Day 19

Day 19: October 17, 2021 (Sanderson TX to Comstock TX)

I’m writing this at 5 AM on 10/18.  I had a fairly good night of sleep.  My sleep has been all over the place since the ride started.  Some nights I sleep ok and other nights I hardly sleep.

I actually woke up a little later this morning than I usually do.  I try to be up by 4 AM so I can work on my story and scan my emails.  We’ll see if the extra sleep helps on the ride today.

As for day 19’s ride, I rode with Sergio.  It was a chilly morning.  We started just after sunrise.  The ride had more climbs than descents.  The wind held off until about 11 AM, then it increased to being a tough headwind.  

The roads had nice wide shoulders, but they were a rough surface.  I was on the recumbent.  It rides much easier on smooth surfaces than rough ones.  When I could, I rode in the road.  It’s a gear or two difference between smooth surfaces and rough ones.  It’s one to three gears difference for headwinds. 

I spent a good bit of time on day 19 thinking about why I’m doing this ride.  My answer up to now has been that it is something I feel I must do, I like a physical challenge, it gives me 40 days to focus on child abuse prevention, and to draw attention to child abuse prevention.  

I learned early on that a 60-year-old man riding his bicycle across the country is not news.  I’ve met a couple dozen people who are doing the same ride right now; most of them are men in their 50’s and 60’s.  As I’ve mentioned before, I’m now focusing on the inward journey.

As I get a couple hours into a ride, things start to change.  My mind slows down, my body is in a rhythm, and I’m in a very calm place.  I’m almost totally in the present moment.  I can’t reach this point when I’m training because I know as soon as my training ride is done, my day starts.  On this 40-day ride, my day is riding and writing.  

In this calm and in the present state, I have clarity.  Clarity on my story and how to present it.  Clarity on my desire to reduce the rate of child abuse by whatever means I can. Clarity with my professional life.  Clarity on how much my family means to me.

It has not been easy being away from my two full time jobs for almost three weeks and I have about three weeks to go.  But it has been good for me.  I’m getting better perspective on what’s really important to me professionally and the directions I want to take the next phase of my professional life.

I really miss my family.  I face-timed with them yesterday.  Isabella, my granddaughter, was being shy and was hiding her face; she only said good-bye to me.  I have to be honest, that hurt a bit.  Three weeks is a much longer time period for a 3-year-old than it is for me.  I know when I get back we’ll reconnect and I’ll be her Poop-Pop again.  

Yes, Poop-Pop.  It started out as a joke.  Logan was thinking of funny names for Isabella to call me; this one stuck.  It’s so cute to hear her call me Poop-Pop.