“Things I’m grateful for and airing of grievances” …Mostly good stuff!

GRATEFUL for:

Epic sunrises and sunsets and the ridiculous shadows we made while on our bikes, the sun’s vitamin D on our skin, for our bones and psyche

Mom giving me a St Christopher medal and Dad giving me the comb from his pocket on bike day zero

Melinda posting my blog for me from day 3-12, and then, when things got too intense, Katie for picking it up again thru day 45

Dr Kempe at Airrosti for teaching me the healing powers of the lacrosse ball

Music: Adam Ezra, Melodime and SOJA for stressful times when “stuff was going down”, Live, Aerosmith, Foo Fighters for “let’s just crush these 20 miles, K?”, Wyclef, NERD, Killers when it was “happy party time”

Kyle commenting on fb “Your blog is pretty funny. Keep it up!” and every single “atta girl” comment from friends and family

Jacob’s comments when buzzards and vultures circled us: “Not dead yet. NOT dead”

Jacob pointing his finger like a gun and “shooting” the town/city sign for our next camp destination many days

Mick and Leigh, their magic butterfly house on bike day 4, tomato-vegetable soup and A/C. Their tenant, Thomas, who shared inside touring tips including the crucial need for “alone time” on a cross-country ride

Black-eyed Susan flowers beautifying fields from Virginia to Colorado.

Peyton’s foster mom who let us stay in her tent with air mattresses and gave us hamburgers for dinner and peach pie for dessert in her RV on bike day 6

KY coal truckers who gave us a wide berth

Utica KY’s fire house (shower, laundry, kitchen, fire trucks!) on bike day 11

Pastor Wayne who allowed us to stay in his church for the low low price of (no, not forced baptism!) taking photos and signing the guestbook on bike day 12

Ted, Colleen, their stories and kickass oatmeal on bike day 14

The FOE bike shack and “prison shower” on bike day 14

ANY showers, laundry facilities and electrical outlets

Folgers black silk instant coffee, peanut butter and ICE

David Robinson of Centerville KY who gave us 2 beers and warned us about hooligans on bike day 15

Gary from Kansas City who stopped us to give us ice-cold water bottles from his SUV’s cooler on bike day 18

Jacob’s new custom made tandem wheel that, according to Jacob, would hold “Me and two of my fattest friends”

Matt pinpointing our location on bike day 18 at Ash Grove MO, almost halfway across the US

The A/C and bathrooms at the fancy white-tablecloth tiger sanctuary restaurant on top of an Ozark mountain on the hottest day in MO and the hostess who gave Jacob a cold can of soda. Cutie Eric at the bottom of the mountain who talked triathlons with me at the rafting store on bike day 16

Cop in Ash Grove, MO who gave us a key to a house on bike day 18

Marco and Ronny who were awesome and put things into perspective on bike day 20. “Hey at least we’re not as bad off as these guys!”

Gas stations and Walmart

Butt butter (chamois butt’r) and bodyglide

Eye-candy Adam who flirted with me outside the Yellow Brick Road stop on bike day 21

Playing in our splash park shower in Nickerson KS on bike day 22

The man in the Eads city park who thought I might be badass enough to be a big-rig trucker on bike day 25 and Katrina for commenting on a fb pic “BAMF”

Caroline for phone calls and Redskins score updates when my 4G didn’t work

Any shade in KS/AZ, Sun after frozen temps in CO, 100 spf sunblock, chapstick

Kara, Kyle, the Durango CO zen sanctuary Collinsbury, and hammock town

Wes and Tommy cheering for us up Wolf Creek Pass on bike day 30

Funny church signs

Tailwind on bike day 33

The Grand Canyon and friends to hike with

Abe for the generous hospitality in Flagstaff, for taking me mountain trail running with the Flying Dutchman even though my lungs and legs didn’t work quite right at 8000 ft and after 5 weeks on a bike

Jacob’s 6’8” size, grizzly beard and tattoos when we set up camp at the convenience store with the drug dealers on bike day 35

“Holy Shit” high fives at the Mojave CA oasis on bike day 41

Officer Fox who didn’t arrest us for illegally biking on the highway in CA on bike day 42

The loin clothed rasta man who provided our daily dose of “is this real life??” on bike day 43

Aunt Joey and Uncle Bob who provided a dreamlike crash-pad from bike day 46 until our return to reality

 

AIRING OF GRIEVANCES: (NOT thankful for, coulda done without)

The man in the Eads city park who thought I was gruff/manly enough to be a big-rig trucker on bike day 25

Scary dogs chasing my tires

Extreme heat in MO/KS/AZ, freezing rain in CO, headwind

MO Labor Day weekend traffic and the lady who yelled at us and tried to run us off the road (Jacob sure told her!) on bike day 15

The guy who flipped us the bird and got a little too close in his yellow low-rider and “mean honkers” in general.

Trucks in AZ that did not give us enough room

Banana chips that upset my equilibrium

The brutally loud train whistles of Cassoday KS every 15 minutes throughout the night on bike day 22

Gravel road, rumble strips, cattle grates, thorns, glass shards