TandemFamily Week 3-4: Ohio to Michigan
29 September 2019 Sunday
This morning we gorged ourselves at breakfast at the hotel. I think Hunter said he ate two English muffins, a bagel, two yogurt cups, a muffin, sausage and eggs, and perhaps even waffles. We then rode 2 miles to the church to attend the 10:30 meeting. I get hot when we bike to church, but today we were early enough that we could cool down and tidy up and go sit down to prepare for the meeting. Due to general conference next week, today was Fast Sunday in their ward, a fact we hadn’t considered while fueling up at breakfast this morning.
After sacrament meeting we watched the presentation regarding the new youth program. I think it will be great for the kids. It reminds me of how Steve Anderson recommended setting goals at New Year many years ago.
After church we had lunch on the lawn there, then started West. We’re trying to get to Alice Peterson’s house in Ceresco MI for general conference, so we opted not to layover today. From the church we went back north to the edge of the lake where there is a road that has a bike lane most of the time and decent pavement only some of the time. Ohio roads have really been terrible. Unlike most of our previous days, today we actually had a strong tailwind pushing us along. Perhaps the Lord wants to help us get to where we can enjoy conference with family. We rode 18 miles and stopped for a break. Tomorrow I fly back to Reno for meetings. We had hoped to stay at a warmshowers in the area, but struck out on 3 requests. The next campground was 18 miles further on, which was reasonable thanks to the tailwind. However, I fly back to Reno tomorrow and there is no Uber or taxi service near the campground so I decided to Uber to the airport from the park where we were resting rather than continue on with the kids. While we were gathering my thing and the items I’m taking back to Reno to leave there (a bulging duffle that will lighten our load considerably!) we heard screaming from the playground. Taylor was playing tag and hit his teeth on a bar, breaking off the edge of his two front teeth and leaving teeth marks in the metal. I didn’t see exposed dentin so I think he’ll be ok. He’ll probably be sore and sensitive for a few days, but hopefully the nerves will recover from the trauma. We’ll need to file down the sharp edges with an emery board and then put fillings on them when we return home.
It was strange watching the kids ride away without me!. They got a few sprinkles of rain before camp but nothing bad. Colleen said that when they had dinner Taylor winced if his spoon bumped his teeth and he was in quite a lot of pain. They were able to get set up before dark and before tonights rainstorm moved in. I had planned to sleep at the airport (I brought a pad and bag) but the land-side of the Cleveland airport is very small and I didn’t find anywhere I felt I would get any rest, so I got a hotel nearby.
Up to this point we’ve mostly been following the Adventure Cycling Association’s Northern Tier Route, but we’ll depart from that to go into Michigan. I’ve been exploring apps to find a good routing system and I think Komoot will work pretty well. Using that I planned out the route to Alice’s and sent Colleen my recommendations for where to sleep. They plan to ride about 35 miles each day and I’ll rejoin them on Wednesday night. I fly out of Cleveland and into Toledo, hopefully I can get an Uber from the airport to wherever they end up!
30 September 2019 Monday
Start: Firefly Beach Resort End: Fremont OH (Hotel stay)
Miles: 37.64
“My People Wear Plaid” — While walking through the SLC airport on a connection today I was intrigued by the great variety of people in our world. Some are fit, some are fat. Some are well-pressed and some are frumpy. Some wear shiny and pointy shoes, and others wear birkenstocks. It’s a bad thing to do, but we often judge people by their appearances. I have studied physical beauty in great depth, but I have always preferred natural beauty to augmented, made-up beauty. In my clinical practice I have resisted doing purely cosmetic clinical procedures for this reason. In the past year I started doing botox and fillers, which have tremendous benefits for many people, but I became dissatisfied when I was asked more and more frequently to provide enhancements for people who were naturally beautiful and were seeking “something more”, and so I drew away from cosmetic procedures.
As I watched the myriad of people passing through the airport these thoughts came to my mind again and I thought “Who are my people?” Where do I fit, where do I feel comfortable? I used to desire to be with the successful business crowd, traveling across the continent on “important business” while wearing fancy clothes and accessories. I thought that meant I was important or significant. In a previous stage I disliked such people, thinking they were prideful, selfish or worldly. Today I find myself in an entirely different camp. I don’t mind air travel, but it has no significance to me. It is a necessity, not a status symbol. And I don’t mind men and women who dress themselves up, but I see little value to our world in such expense or obsession. I feel more casual but tidy. Relaxed but productive. Goal oriented but grounded. So as I walked through the airport I wondered where I fit in, who are “my people”? Suddenly I saw a man walking toward me and I almost heard myself say aloud “My people wear plaid.” Plaid is hard working, it is industrious. It is casual and relaxed. It gets work done and plays just as hard. It is warm and friendly.
I found it very ironic two hours later when I walked into the office (wearing a white, blue and orange plaid Ex Officio shirt) and one of my employees saw me enter and said “welcome back, Mr. Lumberjack!” So yes, I guess it’s true that my people wear plaid.
While I was musing about fashion my family was laboring across Northern Ohio. Today they rode 37.64 miles.
1 October 2019 Tuesday
Start: Fremont OH End: Toledo OH (Warmshowers)
Miles: 34
Today I had a great meeting in Reno with the team. I am so blessed to have such great people to work with. While I was doing that Colleen and the kids were fighting their way along the roads. The roads were narrow with no shoulder and the traffic very inconsiderate. It was a very challenging day mentally and emotionally. Due to the bad riding conditions as they were approaching an underpass Colleen opted to ride on the sidewalk instead of risking safety riding through the narrow gap with the rushing traffic. Unfortunately as they accelerated down into the underpass she discovered the concrete was broken and heaved in every direction. She was able to slow and warn the two bikes behind her, but Hunter was out of earshot. As he sped into the tunnel he hit a muddy patch and his front wheel washed out, throwing him to the ground. He somehow managed to escape with only minor scrapes and bruises. He was riding the bike alone, and Colleen feels certain that if he had a stoker they would have ended up in the hospital. The bike sustained some damage, but Hunter was able to file the jagged spots smooth. At the warmshowers house they noticed the front wheel wouldn’t turn properly and the host was able to help Hunter true the front wheel and now it spins with only a minor catch on the disk brake. He truly had guardian angels protecting him!
Their warmshowers hosts Sarah and Howard were fantastic and they really connected with our family. They do not own a car, instead traveling by bike for everything they need.
2 October 2019 Wednesday
Start: Toledo, OH End: Blissfield MI, then shuttle to Ceresco MI
Miles: 23 miles
“Not so Macho” – I don’t know why, but most of my life I’ve felt like I need to do things the most pure or the most challenging way. If there are two trails up a mountain, I’ll choose the route that is less traveled or more difficult. If there is an Honors and a Regular class, I’ll always take the honors option. I have an innate desire to do something others can’t, like I’m trying to display how naturally gifted or talented I am, or how hard I am willing to work. Perhaps we all feel that way, at least to some degree or another. What is interesting to me is that there are so many people who do things so much better, faster, more elegantly than me, and I don’t pretend to be the best, not even to myself. However, I do compare myself with others inwardly. Everything is a contest to me. Which of us can bike up that technical climb without dabbing? Is my breathing the same as yours after you take the escalator and I take the stairs? Can I quickly solve a puzzle you’ve been working on for hours? Are my children more well behaved than yours? I haven’t eaten bread for nine months, when was the last time you did? I try to act casual, as if that makes it even more impressive
I know it’s not healthy, socially or spiritually. If I’m willing to actually put a name on it, it bears the ugly title of Pride, the callous moniker of egotism. It seeps into every corner of my life, tainting opportunities and spoiling relationships. It’s strange because I know it’s there, I can see it and I can taste it. I try to wash it clear, but it continually oozes from some dark crack in my character. It seems like a weakness I’ll never overcome; perhaps it’s only a part of this mortal experience, but I’m sure it came before and will last beyond my earthly sojourn. Over time I think it has tried to grow from a simple longing for excellence to a full-blown superiority complex. On the outside I try project humility and I genuinely want the best for those around me. But inside I fear it’s consuming me like a cancer. The strange thing is that there is no benefit to being “better” than others. So what if I can do something better than someone else, does that make me a better father or husband? Am I a better human or worth more in the eyes of God? Perhaps it is this exact struggle that prompted the two different reactions when the Lord asked, “Whom shall I send?”
Fortunately, I have matured as I’ve aged. Now I recognize the disease. I can see the cancer, even if I don’t know how to cure it; I can still fight it as it tries to force itself out through every aspect of my life. This cancer of pride has even shown itself in this bike tour. For some reason I feel like we need to do everything the hard way. We must camp, we must ride in the rain. Don’t walk your bike up the hill, bikes are meant to be ridden, not pushed! We need to prove how strong we are. But what’s silly about that idea is that what we do in one day is trivial compared to what many (most?) touring cyclists do. We ride slowly, on an easy route, doing short days in relatively favorable conditions. So why would we think what we’re doing is amazing? And on the flip side, we are LIVING ON OUR BICYCLES WITH SIX CHILDREN! I have never heard of anyone doing that! Some people ride their bike around the block and sleep on the trampoline in the back yard as an adventurous outing, so why would I ever compare our trip to solo cyclists or couples? Most importantly, why do I feel a need to compare at all?
Anyway, this prideful cancer has whispered in my ear that we need to bike every inch of our journey. It would be copping out to shuttle ahead on the route or cut it short. But that is ludicrous because we’re not following a route, we’re going wherever we want. There is no prize, no one will call us wimps or cheaters if we make changes. It is all in my head, a contest between my mind and my body and my children are caught in the middle. What’s really interesting is that I’m not alone in this feeling, I’ve spread my disease to those around me. On Monday I flew to Reno while the family continued on toward Michigan in an effort to arrive in time for General Conference. To do so they needed to ride about 35 miles each day. To my knowledge, most bike tourers do about 60 miles each day and 35 isn’t too difficult for us. However, we’ve had a few challenging days with wind and weather, and yesterday Hunter had a severe crash. Today I’m flying back to rejoin the family and bike remaining distance to Michigan. But Colleen called me and said she had decided to call her sister to come pick everyone up and shuttle them to her house rather than ride three more days. I support her decision and passed no judgement. So, I was surprised when Colleen said she felt like she was cheating or wimping out by not riding the whole way there.
This tour will teach us many things, and perhaps I’ll even make some progress giving up my macho addiction.
3 October 2019 Thursday
Colleen’s sister Alice is so kind. She brought their horse trailer over and picked up Colleen and the kids and shuttled them back to her house Wednesday night. They had to take the handlebars off a couple of bikes to get them to fit in the trailer, and Hunter rode in the trailer for the 90-minute drive to make sure everything stayed safe.
I flew into Toledo and rented a car, arriving at their home at 3am. The kids are excited to spend the next week or so here with cousins, the girls are especially excited because they also have horses!
4-8 October 2019 Friday – Tuesday
We have loved our time here with the Petersons. They are kind, gently, saintly people. We’ve spent our time reading books, playing games, and eating lots of food! The girls have had enjoyed spending time with horses again, and the boys have enjoyed having a whole basement for building forts and playing.
We also enjoyed participating in the annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We went to their chapel to watch the Saturday and Sunday meetings. It is certainly an exciting time to be a disciple of Christ and learning from today’s prophets and apostles strengthens my desire to become more like my Savior.
We decided since we had some time and we’d spent a lot of sweaty nights in our sleeping bags that we should wash our bags. Now that we’ve washed the delicate down bags and I’m trying to dry them I’m beginning to think we should have waited longer to wash them! They are very difficult to dry, each bag requiring about three hours in the dryer. Right now it is a gorgeous sunny day, so I have one bag in the dryer and the rest draped on the deck railing outside. I go out every hour and break up the down clumps as best I can, but I don’t feel like I’m making much progress. At least they’ll be clean for a good while ahead since the weather is cooling quickly and we won’t have sweaty nights.
We’ve been looking at the calendar and maps trying to decide what our next move is. Hunter and I are going to Banff Canada to attend the Adventure Filmmakers Workshop at the Banff Centre for 10 days at the end of the month. We’re unsure if Colleen and the kids will try and press forward without us during that time or if they’ll layover while we’re gone. So I plan to book Hunter and my tickets to fly out of Moline Illinois, but we don’t know where to fly back to. I guess we’ll book one-way tickets for now and decide in a couple weeks where to fly back to.
Alice has 8 ukulele’s that she uses to teach music at local schools, it’s been fun learning to play.
9-10 October 2019 Wed/Thursday
Alice and Brad have been trying to figure out what changes they need to make to have better horse housing for the winter. We couldn’t pass up the chance to help brainstorm ideas and help them get started, so we decided to stay here the remainder of the week. On Saturday they’re going to a regional barn dance 120 miles away on our route, so we’ll catch a ride to the dance with them and begin biking from St. Joseph, that way we won’t lose any time and we’ll (hopefully) stay ahead of winter.
This experience has given me new perspective on what early saints experienced as they journeyed across the continent. We traveled the exact same route as saints moving from Palmyra to Kirtland, and more or less the same route as saints traveling from Kirtland to points west, so we can relate much more closely to their accounts of the struggles they experienced along the way. This fall has brought some of the largest and earliest snow storms on record to the Rockies and Great Plains, and it makes me fear for an early winter. We had planned to bike south fast enough to stay ahead of cold and snow, but I fear we may be caught by winter. The leaves are changing rapidly and we had a sudden shift from hot, balmy weather to cold crisp nights with frost on the grass. I can only imagine the emotions my ancestors in the Willie and Martin handcart companies would have experienced as they trekked westward and saw similar signs and changes of the seasons. They were too far west to turn back and traveling as fast as they could. Like them, we’re traveling as fast as we can but experiencing the challenges of physical fatigue, unfriendly terrain and inclement weather. However, we have the advantage of being able to simply call a family member who will come pick us up and shuttle us through the bad weather, while all they could do was press forward with resolution and pray for divine support.
We spent Wednesday helping Alice plan out a new pasture and shelter with hay storage. This morning Alice borrowed their branch presidents tractor (identical to ours) and Hunter and I drilled and set fence posts all day. It was incredible to me to be able to use the tractor to simply drill down into the soil with no resistance. When we tried that in Nevada we broke our tractor and had to use a jackhammer on every single hole. The work we got done yesterday in 4 hours would have taken us 30 hours back home!
The girls have had a great time with the horses. They really do have a natural talent for working with animals!
11-12 October 2019, Friday-Saturday
Yesterday (Friday) it rained all day so we didn’t make any progress on the fence. Instead we went to the library for most of the day, much to the kids delight. They were sad when they had to leave the library because they couldn’t check out the books and take them with us as we move on.
Colleen spent the entire day downloading school curriculum. It is amazing how much content the kids can learn in one year! We didn’t get everything downloaded before the library closed, so after dinner Colleen and I went to the church building and sat outside and downloaded the rest of the files she needed through the church’s wifi (it was faster than the library).
Today the weather is cold (37F) and clear, so hopefully we’ll be able to finish getting the fence posts set. Tonight there is a tri-stake barn dance about two hours away, and it happens to be on our planned route so we’ll shuttle the bikes in the horse trailer and camp somewhere near the dance. That will cut three days off our ride and allow the kids to attend the dance with their cousins.
I think were going to be racing winter as we head south. We’re later than planned and winter seems to be coming earlier than expected. I don’t think cold will be a problem for us, only bad weather, so hopefully we can stay ahead of that.