Taking a Few Moments - Before Things Get Hectic Again

In my last post I discussed the possibility of going to work for the Alda Center for Communicating Science. Well... the job posted this past week and after reading it I realized I was not really as qualified for it as they needed me to be. If I worked at it, I might have been able to stretch my skills and experience to fit, but it would have been just that - a stretch.

During the few days that followed the job posting, as I further considered the possibility of moving to New York, settling into another more "conventional" job, etc., I realized that I'm not ready to give up the "job" I feel I have now, i.e. "Pedaling for Peace". In addition, I've been working progressively over the past four years to reduce my worldly possessions to a minimum, and the thought of having to re-accumulate all over again to set-up a more conventional living situation really doesn't appeal to me.

Consequently, I'm going "back to the drawing board" so to speak, as well as moving to my dad's house in Campbellsville, KY for a while. The plan is to continue with the reduction process I've started here in Columbus, GA and probably build another multi-purpose trailer for my bicycle. I've learned a lot over the past four years and I am looking forward to putting some of that experience to further use. There is much of the U.S. I have not seen yet and many new people I have not met. In spite of the challenges of this "job," there have been some really great rewards as well, and that is what is keeping me motivated to continue, and maybe to continue for as long as I am physically able to do so. I can't say that this was ever what I thought I'd be doing as my "retirement plan," but, so far, it's not so bad!

Looking back I can see that, just so I could handle the physicality of what I'm doing, I had to get an early jump on this particular "retirement strategy," otherwise, there would not have been enough bodily strength to "train into it." I've still got a few issues to deal with - definitely need to get some dental work done, but everything else is continuing to work pretty well!

For instance, over the past several weeks, I've been revisiting my marathon training program from eight years ago, running and walking in intervals of three minutes and two minutes respectively as I have slowly increased my distance from three miles to six miles using the trail around the lake in the local park. Having reached my six mile goal, I will now start progressively increasing the run time and reducing the walk time until it's all (or nearly all) run time. As I learned from my trainers, you need a day to recover for every mile you run, so if I run six miles one day/week then I have six days to recover in between. In addition, this form of relatively slow-paced exercise actually burns fat more effectively than bicycling and I can do it in a more protected area, rather than having to negotiate with traffic so much.

So that's one way that I have continued to "train" while here in Columbus, although, I really had to wait for things to cool down a bit. The heat and humidity of the summer here was pretty intense, more than I have had to deal with anywhere else so far! As my dad's house sits on the banks of Green River Lake, I expect to map out a similar six mile route fairly easily and will continue this routine for the foreseeable future. I'm also doing the three "end of course" exercise routines from my favorite yoga program, Richard Hittleman's Yoga: 28 Day Exercise Plan. 

Over the next week I will be getting ready for yet another "yard sale," and then focusing the rest of my time on packing to move to Kentucky. My friend and host here in Columbus has been generous in offering to support my transition financially and my dad is welcoming me "home" with open arms. I'm looking foward to reconnecting with my family and even plan to stop in Dalton, GA to visit with my mother, with whom I have not had face to face contact in about 30 years! (If you have seen my TEDx talk, then you know more of the history there.)

In addition, the cousin I spent time with in Santa Ana, CA during "Stage III" is helping me find a home "in the family" for a treadle sewing machine that I have been keeping track of/storing, etc., also for about 30 years. It's the one item that could not be packed or shipped easily under any circumstance, and even now, in the last days of my being responsible for it, it is proving to be a challenge! Nevertheless, I intend to persevere and see to its finding a new home with some of my other relatives in Tennessee.

To the extent that I have already freed-up a lot of energy from letting go of many of my other worldly possessions and living conventions, I feel I am in the "final round" of that process. I am getting to live more freely than most people in the world today, even in this country, and I do not take that for granted. However, I also feel I have a powerful message to share and I know that there are many who are following my journey who also gain, if only vicariously, from all of my experiences.

I want to say, "Thanks, Again!" to all of my friends and associates who have supported my efforts in the past and continue to do so. For my part, I am going to continue to do what I can to persevere on this journey and to keep you updated along the way.

Yours in Peace...

On the Road to Ocotillo, CA - Alpine to Pine Valley

I knew it was going to be a hard day. According to my "Map My Ride" map it was going to be up hill pretty much the whole way. In addition, this was the first time I've set off not being certain of where I would end up, or who I would be staying with at the end of the day.

I kept thinking to myself, "I did 70 miles of Texas hill country from Columbus to Luling in July, 2012. I should be able to do these 63 miles to Ocotillo."

I got up really early to finish packing and load my bicycle. I had to take more time than I intended to strap my "new" wine/water boxes to the back of my bicyle. It was a hard system to figure out, but I was ultimately satisfied with the results. Granted, I'm not all that excited about people thinking I'm carrying two boxes of Wine on my bicycle so I will probably "mask" the boxes in some way soon. Furthermore, I was not ready to carry that much water Up Hill if I could avoid it although, not too far down the road, I was kind of wishing I Had filled at least one of them!

I said "Good-bye!" to my host Jonathan and Konnor (who was waiting for his school bus) before heading up the road, pedaling very very slowly, most of the way, but managing to stay on the bike.

Every overhanging shade tree became a place to stop, catch my breath, and take a drink of water/electrolyte mix. It was very, very, slow going.

At one point I got somewhat confused by bike route signs that seemed to put me onto I-8 only to be contradicted by "Pedestrians, Bicyclists, [etc.] Prohibited" signs on the entrance ramps. So I had to turn around. Eventually, a local cyclist passed me and helped clear-up the confusion.

Another mile or two down the road and another cyclist, named Kathy, came up behind me, reading my signage (!) and we stopped and talked for a little while. She parted leaving me a small cash donation that was very encouraging as those have been few and far between lately. She was able to add some more clarification for my route, and I pedaled on from there.

The greatest challenge of this particular stage of my journey was that it was virtually ALL Up Hill! A low but steady grade that went on for what turned out to be about 16 miles. The image below really does not do the challenge justice and skips the first part from Alpine to the intersection with I-8.

As I rode onto I-8 my water supply was running low - down to one 27 oz Klean Kanteen and my 2 liter "head towel drizzling" bottle. Furthermore, there was a disadvantage to being on the interstate: Even though I was legal on this particular section as a cyclist, I would not be legal (technically) as a pedestrian, so I felt compelled to stay on my bicycle the whole time, rather than getting off and pushing as I might have under other circumstances.

Nevertheless, I used the same basic "technique" I have used when walking: pick a point some distance ahead as a goal, and walk/ride to it. Stop. Catch my breath. Take a drink. Start again. This went on for about 3 miles, but it seemed a lot longer, and it was in the wide open. No trees. No shade. Eventually, as a cyclist, I had to pull off at Vista Point, elevation 3000 feet, if only to avoid the "on/off" traffic of vehicles.

My hopes went up just a little as I spotted a brick pedestal in the middle of a similarly walled in viewing area, and yes, it might have been a water fountain at some point in its existence, but had instead become merely an oversized ash try for cigarette butts.

Realizing my water supplies were insufficient to continue, I dug into one of my side panniers to find some card stock and made a sign that read "WATER NEEDED - THANKS!" Just as I was attaching it to the back of my bike, a couple of cars came into the viewing area, a lady stepped out and approached me and I asked her if she had any water she could share with me. In a foreign accent that might have been Eastern European, she told me that she did have a couple of half liter bottles, which she graciously offered to me. These came as a real relief, and I refilled my Klean Kanteens before snapping one last picture and heading back onto the interstate.

I still had about a mile to go to exit at Japatul Valley Road, heading north to Descanso. Still concerned for my water needs, I attached the sign to the side of my bike and had another couple of guys with a truck and trailer offer me more water as we both stopped under the overpass. They informed me that Descanso was only a couple of miles ahead, and mostly downhill, which turned out to be a bit closer than I expected. In spite or my running low on funds, I ended up stopping for a late lunch at the local "Descanso Junction Restaurant". It was nice and cool inside, and I enjoyed my chicken pita pocket sandwhich along with some fries. I also checked my phone which had several messages on it, one from my cousin, and two from Warmshowers hosts further up the road.

The next few miles, off the interstate mostly on HYW 79 and Old HWY 80 were somewhat easier for having more tree cover. I felt comfortable getting off my bicycle and pushing which I did, a lot, in part because a muscle on the inside of my right leg above my knee was starting to cramp up.

There was a moment when I realized I was not really taking in the landscape around me. I was too focused on Just Keepin' On Keepin' On! So, I shifted my perspective a little and realized that off to the side of the road there was a large patch of wild sage. I managed to maneuver my bicycle into a shady spot, prop it up with my newly taped kick-stand, which held (Yeah!) and cut some sage to take with me.

In general, it was just a good idea to keep breathing, and keep enjoying this experience, in spite of the challenges!

A few more miles down the road, as I was riding through Pine Valley, I saw two women walking towards me and one of them took note of my signs reading "The Blue Turtle" outloud. I smiled as they went by, and then stopped and turned, and asked if I could speak with them. I explained that I was in need of shelter for the night, could put up a tent as necessary, but that my climb from Alpine had been particularly difficult and exhausting.

As it turned out, one of the women, Becky, was very open to the idea and asked me to wait for her at a local diner that was closed for the day as she would be walking with her friend for another hour or so. I found the diner, parked my bike and then went searching for a bathroom, ending up at a small mini-mart, and feeling obligated to pay $2.39 for a Cliff Bar since their bathroom facilities were "For Customers Only". (Given I can buy Cliff Bars for $0.99 elsewhere, that was kind of an expensive pit stop!)

Nevertheless, I had an extremely clean bathroom to use, before finding my way back to the diner where I had left my bicycle parked in the shade. I had time to take more notes on my phone messages and do a quick manicure before my host arrived and invited me to follow her a mile or so back to her house. There I met her husband Jack and their dachsund Scooter - the Fifth dachsund/dachsund mix I've met since La Mesa, CA!

And that's where I find myself now, after a somewhat more restful sleep in the coolness of these higher elevations.

It was a hard day. Probably one of the harder ones of my cross-country cycling so far. But it was also rewarding and encouraging given the positive responses I experienced from people, "strangers", all helping me with water, cash, and lodging. As a consequence, I feel encouraged to keep going, and to keep trusting in what I already know to be the mostly generous and peaceful nature of my fellow human beings.

Part I of "I've Got the Sun in the Morning and the Moon at Night!..."

...And...I now have INTERNET ACCESS again!!!! Yeah!!!

To All of My Readers:

My sincere apologies for not being able to keep this blog updated more effectively over the last three months. During my time in Austin, Texas I was moving around a lot between various hosts, many of them students, and in many situations I did not have internet access. I've also had some issues here and there more generally with getting my iPad to recognize wifi transmissions so I could connect where it was available. Finally, preparing a full blog takes quite a bit more time and effort than I can squeeze in with only an hour here and there, especially when I have to use at least some of that time available for checking my e-mail, etc.

Nevertheless, I am back in Santa Barbara, CA now with a comfortable living situation and INTERNET access, and I figured it was time I posted an update here...finally!

Starting from the last weeks of July...


I began my official tour of Austin, Texas with a stop at the home of John and Eve Koonz. As I mentioned in my previous blog, John and Eve are living examples of how ordinary people are making a difference in their homes and in their own back yards.

They keep chickens, and they grow meal worms to help utilize food waste and to have protein rich snacks for the chickens. At first glance, the meal worm habitat might seem "icky", but it did not smell and it was actually quite fascinating to see the bugs going about their business.



John and Eve also dry their clothes outside, commute regularly by bicycle and/or public transportation, and, as I had the opportunity to experience very directly, they were supportive and very generous WarmShowers hosts. John was particularly helpful in planning my route to my second Austin host and even accompanied me through some of the trickier parts of that journey.

Saying Good-Bye to John Koonz in Austin, Texas

My Beverly Hills host asked me not to share pictures or her personal info on my blog. Nevertheless, I am very grateful to have experienced her hospitality and she helped me connect with Pastor Karl Gronberg of the Gethsemane Lutheran Church as well. That connection eventually led to my staying at their "Hospitality House" for a couple of nights.




From the Beverly Hills address I made a little side excursion with the Austin Sierra Club members via MeetUp. We toured the Mayfield Park well known for its Peacocks.





While staying with Austin Sullivan, I went for a hike through the Barton Springs Greenbelt along with his brother's fiancé, Kira. We mostly followed the relatively dry creek bed, and then it started to rain. Given that it was summer in Texas, it was actually a welcome shower.





On the trailhead we found a turtle. I kind of recognized it, but picked it up to take a closer look. That's when it urinated on me and the smell was all I needed to confirm that it was a "Musk Turtle"!



At my host on Beverly Hills Dr. and at Chad Greene's house, I did not have access to the internet. So to keep myself occupied while I was "resting", I selected books to read from those available to me. Since I spent so much of my young adult and adult life reading more non-fiction (and a lot of "self-help" style books), I decided to read some of the shorter classics that I've heard about but never actually read. These included War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.

From Chad's I had a short but Very Hot 4.5 miles or so to Anika Fassia's house. Thinking that it would be a fairly easy ride, I was not as careful as I would normally be and failed to use my damp camp towel under my helmet, and I did not have enough water either. Reaching the peak of the last of a few decent hills, I found myself growing a bit nauseous and light headed, so I pulled off to the side of the road, got onto the sidewalk/curb and rested, holding my bicycle up while I did so. At that point I was probably less than a quarter mile from Annika's house, but every time I stood up to get back on my bicycle, I started getting dizzy again. What was even more frustrating was that there was what looked like a public pool within 50 yards of the concrete retaining wall that rose up over the sidewalk behind me, and that wall was also blasting heat all around me.

Eventually I recovered enough to walk my bike across the multi-lane road to the opposite sidewalk, and down to the street where Annika lived. Even as I walked though, I was still not feeling well, so I had to stop again, within what turned out to be about 20 yards from Annika's house, and sit on the curb once more. Eventually, she and one of her housemates came out to meet me and we all walked back to the house together. All in all, it was a "lesson learned" to never take the heat for granted, no matter how short a ride might be!



One thing I noticed shortly after I got settled in the house was that it seemed Anika's guest bathroom toilette was not shutting off properly. When I helped her understand that the water was simply flowing out and through the sewer pipe, she welcomed my assistance in figuring out how to repair it. At first we tried a new flap, and then once it was clear that was not enough, and that the leaking was coming from the valve itself, we decided to replace that as well, "we" as in Anika paid for the parts and I installed them!

And here I am "modeling" the finished repairs.

Another benefit of staying with Anika was being around for the beginning of an artistic transformation of her living room fire place. Artist Stefanie Distefano was in charge.

Me and Anika at the beginning.

Stefanie at work.

The Completed Fireplace

What was particularly cool about this project was that Anika got together with all of her friends to make many of the tiles that Stefanie eventually assembled into the mosaic. Along with her friends, I appreciate the investment of energy and attention that Anika has chosen to put into her relationships, her home, and into her neighborhood and community in Austin, Texas. And I'm really glad she has chosen to be a part of the WarmShowers community as well!

From Anika's I was generously transported back to the northern part of town by Pastor Karl Gronberg of the Gethsemane Lutheran Church. I felt it was okay for me to accept his assistance since I had already covered the distance by bicycle previously, and I would be leaving on my own to travel back south in a couple of days. While staying at the church "Hospitality House" I was once again without internet, or television, but I did have access to Pastor Karl's library in the house/office next door.

One of the books I pulled from the shelves was a massive volume entitled Psychological Aspects of Pauline Theology by Gerd Theissen. On Page 9 I read: "The Bible was able to become one of the most important textbooks of human behavior and experience precisely because in it 'dominating' models recede and models that first fail, but overcome are so numerous."

In other words... It is full of UNDERDOG Stories! (Something that Paul K. Chappell also writes about in his most recent book The Art of Waging Peace....)

Boy! Did that set my mind on a tangent?!

What I have come to appreciate from reading Lila... by Robert Pirsig is that...in truth...the evolution of Life Itself is an ongoing drama of all kinds of Underdog Stories! (More specifically, the interaction of what he describes as "static" and "Dynamic" "Quality".)

The bottom line is...the actual probability of ANY of THIS existing is so remote, that for it to have all arisen the way it has means THE Underdog - i.e. Life Itself - is WINNING, beating the odds, over and over again, and...moving the process of evolution towards more and more highly evolved and adaptive organisms - including human beings, who, for all their presumed "faults" (i.e. "sins"), have the greatest capacity to Interact Dynamically with their environment(s) than any other organisms on this planet! (Although...some research is pointing a finger at viruses and bacteria that may be living out their very own "underdog stories" and using Us to help Them!)

And now we are in a stage where we are evolving our cultures to catch up with our evolving technologies. I'd say we got a little ahead of ourselves with nuclear weapons, among other things, and Now it is time to re-evaluate Why we are doing the things we Can do, with more of a moral compass for what we Should Do. Furthermore, we have a Central Nervous System - the Internet - that we never had to work with before and it is slowly but surely linking all of us as individual cells into a more coherent, Body Human, that includes more and more individual human beings.

That's a lot to be thinking about, so I'm going to pause this update for now. I will add though, that I was able to share some of these ideas at the talk I gave to the Millville Quaker Friends Meeting in Pennsylvania, and the talk was very well received. (I promise I will share more about that in a future post.)

As always, I am grateful for ALL of the different experiences I have been able to have on this, my own "Underdog Journey", and I am grateful to ALL of the people who have helped me along the way!

Please stay-tuned for "Part II" of this blog series...Coming Soon!

One More Week Left in Florida!

As of this time next week, I should be heading to the bus station to begin my 24+ hour trip back to Texas. As of right now, I still need to raise at least another $100 or so just to start the trip. That leaves another $2000 or so to raise to finish it.

I have a New Page on this blog, in case you haven't noticed. I'm calling it my "Please and Thank You" page. On it I have listed, pretty explicitly, all of my "needs" and some of my "wants" for the second half of my cross-country bike trek, and I will be updating it regularly. I didn't have anything like this for the first half of my journey because I did not have the experience to know for sure what my needs were going to be, and I was still getting used to this blogger platform which has actually changed quite a bit since I first started using it. However, this time I do have that first half of the trip under my belt, so the estimates should be pretty on-target. Furthermore, I'm going to be more diligent in giving public recognition to the people who have been helping me (if they would like that). I was not as savvy about how to do that on this blog last time, but now that I have my "Please and Thank You" page, I feel I should be able to do that without too much difficulty.

For the record: This has all been an amazing Learning Process for me and although I wish I had known how to do everything from the beginning, there have been a lot of things I've had to figure out along the way instead, and I figure, that's okay, too!

Now, however, speaking of "Donations" if you would like to provide financial support for my trip, there is always the PayPal "Donate" button, and as you will see on my "Please and Thank You" page (linked in the upper part of the right-hand column), I have provided some other alternatives for sending money to me via my friend Alisa as well. There are also specific items you can purchase directly and then have them shipped to Alisa and she will then get them to me. Or...if you let me know in advance, I may be able to give you an upcoming host's address to which you may ship needed supplies. ALL types and levels of support are welcomed and appreciated!

And, speaking of Alisa...She has been so very generous to me over the last couple of months. She gave up her room to me, and I have made a mess of it with all of my boxes, etc. (which I will be clearing out this week, of course). She has been chauffering me around to and from the Christ Church Bazaar on Wednesdays, and to and from my storage unit, and of course, to get groceries. She's an awesome person and there is simply no way I could be doing what I'm doing without her support. I feel very lucky and grateful to count her as a friend.

Another person who has been particularly helpful is Mike Kieffer who manages the bazaar/flea market for Christ Church. Not only has he helped me with a free table at the market, he has offered his friendship and personal support as well, helping me to get connected with the local VFW here (and, thereby, to all of the other VFW's across the country), giving me some work to do and get paid for, and buying some of my few "man things" at the flea market. He is a wonderful man, and I have enjoyed getting to know him better as a friend during this second time around for me here in Florida.

I have one more week here before I will be taking a bus to Texas. I've chosen the bus over a plane because the price was significantly lower and, as Alisa and I agreed, it would give me more of an opportunity to meet and possibly talk with other people about my mission...which is really what this is all about! I am getting more excited about getting back on the road as I trudge through the remaining practical details I've had to handle here in Florida. Once again, I am looking at maps, e-mailing potential Warm Showers and Couch Surfing hosts, planning my route, and keeping my heart open in faith, as it has been through all of this, knowing that, things Will Work Out...one way or another! That is something else that this past year plus of experience has taught me: I have never gone hungry; I have never been without shelter; I have never been "completely broke" (although I was down to change a few times); and I am meeting so many wonderful and generous people, and learning so many life lessons from all of these experiences, I know it has been well Worth the Effort, and I am motivated to keep "efforting" as necessary to Finish what I have Started!

It continues to be an amazing adventure and I appreciate every person who has been a part of it with me as I continue to "Pedal for Peace"!