It's July 18, 2012.
I'm looking back at this blog and wondering, what happened to these people? They seem to have fallen off the earth. Wonder where they landed? Wow. We've been out of touch. We hope that none of you are offended by our lack of communication on this blog since last August. A lot has happened since then, and we certainly never intended to leave out that final leg of our "Cyclemoon." But here we are, settled in our (second) new flat in San Fran. It's summer break (well. I use the term "break" loosely here. I'm taking 9 credits, becoming oriented at my clinical practicum site--the San Francisco VA--and starting to actually be a therapy-group facilitator. Scary. Derek is hard at work researching, dissertating and job-hunting.) Needless to say something has been missing. This summer pales--PALES--in comparison to last.
Over the past nine days, Derek and I have been celebrating our first wedding anniversary. Yup. We can't just take one day to do anything. I don't think it's because we're entitled, or anything like that. We've just decided that some things are worth celebrating in their own good time. So, this past weekend we took The Bike (A.K.A. Verrocchio's Apprentice. A.K.A. Leo. A.K.A. Grasshopper. Apparently we also can't just have one name for important metal appendages) down to Big Sur, the magnificent coastline south of Monterey and Carmel, CA. We camped (car-camped, unfortunately it was too far in too little time for us to bike all the way there and back again. Darn). We took Leo for a nice, long (yes, it's all relative) 25-ish mile ride along some of the most stunning scenery and terrain our green friend has seen yet. I whined some. We ate a big hot lunch (leftover vegetarian chili warmed up on the camp stove). We pedaled our tushies off up some gigantic hills, and then FLEW down them, sometimes keeping up with traffic along the fairly busy Highway 1. At the end of the day, we jumped joyfully into a beautiful green-blue pool fed by a coastal mountain stream. We ate a giant meal at a local taphouse for dinner. It was all so reminiscent of our beautiful Cyclemoon. I awoke this morning, back in San Fran, and headed off to school feeling a strange feeling, though it was somehow familiar. It wasn't that I was homesick. Nope. I was roadsick.
And for some reason, all of this led me back to our other old friend, the blog. Maybe it's something about telling this story...it still feels unfinished. Perhaps we hadn't yet finished telling the story because we didn't want to finish it, because that meant the journey was really over.
Perhaps I'm over-thinking things.
But the point is, here we are. We're gonna cross the finish line here, finally. Better late than never, right?
So...first, we'd like to give a shout-out to our dear friend Deb, who helped to create our fab celebration in Iowa and lives in New Ulm, MN. Our route out of Spirit Lake took us 80 miles north and a tad west, to Tracy, MN (about 40 miles from New Ulm). Now, having taken a few days off the road, and especially having eaten a rather large number of bright blue cupcakes, Deb kindly offered to haul our trailer and most of our gear for us on that leg. To give you an indication of what that meant to us, we normally averaged about 12.5 miles per hour. Of course this can vary a bit with winds and elevation, and also with distance--but really it stays fairly steady. But on that day, we flew up to a whopping 16.8...watch out, Lance! and Thanks, Deb. That was a GREAT day.
As we came into Walnut Grove-just 8 or 10 miles from our destination, we phoned Laurie and Elverne (Derek's maternal grandparents) to let them know we'd be arriving shortly. They had been in touch with a newspaperman from the Tracy Headlight Herald and he was to write a story on our trip. What we did not expect, however, was for the man to be waiting alongside Hwy 14 and to jump out of the bushes and start snapping pictures of us as we pedaled the last few miles of our journey. For a moment, we could not figure out why the paparazzi was in the bushes between Tracy and Walnut Grove, Minnesota, and furthermore why they were interested in two very sweaty, tired, but overjoyed cyclists (mind you we're happy to be newlyweds but even happier to be coming to the end of an 80 mile day, cargo or no cargo). Then, as it dawned on us, he jumped in his little red car, sped ahead of us, and did it again...and again. This is serious reporting, here. Later he sent over his protege, Mac (and no, I am not just making that up), to interview us. We were extremely pleased to be front page news two days later. Seriously. Front page. Very sweet.
Laurie and Elverne (A.K.A. Grandma and Grandpa Ziemke) were kind enough to put us up for a few days (even though we'd just had a nice break we were ready for another!) and show us around town. They made us several delicious meals and splurged on a wonderful pancake breakfast at the senior community center, where we chatted with several fine folks. I was introduced to "The Farm"--which has been the livelihood and home for the Ziemke family for over a hundred years. After hearing countless stories about the place, I was happy to finally see it with my own eyes.
One noteworthy evening (partly so because we actually remembered to both bring the camera and take photos) brought us to Marshall, MN for a workout at the Y, a yummy Chinese supper, and a concert in the park.
Positively chuffed with our fortunes at the Hunan Lion.
The name of the band eludes us. They told bad jokes but played some fun folk and Celtic music.
The sky was unbelievable. We were happy to be outside together beneath it.
A few days into our stay, Derek's folks joined us in Tracy. We celebrated a birthday and made preparations for our final wedding celebration which would take place in Redwood Falls, MN at Ramsey Park. We were very pleased to see (and in my case, to meet!) many members of the Meyers clan--and again really appreciate all the help in the arrangements and prep--you all know who you are! Thanks a million. It was another wonderful celebration! Zindie has kindly shared her pictures of the event:
Final Celebration, go for launch!
Face off of the English Profs...I wonder what they're discussing?
Some of the clan noshing and giving the rest of us the pleasure of witnessing the Meyers Group Laugh!
Baby Estella distracting her Aunt Holly and Grandma Carol from their baked beans and home-baked rolls (made by Noelle, lovely in purple paisley)
Derek's cousin Landon and his boys Micah and Asher romp around, exploring the park...what a lot of energy! Whew...
It's a big family, and a beautiful one. I was really happy to meet so many of you...and for the rest of you I still have yet to meet, I look forward to it a great deal.
We were both feeling so incredibly lucky that day that we have inherited such awesome, lively, caring, talented and wonderful families!
The day after the celebration, we couldn't help but take a little side trip up to the cities to check out Target Field with Kent and Zindie. When in Twins Territory...
Sadly, Bert wasn't there that day. He was busy being inducted into the Hall of Fame. I wonder if he rode his bike there...?
Also, the Twins did not win. And we did not witness Jim Thome hitting his 600th career home run, although he did so a few games later.
So we are surprisingly cheerful...but hey, we're newlyweds!
After being in Tracy, we headed out for one long day towards Brookings, SD, where Derek and I both went to college and where we met each other. The visit wouldn't have been complete without the generosity and hospitality of the Falken family, with whom we had both become acquainted a few years ago in our own ways--Derek being the roommate of Al, myself being a fellow thespian with Val. Both of us meeting Dennis and Judy in various capacities: seamstress, landlord, friends-of-parents, patrons of the arts...We were also very pleased to see a few familiar faces--friends and previous profs from our respective departments--at one last impromptu celebration at Cubby's Sports Bar (the best!).
Plan B came in around this time...on the road between Tracy and Brookings my knee started giving me some trouble. A quick check-in with the doc told us it was tendonitis, and we'd probably be okay. We had about 400 miles to go back to Spearfish, many of them across no-man's land, which in most cases we'd have enjoyed thoroughly, but with a bum knee didn't sound quite as appealing. Zindie was on her way back from MN to Spearfish and it was decision time.
We felt pretty good about finishing where we started.
Now, at the risk of this sounding very final...a few more things to say...
Driving back across South Dakota was surreal...we still had plenty of time to process and think...I kind of felt like we'd been on a strange cycle-fairytale...on a quest across the hot yellow plains...but in search of...what?
Many people understood exactly why we did what we did without us really needing to give explanation.
Others asked us..."Why on earth...?"
Or told us we were crazy. Yup, we got that one a lot.
So why did we do it?
There isn't really any one reason.
It could be because we love bikes. We really do. We think they're awfully swell. Because they get you from A to B faster than walking, they don't give off any icky emissions, and gosh-darnit, they're fun. Remember what it felt like to be a kid, and get on your bike and pump your legs as hard as you could just to see how fast you could go? Just for the fun of it? We had the opportunity to remember that unpredictably wonderful feeling of near-flight. That's part of the feeling of road-sickness I described before. Derek has given me something pretty incredible. OK, D-Rock has given me LOTS of somethings incredible. One of them is a regained sense of adventure, which I think I used to have in there somewhere but maybe lost...now I'm feeling so inspired to find adventure everywhere. Just for the pure joy of it. I feel that, still, looking back on this journey. I feel it every time we mount our grasshoppery steed and hit the road.
Partly, I think we felt inspired to do something different.
To show that it can be done. Two ordinary people can use a bicycle as their means of transportation for a long journey, not to mention a short one. We did it to encourage others to do the same...on a small or large scale...and there are so many reasons to cycle, I can only begin to name them. Commuting by bicycle is a joy because, for one thing, at least until more people get out of their cars, much of the time is spent whizzing past all the traffic. I constantly want to cajole drivers childishly, "Haha! Beat ya!" For another thing, it combines your commute with your exercise, giving you more time to do things like...well, whatever it is you like to do. Read a book. Make banana bread. Start a blog. Watch "Glee."
Maybe this is my favorite reason to ride: you see things differently from a bicycle. Yeah, sure, if we'd have driven our route we would have gotten there faster. So what? I wouldn't have been able to see--let alone count-- how many dragonflies we saw hovering along the roadside (and if you want to know the magic number is 12,832--though many of them were mating and it was sometimes difficult to distinguish). I wouldn't have known that many of them were floating over bergamot in the ditches. I wouldn't have felt the same breeze against my back that pressed prairie grasses over each other in their yellow dance.I wouldn't have truly felt the landscape, every bump and hill--it's not until you're using your body to navigate places that you really experience them. Seriously, I have driven across Nebraska about eighteen times and never realized there are actually hills there. Big, beautiful ones. It was on a Nebraska Sandhill where my Captain Derek helped to teach me the meaning of "letting go"--at over 40 miles per hour, the fastest I've ever gone due to my own body's power (OK, yes, Gravity deserves some of the credit), we were kids again, finding flight on two wheels. And, I'm so proud to say that this past weekend in Big Sur, he did it again (ok, we only got up to 39.6), and THIS time I did not freak out and get upset and say things like "What do you MEAN you didn't hear me shouting in your ear to SLOW THE BLEEP DOWN!?" Nope. This time, I was just laughing. Giggling, really. All the way down the hill, watching the computer's line for mph tick from 36 to 37...38...39.2...39.3..39.6...."Aww, don't slow down NOW!"
During our Cyclemoon I was reminded of my own power--when you finish riding somewhere you're left with a sense of accomplishment and praise for the power of your own body, this vessel that can do amazing things for you--(of course after a particularly long day that does seem to come, at least for me, in harmony with a little whining, a cool dip in the pool and a big meal). But I was also reminded of the power of God and Nature--the best example I can recollect: between Burwell and O'Neill, Nebraska, when we tried to outrun a thunderstorm. Even pushing it at 22 mph on a flat and empty spot, we couldn't do it. The storm swirled around us as if to say "Really? You thought you could win this race?" Then, just in case it hadn't already made its point by drenching us with rain while we counted the seconds between the lightning and thunder from the roadside ditch, we watched, inches in front of where we sat, a monarch butterfly wrap its feet around a piece of prairie grass, bent over nearly ninety degrees by the winds, and hang on for dear life. I couldn't help but feel just like him, cosmically small in that moment--but in the most beautiful way.
I am left in awe, time and again.
So, we encourage you, the next time you go on vacation, if you can, rent bicycles instead of a car, or take mass transit if possible, and walk, as much as possible. When you go out exploring, leave the car behind...and then open your eyes and ears and let your senses shout!
But this trip wasn't just about biking...it was about showing that we can all do some things, many things, to reduce the impact we have on the Earth. I say this now mostly to thank you for helping us to achieve that goal throughout, and to remind us all that these choices, at least in our society, are constant contributors in some way to the bigger picture. So...it's about buying biodegradable cups and plates, recycling everything you possibly can, not worrying about the latest and greatest gadget and gizmo or fashion or fad. Shop at the thrift, use cloth bags, ask your grocery store to stop putting stuff in plastic wrap. Carpool. Buy products that were made with solar power, wind, hydro. Vote with your wallet and your feet.
But most of all, however you can and in whatever way works for you: remember what it was like to be a kid, what it felt like to be so full of joy you thought you might just sprout wings and fly.
And, again, and again and again, Thank You to everyone for helping us to create four beautiful wedding celebrations full of music and laughter and merry memories. And for so many beautiful gifts that sustained us on the trip (and continue to do so!)--providing us with comfortable shorts, hydration, yummy gummy road snacks, and big delicious suppers in small town diners. And for the beautiful gifts that now grace our home--books and beads and Peruvian bowls and bamboo boards and birch tree tapestries... and for all your words and wisdoms and all your warmth.
Thanks to the Wind-God for beautiful weather.
Thank you, legs, for getting us there.
Thank You, Captain Derek, for helping remind me what it means to adventure, to be utterly, completely filled up with joy.
and they all lived happily ever after.
But that's not really the end of the story, now, is it?
