I imagined long days full of good work. Today was an excellent example. An early morning (4:30 AM), hot yoga (very sweaty and lots of breath work), breakfast, weeding, shoveling, snacking, and hitting the road. A day of 48 miles which felt casual. Lots of food along the way and friendly smiles from most people with enough time to chat.

Red Bluff offers a laundromat and an unnecessary luxury in the form of a hotel. The body is still sore and there’s some more settling in to do, but progress is being made. I’m eating a ridiculous amount and for that, I’m grateful. Tomorrow is another short ride of 47 miles with our first intro into hill climbs. It’ll be a few short days on a farm and then the real fun begins.

I’ve been mapping out the future route and working on a plan. Getting through Oregon won’t be easy. Multiple days of 4,000 ft climbs and so I’m prepping as best I can. I’m hoping the farms line up in convenient distances apart. I should find out in the next few days. If not, I’ll be in a tent. Either way, I’m ready.

For now, all I know is every day is a blessing. Being outside, using the body, finding movement, and the occasional mind-numbing peace of boredom, what more can one ask for? The goal for this journey is to be tender, diligent, and to only get better (at bikeriding, at being in my body, life in general). So yeah, it’s early days and I feel like I’m on the right path. The fortune cookie I got with dinner tonight sums it up quite well: “Sing and rejoice, fortune is smiling on you.”

Tomorrow, when I boogie on North, I’ll start singing. That’s the beauty of being alone on the road, ain’t nobody out there to listen! And when I find myself at the foot of the mountains, at the edge of quickly melting, heavy snow, I’ll be quietly humming and prepping for the journey ahead.