Posts tagged ‘San Francisco’

Nov 13

By The Numbers #2

We’ve now been riding for just under three months and North America has flown by. Within two weeks we will reach the Mexican border that will bring a great deal of change to our journey. Our diets are going to switch from peanut butter and pasta to beans, tortillas, and rice. Our typical lunch breaks will be missed, but we’re excited to move on to the next leg of our trip. We are riding along some of the most beautiful coastal highways on the Pacific coast. It has already been a wild ride down Highway 1 and there are many more stories to come.

In our last numbers post we tallied up the first month. In three months we have covered just about all of North America and have a number of things that we are proud and thankful for. Here’s our accounting from San Francisco:

Total Miles Covered: 4035 mi

Longest day: 109 miles from Mt. Hood to Bend, OR

Longest streak of consecutive riding days: 12

Laugh attacks while out riding: 3-20

Bleached eyebrows: 2

Rest days, sans rest: Hiking in Jasper, Cyclocross race in Portland, Building with H4H in Bend, and dancing in San Fransisco

Dance Skill Atrophy Index Score: 100%

Days ridden without rain: 27 days

Most consecutive days without a shower: 5

Average cost for each day: $4 per person

Days sick: 0 *knock knock*

Best pen pals: 3rd Graders from rural North Dakota (more on this later!)

Culinary Innovations: Campbell’s Chunky soup with pasta, ricotta cheese and potatoes

Best food splurges: Smoked pork ribs, Jenny’s Burgers, “12 Tacos for $10” deal at Taco Bell

David’s Role: The Sergeant

Isaiah’s Role: The Cheerleader

Nathan’s Role: Professor Pumpkin

Most Epic Campsite: Treacherous cow pasture on the cliffs over the ocean, with unknown vehicle stalker.

Quickest Campsite Departure: 30 minutes after waking at 5:45AM from the treacherous cow pasture on the cliffs over the ocean

Habitat Donation Total: $4,140

Nov 8

5 Comments

Saddle Up, Cowboy

Inextricability is frequently misunderstood in life. Contrasted with the wandering of the autonomous, inextricable lives are obviously entangled with notions of purpose, community, and continuity. Many twenty-somethings fear the specter of commitment, perhaps not out of loathing for these principles but out of fear for frequent separations. Yet the inextricable life is inevitable. Life is an election that you cannot stay home from because you vote with your feet. We carry necessary anchors with us through life and our bodies grow stronger from the movement.

Beautiful Highway 1.

Minimalism is like moving those anchors, not cutting their ropes. Humanity drops anchor in wealth, homes, cars, relationships, and careers to name a few things. There is an important dual lesson in all of this: the first is that we have a choice in where we anchor ourselves. The second is that we have no choice but to choose. I remember selling my car in Anchorage three months ago before we began riding our bicycles north to Denali. That sudden liquidation of my trans-continental transportation left me feeling liberated and proud. Do not underestimate how liberating minimalism can be! But months later, the personal anchor of my beloved Honda has been wholly transferred onto the rack of my Surly Troll. I covet and adore it with the same intensity. Don’t fool yourself by thinking that you can live anchor-free; take it from three guys with nothing but three bags and a bicycle. We carefully measure the inextricability of our lives by bicycle, always critically self-aware of our perceived necessities – whether they be your only comfy pullover or the heaping bowl of oatmeal we delight in every morning. Minimalism forces you to confront and better appreciate your anchors of necessity.

Cool California coast.

Time compels us forward and bids us southward, away from these past days with family in the Bay Area. Our cause calls us to our fundraising and other personal goals for this journey. Inextricability is a daily rhythm that binds us once more to a road going south from San Francisco.