Day 34 Gee Brief The Art of Compromise

July 24th

22 miles west of Lovell, WY to Columbus, MT

Recap: On Day 32, I ended my ride 22 miles before we had actually planned to end it. J met me at our predetermined spot and we said goodbye to the mountain and headed off to Lovell for a day of rest.

Remember the mountain?

Sunrise in Lovell, WY

More sunrise in Lovell,WY

After our day of rest, we got up early, J drove me to the spot where she had picked me up and I cycled a bunch of miles to Columbus. The wind helped me out at first, but then turned against me int the last 30 miles. But that's not what I want to talk about.

I want to talk about my wife. This trip has been on my bucket list long before her and I were married. However, once her and I united, I began the long and fulfilling process of living my life for more than just MYSELF.

Being single for so long, the idea of being truly accountable to another human being for my actions has not always been one that I've been particularly good at. But J made me WANT to be good at it. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I'm some sort of expert at the give and take of marriage, but I am truly enjoying this cycling adventure and of course, my life itself to a much deeper level because of J's participation in it.

Being inside this blog, and this marriage, I'm not sure exactly how we are coming off to the outside world...1) deeply in love? 2)glad we finally found our soul mates? 3)always in agreement???

Well I'm hoping that 1 and 2 are apparent, because to us, they are true. And if you're thinking that 3 is also correct, then that's very sweet of you think that but ....NO.

Day 34 was one of those none-agreement days. The pain and agony she had gone through in those ours of waiting for me to come down off that mountain.....

Remember the mountain?

 ....was still fresh in her head. She had assumed that I would count my 30 mile wrong turn into the Wyoming "mud flats" toward my forward progress. She felt it would be fair to just start from Lovell and move on.

That is of course, NOT the way I saw it. My intent, from the beginning was to travel from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon that could be traced, if one was so inclined, in a single continuous line. To me, using her logic, I could have counted all the miles of training that I put in just before the ride and call it even by starting in Pennsylvania!

We went back and forth about this and went to bed with the issue still up in the air. The next morning while getting gas for the truck, I told her that I still wanted her to take me back to where we left off and start there. I was greeted with the reaction you see below.


She was still thinking about the harrowing drive she had experienced while driving down the mountain...

Remember the mountain?

I told her that the mountain was BEHIND us and that since the 22 miles from the mountain to Lovell was mostly downhill, I'd be through it very quickly.

Down hill to Lovell from the mountain.

 We again went back and forth about it, and in silence she drove me up to the point that I requested. All the while she just kept staring up at the mountain

Remember the mountain?

I need to take a line here from Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets. Actually, it's more of an idea, I can't remember the exact line. But it goes like this. My wife is the kind of woman, that, if you can make her smile, you have a LIFE.

So, on the way up, I kept trying to make her smile, but she just kept thinking about the mountain (no, I'm not gonna put another mountain pic in, I'm sure you remember it), but the best smile I could get was something like this:

That of course exactly what I was looking for.

I did eventually get her to smile, but unfortunately did not get a picture of her. But I do have one of my other many favorite pictures here:

The point is, on this particular day and on every day, I was and am grateful for having J in my life. I know we don't always see eye to eye on things, but we will ALWAYS be there for each other. There is a song that we played for our wedding dance that pretty much sums up the type of feeling we have for each other. Do you remember how J and I both said that the pictures we're taking do not completely convey the sense of being there? Well, the video link below shows a version of our wedding dance song that COMPLETELY expresses everything I'm trying to say here.

So please, call someone that you love dearly into the room click on the link and share this moment with them. Hopefully it'll help you remember what's REALLY important in life.

Watch with someone you love.

If you liked this video, here's where you can check out more songs by the same group.

More videos from the same group.

Please make it your job to have an AWESOME life!!!