In a way it was fun to return to my normal life. It was fun because I was able to share my adventure with so many people that I came in contact with. Everyone has different questions about the ride. Was it hard? Was it fun? Did your butt hurt? Yes, Yes and Yes! It was odd to me that the first question most everyone asked me was, "how much weight did you lose?" I would just smile and tell them 20 pounds, and I did it eating everything and anything I wanted for 42 days. I am not sure why this was always the first question people ask me. Either they can see it in my face that I did drop some weight, or they look at me and think I should have lost more weight? If you have spent any time around the sport of cycling you would know that cyclist are very thin and light athletes. If you know me, you would know that I am not thin and not light. I like to think I am breaking the mold for cyclist all over the world!
But the question that I keep getting asked that makes me really scratch my head is "what did you learn on the trip?" or "what did you think about for all those hours on the bike?" They are hard questions to answer. Most of the time my mind just wandered. Some days there was so much to see and take in you were constantly observing, other days you would swear you were just riding on a trainer and the scenery was on a loop. But there were a few things that stood out to me while I was riding, and I will do the best to describe them to you. I will start with the most obvious and then on to the ones I am still processing.
"Damn good riding with you!" one of my favorite quotes from Young Guns. It is also how I feel about riding across the country with Shane and Shannon Stutzman. It was a heck of a ride. We experienced great days together, we experienced some of the hardest days imaginable together. But that was the beauty of it all we did this together, and made it across the United States one mile at a time. When you think about spending 6 weeks with a small group of people it can be kind of scary. Not only did we ride together everyday, we ate together, bunked in hotel rooms/cabins and church floors together. Even on rest days, we went out to eat and walked around small towns together. I don't know about you but at first glance that seems like way too much time to spend together! But I wouldn't trade these guys for nothing. We went in to this as good friends, and as far I am concerned they are like brothers to me now. We had amazing volunteers from coast to coast. Even after days and days together we would still laugh and tell jokes at dinner time.
It was abundantly clear to me that I love my family through and through. There wasn't a minute that went by that I didn't think about them in some way. It was amazing how many things I saw that reminded me of my wife, or when I rode by a park and would think how much fun my boys would have playing there. Sure we had all kinds of technology to keep in contact with. I would text my wife almost every morning and every evening. There weren't very many days that went by that I didn't speak to my wife on the phone. We would set up a skype date at least once a week. It really depended on where we were and if we had a good wi-fi connection. I spent time thinking of how I want to raise my boys to know things boys should know, like how to start a fire, and widdle a tree branch with a pocket knife, change the oil in a car, replace the brakes in the garage instead of taking the vehicle to a garage. It made me want to make sure my wife knew every single day that I loved her and that she was special to me. These things made me smile while I was riding my bike, and that, my freinds, is a good thing!
It's just not worth it! So many things, that we spend time chasing in life, are just not worth it! I am not talking about chasing your dreams and that sort of thing. I am referring more to material things that we find ourselves chasing. Or maybe it is a status? Or a certain amout of Facebook freinds or followers on Twitter. Those are the things that just aren't worth it.
Surprisingly I did spend time thinking about somethings that are worth it and it kept being reconfirmed as the trip went on. Relationships are worth it, that is what matters at the end of the day. Starting with my relationship with Jesus. If my relationship isn't right with him, I am only wasting time trying to do the rest on my own. As I mentioned above, my relationship with my wife and kids matter! My friends are worth it! Relationships are worth it. I heard a missionary from Ruwanda speak 3 months ago and his message was "invest in people" and I couldn't agree more. We need a community of people to support you when you are down, to celebrate with you when you are up. It is the way we were created to be, in community with each other. You never know when you are going to have an opportunity to be that person to someone in need. That is worth it, that is something I want to remebered for. Not that I was the guys that had this and that, what will that amounT to when its all said and done. Invest in people!
I wasn't sure what I would discover about myself on this trip, I thought I would discover what it is I am supposed to do with my life. Not sure why I thought that would become clear to me, maybe that is what I wanted out of it. But that is not what I learned about myself. I am still trying to process so much of it. So I am sorry to say I can't tell you what it is I will be doing for the rest of my life. What I can tell you is that I will be spending it with my family and make the best with whatever situation presents itself to us.
As for my cycling career! I am excited to see what happens next. We have been invited by The Davis Phinney Foundation, to participate in the Copper Triangle in the Colorado Rockies this coming August. What will happen after that I am not sure. I have been asked many times already if I would do it again. My first response is "Yes, on a motorcycle", and then my next response is that if I did pedal my way across the country again I would go from West to East so that I wasn't fighting the currents as much. But my answer would be yes, I would do it again for the right reason!
I am honored to be part of this and want to thank the Stutzman's for allowing me to join them on this adventure. The awareness and money we have raised for Parkinson's Disease is amazing. We don't plan on stopping either. You will hear from us again in the future. Just like our freinds and family with Parkinson's we just can't stop, we have to keep fighting.
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