Day 36 Gee Brief: The Un-examined ride is not worth riding....

July 26th - Preview of posts to come....
Day of reflection in Bozeman, MT

Socrates said it first when he said "The unexamined life is not worth living." Another author, I think it was Auden, talked about living verses reading. He said, something to the effect of, "If you read too much, then you're missing out on living your life, but if you live too much, without reading and reflecting, then you're missing out on what it means to be fully human." And lastly there is my nephew Dusty, the "manimal". Before I left, he reminded me to make sure and take time to smell the roses.

What I'm getting at is, lately I've been spending the majority of my time just RIDING MY BIKE. I've had all these wonderful, creative thoughts on my mind while riding, but no time to ever jot them down. No time to reflect and relish in this "Cycling Dream Come True".  Remember that add for Planet Fitness? "I lift things up and put them down."? Well lately, I feel my mantra has been, " I go up hills and then go down." (said with a Schwarzenegger accent)

So I asked the road boss for a break. Not a physical break, but a mental one. I mean, we're more than two thirds of the way through our trip. I SWEAR I can smell the ocean already, and I've fallen behind several days in my reflection. One of the days, Day 32 was a highly traumatic one for both J and I. As of yet, I haven't had a single moment to tell you the story from my side; the story that completes the experience we are BOTH going through. (I'm so grateful to have her to share my life with!)

I want to learn from this experience... I want to fully LIVE it, and for me that means writing about it.  I had an AMAZING trip many years ago from Florida to Rhode Island, and there is very little that I recorded or recall from it. I don't want to repeat that loss.  So tonight and much of tomorrow, I will be catching up with the sights, sounds, smells and experiences that were important to me. Stay tuned....I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed DOING it and then reflecting on it!