FOR THE HEALTH OF IT

The journey of my life.

Name:
Location: Anytown, USA, United States

I am a daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, aunt, cousin, wife, daughter-in-law, lover, friend, and nurse. I have lived my life trying to please everyone. I'm not sure what would be left if those titles were to go away. About Ron: I am Candy's husband. My previous life before undertaking this trip was working in the paper manufacturing industry in the Pacific Northwest. I am taking this time off to have the adventure of my life, meet new people, get fit, discover our country on a more personal level, and accomplish something that I will always remember which is to circumnavigate the US on a HPV(Human Powered Vehicle). I am 52.

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Adios to the Ride

Candy and I are still at the fifth wheel in Silverlake. Today we are going to start the drive back to Corte Madera to pick up our Greenspeed out of storage and haul it back here to Silverlake. We have decided not to continue our voyage.

The main reason we are stopping is the money. As noted earlier in the blog, we were spending much more money than we ever dreamed we would spend on a cycling trip. We could have ridden around the US twice on our Harleys for the amount already spent. We currently have enough money left for us to start the project of building a mortgage free log home from scratch. This is something we had planned to do after the ride, and if we continue the ride we won't have enough without Candy going back to work as a nurse, which she is not ready to do yet. She has worked hard as a nurse for over 30 years, long past the time when many other nurses have "burned out" on the job. I completely support her desire not to return to work right away to facilitate the building of the log home.

Things I won't miss: 1) I found that constantly being on the alert for traffic on narrow, shoulderless roads took a lot of the joy out of riding. I know that in Europe, where cycling is much more common, there have been extensive networks of bike lanes and paths established. England has a national cycle path network that has over ten thousand miles of cycling lanes and paths. And inexpensive hostels located along the routes. 2) The short riding days of winter. It seems like we have to make camp almost as soon as we break camp. 3) The weather. Though we mostly had decent weather for the riding from Silverlake to the Bay area, the rain that has been going on down there since we left is a discouraging element. Locals in Marin county told us before we came home for Christmas that January and February are the worst times for rain. 4) I am developing a pretty painful case of carpal tunnel, or tendonitis, or tennis elbow, or something in my right arm from the constant twisting of the gear shifter on the Rohloff 14 speed hub. Three weeks after stopping, it is still bothering me.

On the "pro" side of the argument for continuing: 1) The feeling of not finishing what we started. I don't like that feeling. 2) All of the attention we got from people watching us go by. That was great. It helped us to meet and talk with folks from all walks of life. 3) The excitement of fast runs down the hills. 4) The exercise. The exercise was good for both of us. I intend to keep riding the Spirit Lake Highway locally, as it has wide shoulders. 4) The blog. I think I will continue to blog on this site but it will be more about the log home building project. I have signed up for a two day seminar in Monroe, north of Seattle to learn what I need to get started. I learned of the seminar at http://www.loghomebuilders.org

So, to all of our new friends and family, especially my brother Roger, who was getting a real kick out reading the blog, it was fun while it lasted.

Ron.

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