An Opportunity Appears

The email landed in my inbox on August 8th.

"Thank you for your interest in our Southern Tier Fall - Van tour, which is scheduled to depart on September 24, 2022. We are excited to let you know that space has opened up on this tour, and we are able to offer you a spot. If you are still interested in joining this tour, please accept your spot by Thursday August 11, 2022 at 12:00 PM Mountain Time."

I stared at it, not sure it was real. I'd long since decided this was not a ride I was going to do; and yet, here was an opportunity to participate in a second item on my bucket list. I sat on it for two days, ignoring it.

But it wouldn't be ignored and so I started talking about it to my husband Greg and my brother Tad. They were excited for me, as was Joanne, my best friend of 40+ years. I started to think maybe it was within the realm of possibility.

I recalled how I felt when I signed up in February for the waitlist. I'd grown tired of letting fear of failure limit my opportunities and experiences. My MO was usually to make sure I was perfectly prepared for every situation, a limiting mindset and one I wanted to change. I stepped out of my comfort zone and called Melinda at Adventure Cycling for more info.

That call made the excitement grow, and by the 12th I had pulled the trigger and began what would be a regular slurping sound coming from my checking account! But no matter, you can't take it with you.

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Day 57- Palatka FL

We are at the Quality Inn in Palatka on the last night of our tour. Dinner was at the Azalea brewery and awards were given out to all participants — tongue-in-cheek, of course. They were as follows, and as memory serves: Most likely to deliver an impromptu dissertation: Carl Most likely to speak up and be right: Kelly Most likely to build a bike on the side of the road: Adam Most likely to cry at the ceremony: Jack Most likely to bribe her way to being the favorite: in Most likely to bribe her way to being the favorite: in Most likely to use shit in a sentence: Terry Most likely to ask or something is when it’s right in front of them: Sue Most likely to ask or some thing is when it’s right in front of them: Sue Most likely to burn the house down if coffee is not ready: met Most likely to stop a stranger and ask questions: me It was not the raucous affair I think we all had hoped for, mostly because we are all a bit introspective and conflicted as the tour comes to an e...

Day 33 Smithville Texas 53 miles

If you had asked me at the beginning of the trip which state would have had the steepest climbs, I would not have guessed Texas; however, that seems to be the case. Today I felt right at home. We had our map meeting this morning at breakfast and all seemed doable. I did one last check with the front desk to see if my absentee ballot had caught up with me. It had not. Greg, your vote will not be canceled by me this year! We headed out through sidestreets to leave Austin, a city I can highly recommend. We traveled bike lanes and bike paths out to some rural roads. Of course we had to stop for second breakfast burritos! We were riding in a group of about six when we came up on a stretch of road that had house after house with loose dogs. All of them ran at us. We must’ve made a crazy sounding group. Some of us hollered. Some blasted air horns. Several of us have “dog dazers“ which is a little clicker device that is supposed to repel dogs. I’m not sure how well it really w...

Day 53- Perry FL

We had a very windy night which made for a great sleeping. I set an alarm for 1:00 AM so I could see the Artemis unmanned moon rocket launch, but when I got up I found it had been pushed back and well, 70 miles, so I chose sleep over history. It was gray when we got up, and gray as we headed out. And chilly! I wished I’d opted for leggings over my shorts but was happy to have gloves. Small victories.The temp said it was almost 60 – my body threw the BS flag. I was cold all day. Not much to say about this ride. We had a 20 mile bike path that took us off route 98 for a while. We met another Bike traveler named Tony who had been on the road since June 26. He started in Connecticut and rode to Indianapolis, then back towards Pittsburgh where he rode the trails to DC. He then went to Key West and is now on his way to New Orleans. We asked questions about his gear (there wasn’t much!) and traded a few stories and wished each other well. We got off the trail and crossed the St Mar...

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