Caveman cycling for Earth

After my sojourn into the Ocala National Forest, I gratefully got back in the saddle and pedalled, free & easy, down Hwy.19, which goes through the same palm savannahs I’d walked the day before, cutting through the middle of the immense forest. It was an interesting change in perspective – the wilderness looks different from the roadside; less dangerous, less foreboding, but also less mystical. Just less. True nature can only be seen from the inside. (more…)

I sat there, in front of a small campfire just off the road in Northern Florida, beating the crap out of myself mentally. I seared my eyes in that fire, as darkness pressed in on all sides. (more…)

SOUTH CAROLINA
In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina(a super affluent area), I was sitting outside the public library having lunch, when a grey-haired woman in running spandex stopped to talk. She asked the usual questions about my bike tour, and then asked one I’d never heard before: “How are you doing physically?” (more…)

VIRGINIA BEACH and CAROLINA
It was like leaving home, after eight weeks in Norfolk. I stayed up late packing, organizing, and staring groggily at internet maps. In the morning I stumbled to Fair Grounds for one last momentous cup of joe, and to meet my good friend Berry one momentous last time. I gave Diana, my barrista, a goodbye hug and gave her a collage I had made, and Berry and I took some photos for posterity. He gave me an apple, and orange, a crystal(”Bury it in the ground for three days, to attune it to yourself. You’ll know what it’s for then.”), and a copy of Khalil Gibran’s “The Prophet,” complete with an uplifting personal dedication. No rough goodbyes there; Berry’s nothing but solid.
I got all the gear together, and Cheryl helped me carry it downstairs to my awaiting steed. Nathan was asleep but I woke him up to shake his hand. I hugged Jason goodbye, but I missed saying goodbye to crazy Mark Loi, the most chauvinist feminist I’ve ever met. Must’ve taken his hangover to his army job at the crack of dawn, as usual. (more…)