thoughts and ideas and circumstances that could possibly happen to them en route. I mean, after all that brain com-busting negativeness, who wouldn't be scared? What I think is interesting though is that all the 'what if' conversations are of the negative nature. No one says, "What if everything goes according to plan?" What if I enjoy myself? What if the weather is superb? What if I encounter an amazing view atop the next hill? You usually never hear positive "what if" statements. We are wired to expect the worse, not the best. What will happen if good things come our way? So be it. What if...something happens? So be it. What if the trip comes back to bite me in the rear? So be it. What if the trip is awesome? So be it. What if, what if, what if. Stuff happens, good and bad. The trip will be awesome in good weather and bad, through frustrations and stress, illness and health, soreness and strength, and when things go wrong, things will go on. When things go right, things will go on...and on...and on. What if? I don't know...that bridge will come and then I will cross it. Will you cross it? It's beckoning...it's calling...it's there.

Companions Wanted

Okay, here’s the deal: Next summer (flexible/tentative dates: June 15-August 30) I will bicycle down the Pacific Coast and up through the Sierra Nevada Mountains with my friend Jeff driving a support vehicle sharing the adventure with me and making sure I stay sane. The reasons for such a trip are first and foremost, adventure and freedom on the road. Other reasons include fundraising with the eventual goal of starting a Christian camp which may include the start of a bicycle adventure ministry which may also include backpacking and canoe trips. The fundraising also includes raising awareness and gaining support and spreading the word for my vision. In short, this trip down the Pacific Coast is the first in a possible series of bicycle trips to raise awareness and support for God’s future camp.

                                                  

That being said, I would love to have more company along for the ride. Like I said, I have a support guy coming along. In addition, I already have one other person interested in joining me for a leg or two along the Oregon Coast and may stay in a Yurt. I am in talks with another friend who also may join me for part of the trip. My guess is that most if not all of you will be available or will want to accompany me on the entire trip. However, as I lay out the rough route plan, consider joining me for a day, few days, or a week. It’s totally up to you. As soon as you commit, we can then talk about other logistics like getting to and from your starting and ending point.

Okay, here’s the “very rough” plan as I see it in early September: June 15, drive from Salem, OR to Port Angeles, WA. From there, we may or may not do a side trip into Olympic National Park. From Port Angeles, follow 101 to the coast; follow the coast down the coast until we cross over into Oregon. We will travel down the Oregon Coast making our way into the Redwood Coast, Northern California. As we travel through the Giant Redwoods, and the rest of California, crossing the Golden Gate, etc. there will be many points of interests, hikes, stops, etc. to see along the way as there will be in Oregon and Washington. Our goal is not to race, but stop when we want and to take our time, given the amount of time we are allotted. When we make it to Imperial Beach, CA, our journey will then take us back North, but this time through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I desire to visit such National Parks as Joshua Tree, Sequoia, King’s Canyon, Death Valley, and Yosemite making our way into the state of Nevada for a brief visit until we head back into Oregon past Crater Lake National Park and the Cascades ending the trip back in Salem, OR. Like I said, that is a very “rough” outline of the trek and may/will change as the departure time gets closer.

If you live in Washington, Oregon or California, or anywhere else I suppose and would like to join me on this fabulous adventure, please let me know and we will talk and deliberate and then ultimately have fun!!

See you out on the road.

Thirty

Tomorrow morning, the thirtieth of August I turn thirty years old. Being the youngest of three children, I have always considered myself young. And to be completely honest, I think I always will. We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. Yes, physical age is inevitable, but I do believe that age in the sense of imagination is more a matter of state of mind. When things stop working as you age, you may start to complain. I hear people say all the time, “well, I can’t do that when I was such and such years old.” That’s rubbish I say. Live in the moment. Remember your past; remember your life, as much as you can that is…and live in the present as you think and plan for the brighter future. “Better things are yet to come.” I have heard that statement all my life and I still have not come to understand that to be true. Yes, certain things, like Heaven are still to come and will blow our minds away to say the least, but on earth are things really getting better? I suppose; I don’t suppose. I don’t know. Does it matter? “This too shall pass,” a friend once told me. Now that is an encouraging thought. As we live in this old tent of ours, we are outsiders in a world. Sometimes we feel as though we are living on the Island of Misfit Toys. But the encouragement we get is from above saying, “I find you fit for my Kingdom.” We may be misfits in this world of fashion and technological gadgets trying to keep people young. But it is that very mindset that sets them apart as not seeing what’s around them. Their eyes are on a 4-inch screen or immersed with worry of what to wear to the next party or dance. Open your windows and let the rain or snow flow in. Let the sun shine on your face and catch a glimpse of the beautiful Saviour through the eyes of creation. High mountains, lush, green valleys, deep, blue oceans, bleak deserts and meadows that span miles. Drive the Great Plains, dive in the deep trenches, climb the Rockies, and hike through the Andes. It’s all beckoning and waiting. Won’t we take the plunge?

Okay, so I’m thirty, well not for a few more hours that is. No worries, I am in no way in a hurry to grow up. When I was in Elementary school, a boy younger than me asked me how old I was (I was like one year older than he was) and after I told him he said, “You’re going to die before me because you’re older.” Oh, the things we remember of life! If only the world and the circle of life worked that way. Wouldn’t it be nice? No parent would have to bury their son or daughter. I had a very close friend die a few years ago from heart complications when I was away and unable to see him. He passed just days shy of his 30^th birthday, also in August. As I approach my 30^th, I can’t help but think of him and his outstanding character. Why am I able to reach 3 decades and not him? Why did his tent falter and mine is still standing? I am constantly reminded of his delight and passion for life and what life brings, his love for people and what they bring. I am honored to be among his circle of friends. I say that because though he has left Earth, he is not forgotten and his lust for life and ministry lives on; his zeal comprises a vast amount of what I long to live for. A few days prior to his passing, we had our last conversation and his last words to me were, “We’ll talk soon.” Jason, my friend, we will; we most definitely will. When I get there, I’ll tell you what thirty looks like on this planet.

Birthdays…everyone has one. When you’re young you get excited about them, planning parties and the works. As we physically age, they don’t seem to mean that much to us anymore. Yes, it is always exciting to spend ‘your day’ with family and friends, receive gifts and eat some good food, but in the end, you start your new year the next day only to put ‘your day’ in the past until the next one a year away. Well, okay, I did kind of describe the life cycle, the passing of time. The time machine won’t be invented until another 140 years, I mean *cough, cough* you didn’t hear that from me. And so, time goes on, what we do with that (our) time is up to us…will we sit on our couch wishing we were younger or older? Or will we snap out of it and dust off those old hiking shoes, pump up those tires and hit the trail? The choice is up to us. It’s been said as you get older, time goes by faster. So, what are you waiting for? Time’s a flying away. Adventurize your life! (I don’t know why spell check tells me that adventurism is a word while adventurize is not.) Open the door, fling off the covers and seek something that’s wanted to be sought after. Catch it and take it and don’t forget to smile back.

And there you have it folks. Thirty’s coming for me. I vow to grab it and use it to do something great and venture out into the unknown basin of misunderstanding which sounds awful when put that way. But let me tell you…I won’t forget to smile back.

I sweat in the silence

The following is an original forward written by Alastair Humphreys for the new Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Adventures book. I decided to include it here because much of what he says resonates with me in terms of adventures and daydreams of adventures. I haven’t traveled the world like this guy, but I know the importance of adventuring. There is a fantastic world waiting out there. There is something missing from too much of my everyday life. Is that you? Read on.

I sweat in the silence. All around me the lone and level sands stretch far away. Nothing moves. There is no sound. The air has no smell. The crisp curves and shadows of the dunes cut up into the cloudless blue of the sky. There is no sign of life, no sign that anyone has ever been here before.
Despite the heat, despite the struggle, I smile.

Or perhaps I smile because of those things? Because adventures are not supposed to be easy, are they?
I am aware that the feeling of isolation is something of an illusion. I am in the Empty Quarter desert – the Rub’ al Khali – and the responsibility for my progress and safety is very much in my own hands. It is an exhilarating feeling, missing from too much of my everyday life. But I am not the first person out here. Just a few miles back I passed the billowing black smoke and orange burn-off flames of an oil field. And my whole reason for being here, the inspiration behind my journey, is to retrace fragments of the great journeys Wilfred Thesiger made here seventy years ago.
As a nod to the very different worlds that Thesiger and I pursue our adventures in, the end of my trek will be the summit of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa –  the tallest building on the planet. Thesiger would have been horrified. But there’s no point pretending to live in the past. The world, its people and its wild places, have changed an extraordinary amount since Thesiger and his camels lolled across these obsidian plains. But the thrill of discovering new places remains. It just becomes a more personal experience.
I love doing things I have never done before, going to places I’ve never been, and seeing glorious sights with my own eyes that I first read about and daydreamed about in books such as this one.
We live in fortunate times. Airlines and the internet have made the world more accessible than at any time in history. More of us than ever before have the opportunity not only to be armchair adventurers, dipping into the delicious photographs and ideas in this book, but to actually commit to an adventure of our own. It is a privilege to have the chance to go somewhere new, to attempt an adventure bold and difficult, and to surprise ourselves at being capable of more than we had realised. This book is a brilliant stepping stone to adventures of our own.

I first began plotting my adventures through stories of the great explorers. They inspired me to dream big; to be bolder. So I particularly enjoyed this book’s section on Famous Footsteps: I’ve been to the beach where Captain Cook was killed and I’ve followed Marco Polo across the Taklamakan desert. But Burke and Wills’ pioneering trek reminds me of a glaring omission on my own travelling CV: I have not yet been on an adventure in Australia. The world is so big and varied that I will never reach the bottom of my “Adventuring Wish List.” There’s so much to do, as this book makes deliciously plain. All the more reason to get dreaming and planning, and get out there!

I was flattered to be mentioned in the list of modern adventurers amongst guys and girls who are doing fabulous things. But here is a little secret about us: we are just normal people. We’re not super-strong nor unusually daring. We were not born rich. So don’t make the mistake of reading this book without also considering making the adventure of your choice actually happen. My first big adventure was cycling the Karakoram Highway, the stunning high-altitude ride from Pakistan to China. I’d been planning on a cycling holiday in Tuscany when a friend cajoled me into thinking a bit bigger. Not only was the ride considerably cheaper and more epic than Italy, it also acted as an epiphany and a catalyst. I was addicted. I haven’t looked back. I have been fortunate to cycle to some of the genuine world highlights in this book such as the wonderful Carretera Austral, Slovenia and the Salar de Uyuni. If I did it, you can too.

There are also a tasty dollop of adventures that I know I’ll never do. It’s good for some things to remain as dreams. I’ll never surf Jaws in Hawaii, nor will I tackle all the 8000 metre mountains (a genuinely hardcore inclusion in a book such as this!), but I love to read about them and gawp at the photography.  I’m pleased too to see a section devoted to adventures in the Middle East. My experiences of that part of the world have been laced with good-humoured, generous encounters so at odds with the image often depicted on the TV news. Jordan, Oman and Iran are beautiful, fascinating countries that should entice any curious adventurers.

Whilst working on this foreword I have jotted down several adventures that really grabbed my imagination – Mountain Biking the San Juan huts and paddling the Queen Charlotte Islands being just two. I’m sure you will do the same. There’s a wonderful world waiting out there and this book is a fantastic, enticing resource.
Let’s go!