SPOKIN' HOME - A YEAR OF ADVENTURE

We love to travel and especially to visit our family in Denver. Four years ago we had the crazy idea to ride our bikes home from Denver, approximately 1550 miles. Over a period of several months we told many people about our idea - the idea began to turn into a plan and before we knew it we had told enough people that we were going to do and couldn't turn back!

So over a period of four months we started seriously working towards doing this. There were some ups and downs and we certainly were not in the condition that we hoped to be by our start date. We started by doing biking on stationary bikes at the LifePlex in Plymouth, IN. We have had some good hours on the bike and were able to watch a few movies on their projection system while biking. It is great to have such a nice facility. I admit that watching Julie and Julia, instead of the 2008 Ironman is a little different workout, but it has been fun.

We had a great ride for 1,000 mile and then we had a little mishap. If you read through our blog Stick with our blog you can read more about that cycling experience and other adventure for that year.

Now we are four years down the road. Many good things have happened to our family during those years. On May 28, 2014 we will return to our last riding point, get on our bikes again and finish the last 500+ miles. Join us as we continue our adventure.




Sunday, June 8, 2014

What a Great Feeling!

Final calculations with a few corrections
Today 55.7 miles
This trip (corrected) 553.26
From Denver to Plymouth by bike 1553.26

That's it we are home!





Well, I can't just leave it there. I do have a few closing comments from the day and thoughts. 
We woke up early today and left around 6:30. We really wanted to get our first 15 miles in to make it to Kouts in time for church.  We were a little late, but not much. When we left Lowell it was cool, not raining, but a very strong wind coming from the North/Northwest. That was fine because our day was predominately East.  We started out on IN 2 going East, but I knew that shortly we had to go North a ways to get in IN 8. I had planned to take the first road headed North. When I turned I knew we were in trouble.  It was immediately like riding uphill in a very high gear. The wind was ferocious. I could see an East/West road not far ahead. I wasn't sure what it was but I knew we were taking it when we got to it. As I was riding ahead of Mary Kay she was shouting, "Let's go back to the highway." I couldn't even hear her the wind was blowing so hard. We made it to the next road and thankfully it was the one I was hoping to get to. We gathered ourselves together and headed for church. After that first 3/4 of a mile it turned into a nice Sunday morning ride to church. 

After church we were talking to some of the parishioners about the next part of our trip to Knox on IN 8. It looked busy with very little paved berm. There advice was riding up to US30 and taking it. That wouldn't be my first choice but it probably would have been better than "8." We asked how far it was. The answer was, "Only about 6 miles." We'll let me tell you 6 miles may not seem like much, but when you are riding a bike 40 to 50 miles another 6 is not what you want to hear. Then I also thought that all 6 of the miles would be into that headwind. I think I would have heard Mary Kay this time if I had chosen that route:). So back to plan one and go to Knox on IN 8. Parts of it were exciting, but we were careful. This does bring to mind a text message that our daughter Liz sent to us after we inadvertently had gotten ourselves on Interstate 55 for three miles in Illinois. Anyone knowing Mary Kay will know how true Liz's comment was. She simply said, "mom would be driving down to pick us up or follow right behind if this were reversed."  Oh how true that would be. This is one of those times as parents you might be saying do as we say not as we do.

A quick refreshment break in Knox and back on our final leg. Knox to 17 had its interesting parts, but we held our breath, said a few prayers and made it home earlier than expected. Many family members were surprised when they heard me yelling a celebratory Woo Hoo as we road up the road, grand kids and kids ran out to greet us with smiles, squeals, hugs, and kisses. IT IS GREAT TO BE HOME!

Mark Kay and I were talking about how we felt now that this is done. As we think back to our decision to do this in the beginning and our decision to go back and finish we remember several things. We started this idea without ever having ridden our bike further than to Culver and back for a Cafe Max breakfast. Here we are not extremely old,  but both in our mid sixties.  Our thoughts are this is amazing. Not that we think we are amazing, but just that this is not an easy task mentally or physically. If we can do this many people can face obstacles that may be in your way or dreams that you mat have. We have found that it is great to have someone you love by your side. It makes the good times better and the tough times more bearable. I know we found solace and help in our faith. Praying for others as well as ourselves made some of those tough times easier. 

We also began the ride with trying to spread the thought - Do something for others, today! We wanted to do that through example and encouragement to those around us. Since that beginning we have added a few other thoughts to our list:

Do something for others, today!  (Don't wait until tomorrow, too many days without doing something good can take place.)

Be kind!  (We all need to do more of this today. We especially need to show kids how to be kind)

Have an impact and make a difference! (Make sure it is positive)

We leave you with this story of our experience, our reflections and thoughts, and encourage you to live your life - live your dreams!

Peace, Prayers, and Thanks,

Mary Kay and Jack





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