We woke this morning to torrential rain replete with thunder and lighting and promptly rolled over and went back to sleep. An hour later, the skies had cleared, the sun was out and we proceeded to bike 76 glorious miles, mainly on beautiful bike paths, to St. Augustine and finally the Atlantic Ocean. God and Mother Nature smiled on us [...]
"Inside each of us there's a river - placid and contained sometimes, but raging and overflowing its banks at others. There's a lot to navigate." -Marc Brackett, Permission to Feel The birds seem to sing more loudly these days. So, too, are emotions "singing" more prominently. I wonder how much is actually heightened and how much is the time and [...]
“When you look at a tree in a storm, you see that the top of the tree is very unstable and vulnerable. The wind can break the smaller branches at any time. But when you look down to the trunk of the tree, you have a different impression. You see that the tree is very solid and still, and you [...]
"Mindfulness has two functions. The first is to get in touch with the wonderful and beautiful things all around us. The second is to get in touch with the difficult emotions, like anger, fear, pain and sorrow inside and around us. Mindfulness can help us recognize and embrace these difficulties and transform them. Not only is paradise available in the [...]
Kenneth Eugene Johnson, 'Grandpa Johnson,' died of squamous cell lung cancer 206 days after his diagnosis. He grew up on a farm in Iowa plowing the land. He was a Navy man for 30 years. Later in life he spent his time serving as a great scout master and helping to raise all of his grandchildren right until he passed.
We were thrilled to have son David join for day 40 of our ride--100 hot, humid miles from Perry to east of Gainesville, Fla, surrounded on all sides by beautiful yellow wild flowers--a floral yellow brick road. The number 40 is significant in many religious traditions. It represents a long period of time and is often associated with periods of [...]
Oliver was born September 21, 1901, in New Haven, Ct., and died April 26, 1959. A proud graduate of Andover and Yale, Oliver had a successful career as an insurance industry executive, first in New York City and later in Jacksonville, Florida. He and his wife Alice Heath, of Evanston, Illinois lived most of their adult lives at 2 Steven [...]
We rode 80 hot, humid and occasionally stormy miles today through Tallahassee to Perry, FL and though we are feeling the miles we are also experiencing a second wind. Second wind is a phenomenon in endurance sports whereby an athlete who is too tired to continue finds the strength to press on. It also accounts for extreme intellectual and creative [...]
We rode another 100 miles today leaving the beach behind and heading inland towards Tallahassee to cross into the eastern time zone at the Apalachicola River. The pavement was smooth, the scenery green punctuated with white magnolia blossoms, and the wind quiet. I wore two jerseys today, my BikeBreatheBelieve and John Matthews’ Ride Hard Breathe Easy jersey. John created the [...]
We rode 84 miles today into a very heavy headwind, crossing into Florida this morning southwest of Pensacola on Perdido Key. We ended the day in Miramar Beach and somewhere in the middle we became separated from our support vehicle. I’m not riding with a bike computer, my phone or any other technology, so I’m never quite sure where I [...]
On behalf of the Crawford family, I would like to submit a dedication for mother and daughter, Wilta and Carla. Our family was shocked when Carla was diagnosed with end-stage lung cancer at 42. Carla never smoked a day in her life. Carla's mother, Wilta, watched and cared for her tirelessly from the start of treatment until Carla passed away [...]
We rode about 90 miles today, crossing into Alabama at Pascagoula and crossing the mouth of Mobile Bay via the Mobile Ferry from Daphin Island. A beautiful, flat, windy ride with seagulls and pelicans leading the way. Actually, David led the way, and for the first half of the ride I rode frenetically to keep up with him. Maybe he’s [...]
Now I understand that there are two melodies playing, one below the other, one easier to hear, the other lower, steady, perhaps more faithful for being less heard yet always present. When all the other things seem lively and read, this one fades. Yet the notes of it touch as gently as fingertips, as the sound of the names laid [...]
Bruce lived life to the fullest. His family always came first but his friends were like family. He battled his lung cancer with strength and hope. He had surgery to remove most of one of his lungs only to discover the cancer was in the lymph node behind the lung. As there was no targeted treatment for his type of [...]
A few days ago a friend asked me if I had made my peace with the wind that has plagued our journey since day 1. We rode 124 miles today from New Roads to Bogalusa with the wind very aggressively moving us either sideways or backwards so I had plenty of time to contemplate that question and my relationship with [...]
"I go among trees and sit still. All my stirring becomes quiet around me like circles on water. My tasks lie in their places where I left them, asleep like cattle. "Then what is afraid of me comes and lives a while in my sight. What it fears in me leaves me, and the fear of me leaves it. It [...]
The weather forecast for today was for rain, hail, tornadoes and damaging winds, but by late afternoon all had subsided and we were able to ride about 30 miles with only a ridiculously strong headwind to contend with. The bulk of our day was actually spent more pleasantly celebrating Easter, the most important and oldest festival of the Christian Church. [...]
We biked a glorious 100 miles today continuing our journey east through Acadiana, that part of Louisiana consisting of 22 parishes that was historically home to the state’s Francophone population, les Acadiens or Cajuns. And so today’s blog pays tribute to one of the most unique cultures in the United States—Cajun culture. Cajun refers to the French people who settled [...]
"A practice of gratitude is not about dismissing sadness, anger, fear, or confusion. Rather, it offers us the opportunity to see that we often experience multiple feelings at once; to welcome joy into the same places where we hold grief; to turn our attention to what is quietly growing and breathing day by day, which, to our possible surprise, includes [...]
“Once in a while we stopped sprinting and just stared at what there was all around us... the tender next minute waiting for us to emerge.” -Brian Doyle
"If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath." -Amit Ray Soon after reading the first mindfulness post and making the transition to his home office, my husband told me he started "LISTENING" to his breath when he sat down at his desk in the morning and also scattered throughout his workday. [...]
No matter what your age, or how many years you have self-identified as a parent, when you are with your parents, in their home - the home you grew up in - you find yourself on the other end of the parent-child dynamic. My parents were, of course, very excited that my bike trip brought me home, but throughout this [...]
As I rest and recover in my parents’ home in Crowley, Louisiana I am surrounded by indicators that Easter is right around the corner and reminded that Christians all over the world are currently experiencing Lent, a special 40 day period of reflection, fasting and penance in preparation for Easter. Today I would like to offer a special practice for [...]
“When you cease to fear your solitude, a new creativity awakens in you. Your forgotten or neglected wealth begins to reveal itself. You come home to yourself and learn to rest within. Thoughts are our inner senses. Infused with silence and solitude, they bring out the mystery of inner landscape.” ― John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
Today was the most special day of our ride so far! My sister Elise and her husband Kohlie joined us as we cycled 92 miles through Southwest Louisiana on country roads towards my home town of Crowley. It was a very emotional experience for me, as coming home always is. Though I’ve spent more of my life outside of Louisiana [...]
"We can think our way out of feeling fear, but the price tag is that disconnection from ourselves leads to disconnection from those we love. When we turn away from fear we turn away from the deep and precious parts of ourselves... What if we spend this time learning to be with uncertainty and fear, learning to reach for each [...]
We biked 85 miles today, right out of the great state of Texas where we spent the past 16 days—more days than it took us to cross California, Arizona and New Mexico combined. When David was briefing the team on our route early on he said we would take a week to get from San Diego to Phoenix and another [...]
"Whether we are six or sixty, we can forge a new brain pathway that goes beyond former dead ends... let us join with children to imagine and wonder, to use curiosity as the guide to miracles in plain sight. Let us enter with them into wild wonder..." -Amy Tan In the essay "The Life Within" published recently in Orion magazine, [...]
The best word to describe today’s ride is bumpy. Yes it was flat, mostly dry and pleasant, but overwhelmingly bumpy. Imagine riding 60+ miles on a rumble strip and you’ll have a good sense of 3/4s of our day. I found myself looking across to the other side of the road, and down cross roads and imaging that if we [...]
Yesterday Isabella wrote, "Good and bad are just labels that individuals choose to put on their personal experience." I've been thinking something similar as I walk around town these days, Witherspoon Street in particular. For those of you local to our area, you might recall the precise time each spring that Witherspoon Street bursts into gorgeous snowy bloom while also [...]
