This is by no means a movie review or synopsis. Really, it’s just an excuse for me to write more about my feelings around technology. But, just so you have a little more context, here’s the movie’s IMDB description:

A "Man From the Future" arrives at a diner in Los Angeles where he must recruit the precise combination of disgruntled patrons to join him on a one-night quest to save the world from the terminal threat of a rogue artificial intelligence.

Well, I don’t know how much that helps. Essentially, it pokes fun at our exponentially growing dependence/infatuation/addiction to technology. Funny enough, one of the main characters is allergic to cell phones and wifi, just like a woman on the greyhound explained to me that they give her cancer. And despite me repeatedly experiencing improvements in pretty much all aspects of my life when I forego technology, I always seem to end up back with together with her. I say “her” because it really does play out like getting back with a toxic ex-girlfriend (an experience I’ve fortunately avoided thus far in my life, but I imagine its like this). I’ve spent ten days disconnected from all technology at a meditation retreat, 12 hours offline during my 12-hour walk, full days with my phone shut off, and several nights in the backcountry with no service. All of these experiences have left me feeling happier, healthier, lighter, and more human. But just about as soon as they end, I look like this:

No matter how confident I feel that I can use technology (social media, mostly) in effective moderation, I always seem to slip into an unhealthy relationship. She promises me connection, fun, comfort, and convenience, and I promise it’ll be different this time. It might be for a little bit, and she holds up her end of the deal. Technology and social media are fun, they do help me feel connected. But there is a cost. There are many costs. Most of which are subtle and hard to notice as they slowly degrade my humanness. Less time outside. Less time sharing physical space with other humans. Less time expanding my knowledge. Less time thinking for myself. Less time really relaxing. More time distracted. More time frustrated. More time bored, but numb. I feel these things all the time but manage to ignore them, or justify continued use for one reason or another.

I would like to believe there is a happy balance. But I have yet to find it. I am constantly grateful for the way technology helps me stay in touch with friends all over the world. I like that I can share things here on substack, and even on instagram and facebook. I also started using a super cool platform called polarsteps (which feels like a nice alternative form of social media) to document my latest adventure to the Pacific Northwest. And lately I’ve actually learned some valuable things after spending embarrassingly long stretches of time scrolling on instagram. But all the while, I know deep down that its a net negative for me. Perhaps not technology as a whole, but when social media and internet access are mere seconds away — so convenient and familiar that I don’t even have to think to open the desired app — it feels profoundly wrong.

I know its wrong because just now when I had the thought to type “I’m going to delete instagram and facebook for a while” I felt my heart rate jump a tiny bit. These things are so intoxicating that I have a noticeable, physical reaction to the thought of being without them. And the crazy thing is, I don’t even use them that much! My use has spiked up lately, but it’s nowhere near what it was five or six years ago. I’m just grateful I managed to break away from it back then when I was so entrenched in that world.

Technology is here to stay. It’s a huge part of our world. As is social media. And now AI (by the way, I’ve never purposefully used AI and I’m definitely not a fan of the big data centers and their land/water use, but their environmental impact is basically nothing relative to what is consumed by animal agriculture… just saying). I don’t know if I’ll ever live completely without modern technology (maybe someday!) but I constantly want a healthier relationship with her. I need clearer boundaries and more intentional quality time together. Like writing this post. I feel great about using technology for this… but even this feels slightly off. I sometimes imagine myself doing my all my writing with pen and paper, then going to a library to type it all up and post. But for now, baby steps. My good friend Claire (she’s biking in Quebec right now like I was this time last year!) deletes and redownloads instagram regularly. She uses it as a tool, then puts it away for a while until she needs it again. That’s how I’d like to use these apps as well. Because I enjoy sharing photos and ideas. I don’t enjoy being guilted into spending another night in instead of hanging out with my friends (this actually did happen to me once in a real relationship… was a great learning experience!).

Neither of my 2026 resolutions have panned out thus far. My plan to have one tech-free day every week has been an utter failure. But there are 20+ weeks left in the year, plenty of time to enjoy peace and distance from my devices. I’m not prepared to make another public plan for reducing my technology use — this doesn’t seem to be an effective strategy for me. But I will make a private one and maybe share how it’s going in a couple of months. Now it feels like I’m at the part of the article where I ask you to consider your own technology use or urge you to join me, but I’m no longer interested in giving people advice they didn’t ask for. We’re all living unique lives with our own interests, beliefs, and goals. We have to come to our own conclusions based on our own experiences. This is just me sharing where I am, right this moment.

But really, here are just some of the reasons why I took the bus :)

For the rays of sunshine piercing through the clouds to warm the Badlands out my window.

For the hawks soaring above the open fields, looking and listening for prey. And the songbirds chasing them away despite their small size.

For the 40 year old man returning to his reservation in South Dakota for the first time since childhood where he’ll claim his land and build a new life.

For the flowers blooming in the ditches.

For the cows, goats, and donkeys pruning their gardens.

For the inner peace — a reward (I think) for the extended stillness.

For the minor chaos — passengers shouting at the driver and strangers bustling into me, telling me, “move white boy!” Even the dingy bus stations, soiled bathrooms, smell of smoke, and gas station rest stops.

For the clouds, hanging magically above the South Dakota plains.

For all the “WALL DRUG” billboards advertising who knows what.

For the sudden descent into a valley and the rolling hills that look like they’d be home to jackelopes.

For the love of nature it re-ignites in me.

For all the scenes photos will never do justice.

For the service dog who traveled every mile with me.

For the wonderment I feel looking at a pond surrounded by trees in the middle of a field. Who lives there? Do they spend their whole lives there? Or maybe they’re part-time residents?

For the Red Wing Blackbirds that I can always count on to appear wherever I am to remind me of home.

For all the Sinclair dinosaurs.

For the imagination it inspires — I’m looking at all this wide open land, picturing buffalos grazing and roaming wild.

But the amazing thing is, this is real life. These are real people. Real places.

For the fluttering in my heart as I realize the adventure has only just begun.

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My motivation to choose train or bus travel over plane travel began with the intent to lessen my personal impacts on the Earth. But now that I have experience biking across the US, taking the train from MD to CO and back to NY, biking to and around Quebec, and now bussing from Baltimore to Portland, it’s so much more. With each “climate-friendly” choice, I was inspired to choose another. Because not only have these experiences been okay, they’ve been incredible adventures that I wouldn’t dream of living without. There has been no sacrifice involved. Speed is simply traded for experiences and views. Just like experiences and views are traded for speed on a plane. Each option has its merits. Air travel is an unbelievable achievement and is honestly super cool. But it hurts the Earth and people more than other modes of transport (not that the bus is harm-free by any means!). Plus, I really like to watch this beautiful country  pass by.

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Before I get into it, you can donate to the fundraiser here. Also, if you’d like to skip the middle man (me) and dive into the details of the fund yourself, click this link. If you’re interested in my perspective, keep reading :)

Many of you know that for last few years I’ve dedicated much of my time to learning about the food system and improve the lives of farmed animals. While in college I got a glimpse behind the curtain that hides the reality of animal farming from most of us and, for better or worse, will never be able to unsee that reality. I learned that the majority of meat and other animal products come from factory farms which devour natural resources and literally torture animals. I realized that commercial fishing means producing 200 million tonnes of fish (some wild caught, some farmed) every year. That’s 440,800,000,000 (440.8 billion) pounds… I discovered that humans and “livestock” makeup the vast majority of the entire globe’s biomass. In a nutshell, I learned way too much to continue living and consuming as I had been.

So I decided to change the way I lived and consumed! And I continue to adjust the way that I live and consume because I’m driven by impact, not labels or trends.

Who is being affected by my decisions? Can I affect them less? Can I have a positive affect on them? How can I improve?

Fundraising for the Effective Altruism Animal Welfare Fund means giving valuable resources to a group asking these same questions and, importantly, acting on them at a much much larger scale than I could ever do on my own. I value my own individual actions very much, and I also know that they are just mine. To extend my impact, I need to help change systems and help other individuals live in accordance with their values. Living with integrity and sharing about my life from time to time handles the latter. Donating to and fundraising for organizations that do amazing work tackles the former (I hope to also work within these systems and impact them that way).

Donating to the Animal Welfare Fund supports their research and allows them to then distribute the pooled funds from all of us and many many others around the world to other organizations working to improve the lives of animals. I could have fundraised for a local animal shelter or PETA or any other animal group, but I chose AWF because of their focus on high-impact opportunities. They work with organizations helping end the most severe forms of suffering for the most amount of animals at the lowest cost.

I often see the argument that this strategy lacks emotion and addresses charity wrong. It is too focused on the head and not enough on the heart. I feel this too. Sometimes it feels too analytical. And how can you even decide what animals are suffering most? But I believe in the folks working at AWF and other similar organizations. They dedicate their lives to understanding animal welfare. And if we can help more animals with less resources, shouldn’t we?

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Don’t forget to tune in on facebook or instagram tomorrow as I attempt 2,600 reps! I decided to adjust my goal from 2,600 push-ups to 2,600 reps of a variety of exercises. I don’t know exactly how I’ll break it down yet, but you’ll see tomorrow! I’m still shooting for a lot of push-ups, but I just know that 2,600 would be too much for me right now.

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Do you have any questions or thoughts on this subject? I’d love to hear them!

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I have much more to say about this topic and my goals related to it, but for now, here’s what I wrote on my fundraiser page:

Four years ago, I decided to stop eating animal products. I had my eyes opened to the realities of our food system and decided that I did not want to continue to support an industry that unnecessarily harms animals. In these past four years I’ve taken several different stances on this issue, including some that I no longer agree with at all. I’m so happy to know now that being vegan is not a prerequisite for helping animals in the food system. So, regardless of your eating habits, this fundraiser is for you!

I would love for you to join me in raising funds for the Effective Altruism Animal Welfare Fund (AWF). Humans have made some incredible advancements to increase the quantity and rate of producing animals (and animal products like eggs and milk) for food. These advancements have helped feed an ever-growing population, but have serious, often unseen costs that we cannot afford to ignore. The AWF enables us as individuals to contribute to a shared fund which means the money we raise will be added to a pool which can be used to support small- and large-scale interventions. One of their key long-term objectives that resonates strongest with me is to end the confinement of egg-laying hens globally. It is estimated that there are 8.3 billion (yes, with a B) egg-laying hens in the world, 3.5 billion of them living in cages. These are typically “battery cages” -- just 65 square inches (for reference, a standard piece of computer paper in the US is 96 square inches), providing them far less space than they need to perform basic life-functions like preen their feathers, flap their wings, or even stand up. Cage-free systems are far from perfect, but they significantly reduce the pain experienced by hens and allow for more natural behaviors. Though I hope to see much greater improvements for the living conditions of egg-laying hens, transitioning to cage-free is a critical first step that meaningfully reduces suffering. If you eat eggs, I recommend looking for pasture-raised for the highest quality egg and highest quality of life for the hen.

I’m excited to support the AWF for my birthday because I know their team has connections within the animal advocacy and effective altruism spaces that help them find promising funding opportunities to help the most animals, to the most significant degree. They also maintain a rigorous evaluation and tracking processes to ensure those opportunities achieve the highest possible impact per dollar.

To really put the FUN in fundraiser, celebrate raising more than $260 for animals (because I know we will) and commemorate 26 years on Earth, I am going to try to do 2,600 push-ups in one day [March 10th]. That’s 108 push-ups every hour for 24 hours or 216 every hour for 12 hours. I have been working out but I’m honestly pretty sure this is not within my body’s capabilities. But we’ll see! Follow my instagram @happily.hayden to see how I do :)

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I strongly believe that everyone (yes, EVERY single person) can always benefit from learning more about people, places, ideas, beliefs, practices, etc. that are different from them. For the first 20 years of my life, I hardly recognized that the way I experienced life was unique to me, and in many cases very different from a lot of people. I’m happy that over the last few years I’ve greatly expanded my moral circle and continue to consider more and more perspectives, including ones that I completely disagreed with, even ones that I still disagree with.

So, my New Year’s Resolution for 2026 is to read or listen to at least one book each month that contains information about ideas, people, cultures, practices, systems, etc. that I am very ignorant of. I will be coming up with a list and would love your help! If you have a book or subject matter that you think would fit what I’m looking for, please let me know! I’m thinking political ideas, cultural practices, alternative social structures, alternative human identities, sexual practices, spiritual/religious traditions/groups, and other things like that — I’m open to anything and everything. Anything that deviates from our current conventional beliefs and practices that are deeply entrenched in our culture (white superiority, patriarchy, capitalism, Christianity, economic growth, technology, 40-hour work weeks, etc.). But I want to explore those things more too. I want to understand them far better than I do, and from a variety of perspectives rather than always from others telling me how problematic they are. I know it’s basically impossible to uncover objective truth free from some sort of propaganda or agenda, but I also know it’s worth trying. How can we expect to solve any problems, let alone the ones threatening our entire species, if we don’t even try to understand and communicate with people we disagree with?

I want to be clear that this is not an attempt to adopt any of the ideas, identities, or practices that I learn about, though that may happen. Rather, I simply want to learn about them. To be aware of them. To understand them, at least a little bit more. To be able to empathize with people from those groups who hold beliefs different from mine. I believe this will make me a better communicator, leader, and human being.

Maybe I will discover things that will speak to me more than anything ever has. Maybe I’ll just learn a bit more about a group I still disagree with. Maybe I’ll feel more comfortable sharing space with people who previously made me nervous. Even if someone or something is completely, objectively wrong, I believe I can still learn from them.

My other — perhaps less intense — New Year’s Resolution is to spend more time in the present, physical world. One clear action to help me achieve this is to incorporate one no-phone day every week. I will set one day every week to be free from electronic distractions; I won’t use my phone or laptop, watch TV, or do anything similar. I’ll probably keep my phone around in case of emergency, but leave it off or in airplane mode. I want to remind myself what it’s like to really live. Lately I can’t shake the feeling that I’m living an extremely suboptimal experience because of my attachment to devices and the internet. Ironically, sometimes I see videos online from the 80s or 90s and they sing to my soul. The people look genuinely happier, and definitely much more present. I know it’s easy to romanticize the past, but gosh. Then everyone in the comments is writing how much they miss the 90s and how sad it is that we’re all addicted to screens. They say how they wish they could go back. And I’m sitting there looking at my screen thinking, “why don’t we?”. If all these people know that they were happier living without the same technology, why do they continue to live with it? Because we’ve all been brainwashed to believe we need to. “This is just how is”. “I have to to keep up with friends and family”. Whatever the reasons are, I don’t think it’s true. I think it’s the propaganda we’ve been spoonfed, leaving most of us stuck addicted to it, or struggling mightily to stay away.

Why is it so alluring? And so easy to keep using it, despite knowing it sucks? There’s science to explain it, but I don’t care. Maybe I should. Maybe knowing more will help me break free. But I feel very confident that committing to a day each week will change things. I just can’t stay tethered like this anymore. The internet and social media are both truly incredible things and they made my life better for about 20 years. I used to have so much fun playing video games online with friends. I loved the fun youtube videos we used to laugh at. Social media was great to connect with people. And I continue to learn SO much about the world and myself thanks to the internet and technology. And yet, with all that being true, I believe my technology use is very slowly destroying my soul. Maybe one day I will forego all modern technology as Mark Boyle did a few years ago, but for now I I will strive for a happy balance where I can enjoy technology and use it for good in my own life and to help others while minimizing my unnecessary attachment to it. For more on foregoing social media, I recommend reading this recent post by my friend Claire.

Today I watched the movie, “Before Sunset”, the sequel to the 1995 film, “Before Sunrise”. The details aren’t very important, but I found myself surprised by how much I resonated with the conversations between the main characters. I paused the movie to start this blog when Julie Deply’s character was describing her worries about reaching the end of her life having not done all that she wants to do and said, “there are so many things I want to do, but I end up doing… not much.”

For roughly the last four years I have been thinking up a storm. Bouncing from one interest to another, one career aspiration to another, one dream to another, one belief system to another, and so on. I have uncountable ideas for things to learn more about, and an embarrassing number of unfinished pieces of writing or other projects. It feels like with every day I find myself with more and more mental clutter, making it harder and harder to pick anything to focus on. Then I go three months without finishing a blog post or actually diving into a new hobby that I started. I get by with the basics — go to work, eat, maybe see a few friends now and again, sleep, and with most of my free time I distract myself with easier or less meaningful things (TV, movies, social media… ironically, the writing of this post was inspired by a movie). In many ways, especially at face-value, it’s an easier life. Not a lot of stress or challenge or decisions to be made. But with time I know it will be harder than I can ever imagine, while still also feeling kind of easy. What I mean is, this “easy” life barely nourishes my soul. It’s like doof (a word — “food” backwards — I learned from a friend that I try to use in place of “junk food” because it’s not really food), it fills me up, it tastes good, and it’s very pleasurable in the moment, but it barely nourishes my body with any nutrients and in the long term it hurts me.

I love that I am, most often, a generalist. That is, someone who knows a little about a lot of things (though I don’t even know that much). As opposed to a specialist who knows a lot about very few things. Of course, these labels will never adequately describe a whole human, just like no other label can (hopefully I’ll be finishing more posts about this soon). In any case, I like having a sort of generalist mindset in life because I think it’s really cool and valuable to have a breadth of knowledge. The downside of this for me is that I float around so much. I rarely get stuck into anything in particular which I feel like leaves room for distractions and the appeal of the “easy” life to take over. I also worry that I adopt too much of a compromiser mindset in an attempt to appease the person or group I’m with at the time. Though this helps me avoid conflict, I fear I don’t speak up for my true values enough. Moreover, I recently learned that my tendency to “people please” may in fact be narcissism covered up with a nice sounding name. Meaning, I might think I do/say x,y,z to please someone else, but I’m really doing it to make that person like me more. Maybe in most cases I genuinely do just want to be nice or make the person happy, but I don’t know! No matter who you are (with a few exceptions), I’ll feel upset if you don’t like me. I think it’s generally a good thing to want to be liked, but definitely not great to want it too much.

So, as usual, I’ve rambled and lost track of why I started writing this. Or maybe I didn’t? Maybe this is exactly what I needed to do to get back into the swing of things. I started to say that I wish I could just know things with more certainty, but I guess that would make life more boring, wouldn’t it? Being uncertain about things is only problematic when you believe that you should be certain about everything. Just like if you believe life should be easy, it’s almost always going to feel hard. But when you realize life isn’t meant to be easy, it suddenly gets a whole lot easier. Nothing in the physical world changes, but your mental attitude shifts, allowing you to see new solutions and roll with the punches, if you will. We’re all striving for our own versions of a good life, but if we can’t enjoy the striving, there will never be a good life, because the destination doesn’t exist.

I also think I struggle to express my truest ideas and beliefs because I worry people will immediately disregard them/me. That I’ll sound extreme or “out there” or delusional. But again, I probably just care too much about what people think. But also, I think it’s really important to be careful about the way I present myself and my ideas. If I’m not careful, not only will people disregard me, they’ll disregard the idea. If the first time they hear it, it’s from someone coming on too strong, or rude, or too “out there” they’re less likely to consider it in the moment, or if they hear it again sometime later on. I know I can’t make the perfect impression on anyone, but I want to. The things I care about are very very important to me (and I believe all of us) but not many people understand them. They’re too intense or intimidating. Too confronting. The way they’re communicated is essential and I’m scared to make mistakes, even though I know that’s how I will learn to communicate better.

I often wonder what I will think in ten years when I read these posts full of misremembered cliches all mushed together. I’m still just a kid trying to figure things out. I also wonder if anything I write is really my own idea. I wonder if one day I’ll write something that feels truly original. Probably not. There is so much information already, that we’re all influenced by each other all the time. Everything we do or say is inspired, at least a tiny bit, by friends, family, or pop culture. I think…

I am just a kid

Trying to figure things out

Who will I become?

I hope these posts have not been too confusing with some days being written on the actual day during the trip while others being written in the present day. You’re all smart people, you can figure it out :)

Day 56

New Carlisle, QC — Rest day 2

Total miles: 2,583

I feel like I’m letting myself down a little by not keeping up with my nightly journals. I know how good it is for me, but I have been neglecting them. Well, most of the time it’s to get more sleep or spend time with people, so that’s good.

Today I said goodbye to Guy and Edgar who were starting their own mini journey to Percé and back. Then I cleaned my bike, watered some plants, and slept a bunch. I got a tiny taste of what it’s like to be a warmshowers host today! A group of four women around my age decided to stay here with Ann for the last night of their week-long trip through the Gaspésie. I didn’t do much hosting, but simply being here when they arrived made me feel like a host. I showed them around a little and helped them find things like plates and cups. Plus, since Ann and I already had somewhat of a relationship, we told some stories together which was cool. I felt like an adopted child. I am so excited to properly host one day.

I’ve been wanting to run into fellow travelers this whole trip, but I didn’t expect it to feel so good. That kinda sounds weird, but I don’t know how else to phrase it. It was really cool to hear about their experiences and share my own. I’ll never forget their faces when I said “I’ve been vegan for about 3 and a half years, but I’ve been eating animal products out of the dumpster on this trip.” We had a great conversation about why I had been doing that, and the food system in general. I had a ton of fun getting to know these four girls and can’t wait to ride with them tomorrow :)

Now I’m in bed listening to the seagulls cawing and the waves crashing outside. I’m excited to get back on the bike tomorrow, but definitely sad to leave this amazing place.

Day 57

New Carlisle, QC to Atholville, NB — 93 miles

Total miles: 2,676

I’m going to bed disgusting tonight. I got to my wild camping spot as the sun was setting and didn’t feel like getting in the river right before sleeping. Maybe I will take a dip in the morning. I feel so grimy. Sweat and sunscreen coats my body. Life on the road :)

After 21 days in Quebec, I’m now in New Brunswick! Pretty cool. I crossed the Salmon River into the new province and immediately found a little outdoor concert. I stayed for a few songs and even forced myself to go “dance” with the older people who were cuttin a rug. Someone who worked for the city directed me towards a youth hostel but it seemed to be out of operation. So I wandered the town, checking dumpsters for dinner, on my way to a camp spot I saw on ioverlander. I’m so glad that Julie and Stefan told me about this resource — it’s so helpful! I’m camping at a great spot on the river with a lot of other people in vans/campers. I didn’t find any dinner, though. And the mosquitoes were so bad I just had a peanut butter wrap with dates. I’ll have a better meal for breakfast.

It was a long day but didn’t really feel that long. I’m not even that tired right now. Usually when I say that, it becomes a lie…

The main thing on my mind is how much time I want to spend biking in New Brunswick. My initial plan was to continue riding along the coast, spending about 10 days here before re-entering the United States. But I’m not really feeling it right now. I feel more compelled to go through central New Brunswick and get to the states a little quicker. I know it will be beautiful along the coast and I’ll probably meet a lot more cool people, but I’m tired man. And my butt really hurts. I miss home. One thing I’ve been surprised by on this trip is how much I want to settle down near family now. Maybe not the eastern shore, or even Maryland, but somewhere at least within a day’s journey. And maybe not forever, but for now that’s what feels right. I’ve spent the last few years feeling stuck between wanting to explore more and wanting to stay close to family. Right now I feel pretty confident in wanting to be closer to family :)

Anyway, back to my debate about what to do in New Brunswick. On the one hand, I may never be here again so I want to make the most of it. But on the other hand, there will always be more that I could see or do. Plus, choosing to ride along the coast is neglecting to explore the central part of the province. So there’s really no clear choice here. I don’t need to shorten my time in Canada. But also, the initial plan to bike around the coast was a completely arbitrary decision. Ughhh. I don’t know what to do. I’ve already seen more of this beautiful country than I expected I would. The Gaspésie was breathtaking — I love it so much. So should I try to see even more? Or am I ready to move on? Maybe the decision will come to me in my dreams.

I loved riding with my new friends for the first 20 miles today. I think their companionship truly helped make a 93-mile day feel half as long. Shortly after they turned off to find their cars, I checked a Dollarama dumpster only to find something all too common. Not only do they throw away food, they open the packages and dump the contents into the dumpster. Think about that. Someone is getting paid to open up bags of chips and cookies and whatever else and dump them out. Our system is truly disgusting.

Day 58

Atholville, NB to St Quentin, NB — 68

Total miles: 2,744

Another grimy, sweaty night! And this dang tractor trailer is just idling next to me. To be fair, I am at a truck stop. There must be some reason they don’t turn the engine off, right? It’s pretty annoying for me, though. (I later learned they keep them running to power the refrigerators and other stuff that needs electricity).

My evening has been really nice, especially compared to the day. I’ve posted to instagram, made food, charged my stuff, and most importantly called my family :) Its always nice to talk with them and catch up. I’m definitely in the mood to get home, so it’s good to chat with them to settle my eagerness for a bit. No matter what, I’ve got another few weeks before I’m home, and I may never be in this position again so I ought to enjoy it!

But it was damn hard to enjoy today. I alternated between riding on a very bumpy ATV trail with chunky gravel and a sun-baked highway with lots of hills. Truly my least favorite day of the trip. I was quite upset for pretty much all day except when a kind stranger filled my water bottles (with ice too!). I worked up the courage to stop at their house and ask after passing many candidates. I was just about out of water and getting dehydrated so he was a real life saver. I’m already starting to look back on today and chuckle. It’ll probably end up being one of the most memorable of the trip! Sometimes you just gotta put your head down and grind, stopping only to make peanut butter and maple syrup sandwiches (so good). I would’ve really enjoyed the trail if my bike was set up for it. My new tires did well, but they’re still too narrow and not squishy enough to handle that kind of terrain. Some front suspension would’ve been very helpful too. Alas!

I’m excited to have a host tomorrow. It’s only been a couple of days without a shower, but they’ve been long and hot, and I’m caked in sunscreen and dirt. I will enjoy a shower SO much. I’ve got another 60+ miles tomorrow with some solid elevation gain, so my goal is to hit the road early and beat the heat. Maybe take a long break in the middle and then finish strong :)

Oh yeah, so I decided to head towards Maine rather than around the coast of New Brunswick. I’ll be in the US in two days! I know it’ll feel bittersweet crossing the border again. This feels like the right decision, though. I’ve been feeling so tired and eager to get home that I don’t think I could’ve enjoyed the extra week in NB as much as I would want to. Now I’ll get to see a little bit more of Maine, and maybe spend some extra days with friends on the way home. I’ll also be able to use my data freely again which will be nice but I’ll also miss having a forced restriction. I think I’ll continue to put my phone on airplane mode for most of the day.

It’s pretty crazy. I may never be in Canada again! I’ve felt so at home here, I can hardly believe this was my first time in the country. Everyone has been so so kind and generous. The landscapes have been breathtaking. And the bike infrastructure is epic! Well, at least in Quebec. It’s a very cyclists-friendly province.

Day 59

St Quentin, NB to Perth-Anover, NB — 69 miles

Total miles: 2,813

I feel like I just wasted about 15 minutes, maybe more, on instagram. Makes me sad and frustrated. I talk about not having time to write or do this or that, and then I throw precious time away scrolling on social media. I enjoy sharing on instagram, but even that feels contradictory. Not only do I get sucked into it myself, but I’m putting stuff out there for other people to get sucked into. I guess the photos and videos I share are very different, but it just feels weird.

Today was another tough day. Hilly and super hot. I stayed on the road for most of the day, rather than bumping along the ATV trail again. I was pretty grumpy most of the day and honestly am really looking forward to the end. On this day two years ago I was dreading the end of our 4K For Cancer ride. I wanted it to keep going forever. I’m not miserable by any means and I’m still finding joy in it, but I’ve latched into the idea of being home and settled and that’s all I can think about most of the time. Which then makes it hard to enjoy the moment, even if it’s amazing. I think being alone is the main reason this has come up. I still really like a lot of things about biking alone, but it’s just harder to keep going. Maybe things will change! I’m hoping to stay with as many warmshowers hosts and friends as I can on the way home so I can feel connected for the last 2-3 weeks.

I’m excited to re-enter the USA tomorrow and start exploring Maine. I’m also sad to leave the wonderful country of Canada. 10/10 place, would recommend! Hopefully I don’t have any issues at the border.

I saw a coyote in across the road maybe 40 feet in front of me, then 2 minutes later a moose crossed about a half mile down the road. My second moose sighting of the trip! I also saw lots of hawks and an eagle today. Big wildlife day :) Maybe I’ll see a bear before I make it home!

My host tonight is really nice. She wasn’t planning on accepting any guests, but decided to let me stay! I’m so glad because I NEEDED a shower and some vegetables. I’m really grateful that we cooked a vegan meal together — she was initially planning on turkey pot pie, but changed course after learning I was vegan and we had a great discussion about the food industry. Speaking of the food industry, I found a bunch of oranges and some twizzler candy in a grocery store dumpster today. I think there was more good stuff too but I only took one bag of oranges and a couple packs of twizzlers. I wish oranges weren’t so heavy!

Day 60

Perth-Andover, NB to Haynesville, ME — 78 miles

Total miles: 2,891

I’m feeling really great about today. 60 days! This trip will surely be longer than the ride across the country (ha, wrong!). That’s really wild. 4K felt so long and this hasn’t. I’m ready to finish it up, though. I’m guessing I’ll be home in 20ish days. Still far from over!

Two years ago today we arrived in San Francisco. Today I crossed back into the US. Feels significant, right? Significant or not, I’m very happy right now. I’m camping in a stranger’s backyard after extending my ride by 15 miles and hoping for the best. Where I planned to camp was a toss-up to begin with so I figured I’d find something down the road. I reached the “town” of Haynesville as the sun began to set and started glancing at the houses I passed. Finally I saw two friendly looking people on their lawn and gave it a shot.

It hardly could’ve been more perfect. They had passed me about an hour or two ago, coming home from work, so there was already a mini connection. With almost no hesitation they said yes to me tenting in their yard, and quickly offered me water and even a shower. After my shower we chatted for a while and they gave me a bunch of food for the road! My impromptu hosts have only lived here for a year, spending almost their entire lives in Florida. Quite the change! The guy had never experienced four seasons before!! They’re both very nice and fun to talk to. This was my first time finding a place to sleep in this fashion and I’m so pleased with the results.

I want to say that I have the privilege of being a white man in America which probably helped a lot to make me feel comfortable doing this. I have no idea how I’d feel if I was black or gay or a woman or looked different in any other way. Maybe nothing would change. Maybe I’d ride for hours in the darkness before asking strangers to sleep on their property. I’ll never know what it’s like to experience life as anyone but myself. So I want to recognize that I do have a lot of privilege that might make doing something like this feel easier and literally be easier and safer. The last thing I want to do is act like this is a one-size-fits-all kind of solution to camping in America. Even for me with my privilege, it’s scary. But I still want to share that it worked for me and there’s a good chance I’ll do it again on this trip and more in the future. I think it’s super cool to meet random people and see what happens. That feels like what’s at the core of bike touring.

I also met a man in the town I thought I’d stay in tonight. I was having my dinner when he walked over and sat down to have a chat. He had just secured some housing after six months in the homeless shelter. He shared a little about his difficulty finding work and moving around after many years of hard labor. I could see the loss of function in his hands. Honestly, I couldn’t understand him for about 25% of the conversation, but I’m really glad he came over to me. We talked for almost 30 minutes and he helped me decide what road to take to get where I am now. Nothing significant came from the interaction, but so what? He made my day a little better and maybe I did the same for him.

The road after Houlton was really great. The temperature dropped a bit along with the traffic. I mostly had the road to myself for the last 10 miles. Surrounded by trees, I felt happily alone. My butt still hurt but I didn’t really care. I felt like I could’ve kept riding for another 50 miles. If the sun wasn’t setting I definitely would have. I’m really happy that my ride tomorrow is almost 15 miles shorter now. And two shorter days after it. I think I want to stick to 60 miles or less for now on. There will be longer days, but spending all day on the bike has been brutal the last few rides. Although like I said, today was great.

The border crossing was a piece of cake. The guy seemed like he could hardly care less about what I was doing. He asked why I was in Canada and where I was going today. That was it I think. Checked my passport and sent me on my way. Nothing really changed once I got into the states. It was still hot, there were still big yellow fields of wheat all around. I think the excitement of re-entering my home country carried me on to go the extra 15ish miles today. Who knows? It’s funny to me that 60 days into 4K I was dreading the end. I was so sad to be losing my new friends and a lifestyle that I loved. 60 days into this trip and I’m very eager to be done. Which is quite surprising to me. Days like today make me excited for more riding, though. We’ll see how things develop!

I found a bunch of chips at a family dollar and a circle K. Not my favorite thing to find, but I took a couple of bags. I also found what appeared to be a brand new gasoline pump nozzle thing. I don’t think there’s anything in this world that we don’t throw away. I’ve been thinking more about my dumpster diving and how it’s not doing anything about the problem. I’m saving money which is awesome, and it’s kinda fun. And sure, I’m preventing a teeny tiny fraction of waste which is cool. I also have had some great conversations with people about dumpster diving and our food system in general. All of this stuff is awesome and I think does matter a lot. But I’d like to do more. It’d be cool to get into changing the supply chain or rules about food waste, something like that.

One thing I want to be sure to do when I get home is keep riding my bike and/or get into a different exercise routine. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a good routine that I enjoy and I don’t want to let the strength I’ve gained on this trip to slip away. I impressed myself today when I stepped up a 4ft cliff (for lack of a better word) on one leg at a closed road. I felt strong and just really good. I’m leaning towards triathlon training, but not deadset on it yet. I think what will help me most is if I have a friend to train with. So if one of my friends is down to weight train but not do endurance stuff, fine I’ll do weights again too.

Man, time passes so quickly when I’m writing these! I need to get to bed. It’d be great to get on the road early tomorrow :)

Day 61

Haynesville, ME to Burlington, ME — 57 miles

Total miles: 2,948

I feel quite bad. I don’t know if it’s because of the heat, general exhaustion, something I ate, a combination of those, or something totally different. I just feel real nauseous and super tired. I’m in a wonderful place but I’m really struggling to enjoy it because of how I feel. I have no motivation at all to do anything so I’m just gonna lie here at 6:07pm and see if I fall asleep :)

This is when I started to really go downhill. I was tired and nauseous on the ride, and by lunchtime, I found myself wondering how I’d finish the last 20 miles. I was so hot and exhausted, my motivation at an all-time low.

When I woke from a nap and had enough of feeling sorry for myself, I got back on my bike. Despite the heat and the hills, I managed to finish. More than finish, I felt invigorated. I was energized by my ability to push past the mountain of resistance I was feeling. One person slowed down next to me to ask if I was okay. Another offered me a ride. I gave them both big, genuine smiles, thanked them and kept pushing.

It wasn’t until I had unloaded my bike and sat down on the porch of the little green cabin, sticky sap popping under my sandals, that I realized how tired I truly was. My host was not in the country but told me I was welcome in her off-grid cabin. As I walked to greet the neighbors and fill up on water from their hose, I realized I could muster no more than a shuffle. By the time I made it back to the cabin I was ready for bed. While on the phone with my dad I had another realization: I was in rough shape. I yawned over and over, my stomach was in knots, and I could feel the beginnings of a fever setting in. So, I skipped dinner, skipped writing, and went to bed hoping I’d be a new man in the morning.

Day 62

Burlington, ME to Orono, ME — 38 miles

Total miles: 2,986

I woke up feeling better, but not good. I couldn’t bring myself to eat the lentils and couscous I had soaked overnight but managed to choke down two granola bars that were given to me by my hosts in Haynesville. Packing my bike was an absurd challenge. In my exhaustion the night before I left things strewn all about in no particular place. In my slightly less exhausted state this morning I hated every second I spent putting things where they belonged, securing them, and trying my best not traipse sap all over the cabin’s carpet.

Frustrated and weary I began pedaling towards Orono. It was grossly humid, but at least it was overcast. I even got a little sprinkle of rain that felt pretty good. The miles ticked by rather uneventfully, while I did my best to maintain a sort of “one foot in front of the other” mentality. I actually made pretty good time and felt better as soon as I arrived at my hosts’. Usually, I opt for a cold shower but the warm water was calling my name and I happily answered. My host had made banana bread and granola so I made myself eat some of that and then passed out.

I awoke when my host arrived home and I enjoyed socializing despite my exhaustion. I almost said no when she invited me to take a swim in the Penobscot River, but I’m glad I joined her. We talked about our bike trips, triathlons/ironmans, family, dumpster diving, career goals, and anything in between while wading in the cool water. When it was time to head home for dinner we had to time our exit to avoid obstructing the local canoeing group launching boats for an evening paddle.

I soon realized that while it was lovely to spend time with my host and the water felt great, it was probably a bad choice. I found myself shivering for the rest of the night, even after donning her 6’5 son’s sweatshirt. All I could think about was going to bed. I felt like a such a lousy guest. I planned to just spend one night in Orono but with the way I was feeling I asked if it’d be a bother if I stayed an extra day. She assured me I was welcome to stay as long as I needed, but I couldn’t help but feel like she wasn’t really that keen on having me for another night.

Day 63

Orono, ME — Rest day

Total miles: 2,986

I slept in and felt basically exactly as I had the morning before. Not terrible, but not confident in my ability to bike 50 miles, so I sheepishly confirmed with my host that I could stay an extra day. I barely lifted a finger all day. I never really felt thirsty or hungry and when I did eat I’d feel nauseous. Basically, I just laid in bed feeling sorry for myself and hoping I’d get better. Again I felt like a lousy guest because I couldn’t focus on our conversations or do much at all in return for staying and having all my needs taken care of. I knew I’d be leaving the next day no matter how I was feeling.

Next week I’ll be posting reflections from the final week of the trip! Until then, you can check out all of my past posts here. As always, thank you so much for reading. Let me know if you have questions about any part(s) of the ride :)

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Rivière-du-Loup to Rimouski, QC — 81 miles

Total miles: 2,192

I was SO tired this night. I think I opened my notes app to write a little and fell asleep immediately. It was a long day with a lot of elevation and a long night with a lot of smiles.

Day 48 is a solid contender for my favorite day of the trip. I left my campground pretty early — though later than I probably would have if I hadn’t been kicked out of my wild camp spot — and enjoyed the cool morning air. I found myself in an especially good mood this morning and it only got better. Once I reached the point where I could turn off route 132 to ride a gravel path I made one of my favorite decisions of the trip by opting to stay on the road. Riding along the River, in the sun, on flat road was much much more appealing than the unknown terrain of the bike trail in the shade of the forest. I’m sure it would’ve been lovely in its own way, but man did I love my road ride. I loved it so much I repeated to myself, laughing with pure joy, how glad I was I chose to stay on the road. The sun felt SO good and the River was as beautiful as ever. Traffic was low and the pavement was smooth. Life was goooood.

Because the result of this choice was so lovely, I gained an extra layer of confidence to make the right decision for myself in the moment. Picking a road over a trail may sound like a relatively small decision, and it kind of is, but for some reason I always feel a pressure to take the road less traveled, or whatever might be more challenging. Perhaps I assume that it will be more beautiful and rewarding, but also just to be able to say that I did something hard. I think this is often a great thing! I’ve had amazing experiences because of this tendency. But I’ve also probably worked way harder than necessary, and found myself in situations I simply don’t enjoy. Gosh, I loved myself so much for this decision. I hope you can see a little bit of it coming through in the photo above.

I loved the world, too. The peninsula was, astonishingly, getting even more beautiful. I had a warmshowers host lined up for the night in Rimouski, and things were simply going well all around me. Maybe that’s the case more often than not, but it takes being in the right mindset to see and appreciate it.

Is there a saying for the opposite of “when it rains, it pours”? When it shines it SHINES? I dunno, I can probably think of something better, but whatever it is, that’s how I’d describe this day. I do remember a stretch of maybe 10 miles that were really hot and somewhat treacherous, but the rest was amazing. I think a great thing about bike touring and any sort of adventure is that amazing does not necessarily mean easy. Really, those two words aren’t typically paired together on an adventure.

After stumbling upon some bread and cheese behind a little market in a little town, it was time to climb. My week of relatively flat riding was coming to end. I should have kept track of how many of these 12% (some were 15% I think) grade signs I saw. Man, these were some tough climbs. But so beautiful and I was truly having a blast.

On one of the descents I startled a woman walking ahead of me. She started laughing and speaking to me in French, so I slowed down enough to ask what she said. She explained that she thought I was a bear!

There was an incredible, somewhat scary, super fun downhill to enter Bic National Park. I was still giddy from surviving it when I took the photo above. Then I had the pleasure of meeting two of the nicest people ever! They were a married couple enjoying a week of vacation in the park. I stumbled through the tiny bit of French I knew before switching to English. After a few days of just hoping I was saying things right, I decided to ask them how I sounded; I was relieved to hear they thought I sounded great! I had such a lovely time walking my bike alongside them and chatting for about 1/4 mile.

I took an extended break from pedaling to stroll around a short trail along the beach. I remember feeling very much in the present moment and proud of myself for how far I’d come. It was around 4pm and I still had a ways to go before reaching my warmshowers host Rimouski but I wanted to savor the park as much as I could. I played with the idea of camping in the park instead, but decided to carry on.

If I have one regret from this trip, it’s that I wasn’t recording when I watched a toddler happily dump an entire bucket of sand on his head after returning to the trailhead on the beach.

By the time I climbed back out of Bic I was exhausted, and I remember turning on my speaker to help get me to the finish line. A fellow cyclist caught me in the middle of belting out a verse and invited me to play volleyball just down the road. How could I say no to a random offer like that? It was a lot of fun but I was a little anxious to keep going and meet my host, so I ducked off after one game. Then I had another unexpected encounter.

I made the mistake of thinking the final 2 miles would be a breeze. My naivety was rewarded with the most extroverted cat I’ve ever met. They walked right up to me, rubbed on my legs, and jumped on my bike. At the time I didn’t have service so I couldn’t translate their tag and I was concerned I should do something. Though I was thrilled to be gifted with such a unique and fun experience, with no one around and no service, I was at a loss at what to do. Eventually, I decided that the cat must do this often and someone else will surely discover them after I go. I actually rode a few feet with the cat sitting on my rear rack but they jumped off pretty quickly. After I left them behind, I was pleased to pass a handful of people heading in the direction of the kitty. Later I would learn that their tag translates to “I am not lost”. Phew!

When I finally got past the feline guardian of the trail, I had a very short ride left to downtown Rimouski. While looking for my host who told me to meet them at a little music festival, I ended up talking to a guy who was surprisingly impressed by my adventure. I gladly answered his questions for a solid 15 minutes before parting ways and finally meeting my hosts.

They took me to see the sunset at a beach near their home before we cooked and ate a meal together. They were also hosting a French-Canadian couple from Montreal who were just beginning their journey around the Gaspésie. Though I had no idea what was going on most of the time, I loved listening to their conversations in French. I’ve noticed that Quebecers (?) seem to have a lot more fun than I’m used to. Maybe I only feel that way because of how easy it is to romanticize places/people that are different, but man did everyone laugh a lot in Quebec. It was approaching midnight when I got in the shower, and surely after midnight when I slumped onto the couch I was offered. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so contentedly exhausted.

Day 49

Rimouski to Grosses-Roches, QC — 79 miles

Total miles: 2,271

I have way too much to be grateful for. That sounds like such a stupid sentence. I just feel like I don’t deserve so much. Why do I get to have good health, a supportive family, freedom, respect, and so on while so many others have none of that? It’s really weird to be in this mindset right now. I’m in my tent on a stranger’s property at the top of a hill overlooking the St. Lawrence River. They invited me to stay on their land with just an hour’s notice and had a fire and fresh water ready for me when I arrived. I’m riding my bike through some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, meeting kind and helpful people. It’s all incredible. Truly amazing. And yet, I almost feel reluctantly grateful. I don’t know if that’s the right way to describe it. It’s just hard for me to make sense of how messed up the world is while I get to have such wonderful experiences. And it’s so easy for all of us to push these thoughts away.

I’m going to go to sleep now so I can actually start functioning normally again.

Nearly two months later and I have pushed those thoughts away. Perhaps I haven’t pushed them away, so much as I’ve allowed them to fall away. Which, I think is somewhat of a survival strategy. I couldn’t function if I spent all my time thinking about the plight of others. But I hope I never stop thinking about this all-together. A quote I think about often is, “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” I cannot and will not simply enjoy my privileged life without trying to change the fact that I have such privilege — without doing anything to deserve it — while others have so little. Writing about this is at least something, but I hope to do more, or maybe writing can be a route to more. We shall see.

Before reflecting on all of this by the campfire created for me, I biked 79 miles! I left Rimouski quite late after sleeping in and taking my time with my hosts in the morning. The ride was as lovely as ever, but the roads were beginning to get a bit rougher. I’m trying to remember more from the middle of the day, but all I can think of is the beginning and the end.

I had biked about 65 miles when I started to panic a little. The sun was getting low and I hadn’t found a good place to stay. I knew something would work out, and this was what I signed up for after all. Still, I was anxious to secure a place to sleep. I turned to a Facebook group called, “Viens piquer ta tente chez nous!” which means “Come and pitch your tent with us!” I only learned of it because of someone on warmshowers a few days prior couldn’t host me but recommended I check there. I remembered this and made a post asking if there was somewhere I could stay between Matane and Grosse-Roches. Luckily, someone advised me to search for previous posts in the same areas, which led me to Stephanie’s post from over a year ago. It was a long shot, but I took it. To my surprise, within 10 minutes, it was a direct hit. Probably not the best metaphor.

Stephanie and Alan lived 10-15 miles from where I was when I asked for help, and the sun was really setting at this point. But with the excitement from their “yes” and so much love in my heart for all the people that made this possible. I knew I could get there. After a pretty sluggish day, I think I averaged close to 15mph for the last 10+ miles. On a loaded bike, that’s pretty sweet.

With my adrenaline and gratitude peaking, I became overcome with emotion. In the dusk light, the St. Lawrence River appeared on the horizon as I crested a hill. It looked more beautiful and expansive than ever and I choked out tears of awe, joy, love, and grief all in one. Grief because of what I wrote that night by the fire and because we’re slowly killing our planet. Our beautiful Earth that sustains us and can inspire emotions beyond description. So I cried. Because it was so beautiful and because maybe it won’t be for much longer.

It was completely dark by the time I found Stephanie smiling at me from her driveway. A small camper was parked by the road and there was a shed further back, a fire burning in a barrel between them. As much as I had enjoyed being surrounded by French, after a long day I was grateful that Stephanie spoke fluent English. Stephanie led me to a dirt path that snaked up the mountain on their property. She informed me that I would be staying on the “second floor” and there was no elevator. While we trudged up the hill together, she asked about my day and the trip so far, and told me about the Raspberries I could pick in the morning and the “third floor” if I wanted to get an even wider view of the St. Lawrence. Alan had driven up ahead of us to drop off a jug of fresh water and extra firewood. I thanked her and Alan profusely before they drove back down and left me to set up camp.

As you saw at the start of this entry, I reflected on many things before donning almost all of my clothes and snuggling under my quilt. I woke in the middle of the night and felt more indescribable emotions. This time, rather than cry, I laughed as I gawked at the stars. On that hill I felt closer to them than ever before.

Day 50

Grosse-Roches to La Martre, QC — 56 miles

Total miles: 2,327

It’s a bit chilly! I planned to go further today but when a couple in a camper van asked me if I minded them camping here with me I decided I’ll just camp here! If there’s an opportunity to make friends, I’m not going to turn it down. Plus, this was the town I originally planned to sleep in tonight. I just had a little extra energy so I thought I’d make the next couple of days easier. But here we are! Easy day today, two challenging days coming up. Then some rest in Gaspé. And it’s all beautiful :)

A benefit to this camp spot is I don’t even need to put up my tent. I’ve made the little gazebo at this riverside park my home for the night. As long as it doesn’t downpour overnight (forecast says it’ll be clear), it’ll be perfect. And since there are others camping in their vehicles here, I think chances are very low I get kicked out.

Julie and Stefan are the two who caught me finishing my dinner. They were very kind from the start, asking me if I minded them camping here. I told them of course not, and I’d be going further down the road anyway. But as I thought about it, I figured I’d just hang here. I’m happy with my decision. They gave me a drink and we chatted for a while. I really enjoy talking to Quebecers. They’ve all been very nice and because of the language differences, the conversations are fun. Often they speak very good English, but not perfect so sometimes we work together to finish thoughts or find words. I try to use the tiny bit of French I know, but when it comes time to say the words my brain usually fails. I’ll be in the province for at least another week so I’m curious to see how much I improve… if at all.

I can’t find the words to explain how much I love this place. Riding along the St. Lawrence has made me dream of living here. Maybe! BIG maybe! It’s also made me dream of home on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It’s a beautiful place that I’ve taken for granted. Seeing so many people on vacation during this trip has made me a little sad. We’re all leaving our homes to go somewhere better (?). I guess not necessarily better, but different or new. I’m certainly getting a lot out of it. But I can’t help but think there are ways to do this without traveling 2,000 miles. Maybe I’m naive to think this. Or maybe we’re all too caught up in the social pressure to travel. Growing up, I barely went on vacation. It wasn’t until the last few years that I realized many families go on at least one significant vacation every year. My family just goes to “the pool” — my grandmother and aunt’s house 15 minutes away. And that was plenty for me. I didn’t want to go far away. Until I did.

I got the itch to explore more and further, and so I have. First biking across the country, then living in New York State, and now biking to and around Quebec. They’ve all been fantastic and worthwhile experiences — and this one is only halfway done — but I’m really wondering, how much more do I want? It’s impossible to see the whole world. I don’t want to be on a never ending search for the next place. It’s fun and exciting, but not fulfilling in ways I need. I guess most people don’t travel for 50+ days at a time. But I definitely will never be happy with driving or flying to a destination, just for the sake of seeing it. It’ll feel too much in conflict with my values. And after biking so much, it’ll just be boring. It won’t feel like real travel to me.

I’ve got at least another month before I’m home, so I want to keep all this in mind while also enjoying each day. Moreover, I want to keep my mind open to discovering more things about the world and myself. Like how long I can go without a shower!

Today was mostly uneventful. More beautiful scenes of the St. Lawrence and the inland mountains. A few more hills than past days. Oh, but my morning was fantastic! I woke up to low 50F (10C) air, wishing my body could let me sleep in. Then I walked up to the “third floor” to look down upon the River, picking Raspberries on the way. I thought about by grandmother, Nena, whose birthday was today. I’m not sure how she’d feel if she was alive to see me today. Well, I know she’d be proud of me and happy for me, but she’d also probably be fretting to no end. I keep her with me in the form of an ornament my mom had made after she passed in 2021. I aspire to be like Nena — the most humble, patient, empathetic, loving, and service-oriented person I know.

Stephanie and Alan were so kind and gracious. Like many of my hosts, I would’ve loved to stay longer. But I was also excited to get an early start after a rather late start yesterday. Gosh, this morning was this morning? Crazy. Jima and I asked each other this question most days. The morning of feels like a whole different day!

I think the other main event was chatting with a hitchhiker for 20-30 minutes at a random rest stop. He was very kind and a cool guy. I was surprised when he accepted my offer to share the last of my almonds and peanuts 😂 But I offered! It was nice to put out a blog post, but man it takes so long! I spent way too much time inside a Tim Hortons writing that post. Oh well. Good thing I left early! I think the next two days will be the most wild of the trip so I’m wishing myself good luck! Everyone I’ve talked to about my plans has warned me about the upcoming hills :)

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Day 51

La Martre to Cloridorme (ish), QC — 83 miles

Total miles: 2,410

I am camping at a very interesting man’s home in the Gaspesie. It was so cool to discover this place. I rode about 20 km past where I thought I’d stop today until I found Azellus. His big sign out front, “Camping Gratuit” (free camping) seemed too good to be true. but when I rolled down the sloped driveway, I spotted him through his window. “Bonjour” I called and he immediately stopped what he was doing and clapped with excitement. We introduced ourselves despite our different languages. He led me to an amazing campsite next to a river on his property. I took a dip in the cold water before walking back to Azellus’s house to have French fries that he made for me. Azellus spoke very little English, but we got along great. At one point, he looked up how to say “extraordinary to share” on his phone which I thought was really special. He loves where he lives and seems to love sharing even more.

This whole day was pretty incredible. And yet I was in a funk most of the day! My stomach was hurting, I was super tired, it was gray, there were lots of hills, and the air was super smokey. But I also saw a Seal and a Moose, biked 12 miles further than I planned, and now I’m here! I’m really proud of myself for just doing it. While I was a little meh, I had a good attitude — I’m not gonna give up so I’m just gonna pedal. And it was beautiful and challenging and fun.

I didn’t react quick enough to photograph the moose. I had been squinting into the forests and across ponds, searching for Moose since I saw the first “Moose Crossing” sign in New Hampshire. When I saw this one casually walking behind a house in a relatively not wild area, I had to chuckle. My first priority was to stop and stare. I wanted to see this creature, not just take a picture. When it disappeared behind the house, I thought for sure I’d have my chance to document it as it reappeared on the other side, but it must have gone directly into the forest behind the house. Despite only glimpsing the animal for a few seconds among human-created stuff, it was still rather majestic. I wouldn’t have seen it had I not decided to carry on past my first destination.

Earlier in the day I did manage to snap a photo of a Seal resting on a rock. I watched it for over five minutes and other travelers began pulling over to take photos. Perhaps it was the first time they’d seen a wild Seal too.

I had the most fun after seeing the Moose. I was tired but determined and because it was evening at this point, there were far fewer cars on the road. I enjoyed struggling up and down the rolling hills before discovering Azellus’s kindness.

Day 52

Cloridorme to Gaspé, QC — 54 miles

Total miles: 2,464

After 52 days I finally came to my senses and left bullet point notes when I was too tired to write a full reflection on the day. So now, almost two months in the future, I actually have something to help me complete this post!

The day started with more unexpected gifts from Azellus. He mentioned the night before that he might call out sick from work, which he had. I left his paradise with homemmade maple syrup, maple candy, and acorns or hazelnuts.

There was an amazing tailwind for the first 20 or so miles. Before this day I hadn’t noticed much wind in either direction, so it truly felt like I was flying. Even going up steep inclines, gusts were strong enough to give me boosts. As I climbed over mountains I could see the immense power and vastness of the River turning into Ocean, white caps forming from the wind. I think more tears were shed.

My reliance on patched tubes was coming back to bite me again. My rear tire was slowly losing air, but this didn’t stop me drinking in the fact that I had reached perhaps the furthest north I will ever be. The wind was whipping more than ever and the air was cool. It felt a lot like the tip of the world. I tried recording a couple of videos to document the occasion, but couldn’t put together words that did justice to my thoughts and feelings.

I found shelter from the wind on the trails to the visitor center for Forillon National Park, where I ate lunch and wondered how I could find a bike pump. To my relief, one of the employees at front desk told me they had just finished repairing their bike pump. I just had to walk down the sidewalk and find the big orange bike station. To my disbelief, the pump was not fixed.

I thought about continuing on with my slack tire, but I noticed there were a fair amount of bike racks on cars in the parking lot. I set aside my reservations about asking for help and wandered around, checking if anyone had a pump. My first inquiry was a swing and a miss. To continue with baseball analogies, I’d call my second a foul ball — they had a pump, but it didn’t attach to my valve. I thought I was brilliant when I retrieved the adapter from the broken pump at the visitor center, but that didn’t fit on their pump either. I thought I’d struck out when the next couple seemed apprehensive, but they searched their crowded car while shuffled I awkwardly for what felt like too long for there to actually be a bike pump. Then I saw a beautiful red pump tumble out the driver’s side rear door. I could have hugged them I was so excited to get back to full tire pressure.

It’s a damn good thing I found a bike pump. The second half of the ride was the opposite of the first. The hills got bigger and the wind changed direction. At times I was pedaling in place. After an epic effort to gain 10 miles, I laid down at a park and hoped to hear back from a warmshowers host. I had secured a host in Gaspé while still in Quebec City, but they had to cancel last minute due to a family emergency, so while eating breakfast at Azellus’s, I fired off messages to all the other hosts in the area. Feeling utterly defeated by the hills and headwinds, Audrey’s invitation to stay with her gave me enough energy to rise from my very comfy grass bed and return to the road.

I just had to make it another 10 miles, then I’d curve around the Bay and the wind would once again be at my back for the final stretch into Gaspé. With gritted teeth, a few swear words, and some weary positive self talk, I made it to the biggest city since Rimouski. The tailwind for the last couple of miles was much appreciated, especially because there was so much traffic to contend with.

The Bay was gorgeous and I saw another seal while I waited for Audrey to get home from work! This one was much closer and I think I didn’t get a photo because I ran out of storage on my phone.

Audrey, her partner Jakob, and her father Marc all welcomed me with great enthusiasm. I would end up chatting with Marc for a long while the next morning as we both prepared to hit the road. He was going back the way I came for a short bike trip into Forillon Park. Brain flip-flopped when they invited me to join them for a picnic with friends on the beach. I always love saying yes to these things, but I also wanted more rest. I’m glad I said yes because we had a great time until the mosquitoes came to wreak havoc. The entire friend group was adventurous. Audrey and Jakob had just returned from sailing in the Atlantic Ocean and another couple were avid sailors and cyclists as well. Coincidentally, one of them had given me whoops of encouragement just a couple hours earlier as they descended the huge hill I was ascending to reach Audrey’s. I wonder what all of my temporary friends are up to today.

Day 53

Gaspé to Grand-Riviére, QC — 65 miles

Total miles: 2,529

It’s always a great feeling when you get into bed and see that it’s much earlier than you thought. Today was a long, tough day. Not a ton of distance, but big climbs and I was in the sun for almost 10 hours. So I’m pleasantly surprised to be in bed at 9pm :)

I’m feeling pretty cozy with my layers on because it’s already chilly and gonna get chillier. I’m also feeling quite happy. Today was a great day and I found a free camp spot on “ioverlander” that sets me up for a nice ride to my warmshowers host in New Carlisle where I will finally take a rest day.

Gaspé to Percé was gorgeous (surprise surprise), especially once I made it to within 15ish miles of Percé. Sometimes it’s hard to bike because I want to look around at everything. I’m constantly scanning the water for a Whale or Seal, and the forests for Moose or Bears. No wildlife sighting today, though. Except for Seagulls.

There was a strange amount of road work that I had to navigate on my way to Percé, but I didn’t mind much. Being on a bike gives you special privileges in these cases (sometimes). I was able to ride on the sidewalk and “cut” the line, as well as take a side road through a beautiful wetland area that led to a rocky beach.

The water looked far too beautiful to not jump in. After taking the plunge, a woman walking by stopped to ask me about my trip. As so many had before, she warned me of the upcoming hills, but she also encouraged me unlike anyone else. The way she told me not to give up felt incredibly powerful. Her words were simple, but carried much weight for me at that time. I assured her I wouldn’t and resumed the journey.

She wasn’t wrong about the hills — they were some of the steepest of the trip — but I loved every inch of them. Still damp from my dip, I felt strong, proud, and happy. Because I was camping again, I had no pressure to get anywhere by a certain time. When I came to another road worker, I reluctantly turned back to take the detour specific for bicyclists. I guess the route around the peninsula was deemed unsafe for bikes. My mood quickly changed when I realized I had this road to myself. All the tourists wanted to stay on Route 132 and hug the water, so I was free to bike in peace. A few cars passed me going the opposite direction and only one or two from behind. It was glorious and beautiful.

The downhill into Percé was intense. At this point my brakes were not the best, but they did their job. I made sure to shout and smile every time I flew past a car with open windows — everyone needed to know how much more fun I was having than them :)

I was surprised by the number of tourists in Percé. It’s a little village with a big cool rock off the coast and lots of shops and restaurants to profit off people looking at the rock. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a sweet rock, but I couldn’t help but laugh at how silly it is. Who knows how far some of those people traveled, just to look at a big rock for 15 seconds, then walk around and buy useless souvenirs and greasy food. Ok, I’m being jaded.

During the ride it clicked that I’ve let my purpose for this trip slip away. It’s become more and more of a selfish endeavor, ironically making me enjoy it less (I think). When people ask me why I’m doing it, I give some banal cookie cutter answer to avoid putting myself out there too much. I’ve felt uncomfortable spreading the messages I thought I’d love spreading. Recently I’ve gotten wrapped up in wanting to get home. I kept thinking about the phrase: “when you focus on what you lack, you lose what you have. When you focus on what you have, you gain what you lack.”

I also listened to a Lives Well Lived podcast episode with Rutger Bregman and was reminded about my ambition to have a real impact in this world. Lately, as I said, I’ve felt more selfish, and I’ve felt so confused about what I want to do. I’ve been feeling quite overwhelmed and despondent about my life goals. But it’s possible to have a significant positive impact AND serve myself and be happy. In fact, having that impact will make me happy. I think I’ve gotten caught up in doing things for myself and forgotten that I truly love trying to do good in this world.

I wasn’t thrilled to be leaving Percé as I knew it’d be a bit of a slog through the headwind. At least I’d still be riding along the water. I could continue watching the Gannets dive for fish. There was still hope to spot whales, and even though I never did, I loved looking for them.

My campsite was wonderful. I shared it with a woman on a road trip to Nova Scotia and a couple who were exploring the peninsula in their car. It’s always nice to be around other people.

Day 54

Grand-Riviére to New Carlisle, QC — 54

Total miles: 2,583

Again, I’m glad I jotted down notes on this day so my memory is jogged as I return to complete my reflections.

I got an early start and spontaneously decided to shave my mustache and goatee. It was all feeling itchy and hot, so I said to hell with it!

There were some rolling hills and some steep hills, plus lovely headwinds to keep me on my toes.

It was a scorcher with minimal shade/cloud cover all day so I took plenty of breaks, including a swim and a nap on the beach at Mcinnis Cove.

I found more — A LOT more — dumpster pastries behind a Circle K before bouncing through the potholes of New Carlisle and down the dirt road to the train caboose I’d call home for a couple days.

My hosts were incredible from the moment I arrived. It can be tough to know if they actually want to host you when conversing through text. Sometimes their messages are vague and feel uninterested. But they’re almost always just as excited to see me as I am to see them. I got a lovely tour of their homes and property directly on the beach. I met about 15 family members and was promptly asked if I liked sugar, then given a cookie.

Although I had the opportunity to sleep in a teepee, I chose a room in the caboose. Having just biked for the last nine days without rest, I thought it would be wise to give myself the best opportunity for good sleep as possible. Before I retired, I shared a lovely meal and conversation with Ann. Eventually her husband, Guy (pronounced “Gee” but not like “gee whiz”, instead say the G like you would in “guy”), came by and commented how interesting it was that his wife studied English (or maybe literature or writing) but he, as a PE teacher, was the one who had written a book. He insisted I take a copy.

Later, the family and friends from the town sat around a fire listening to songs that never finished because Guy’s younger brother Edgar couldn’t wait to play the next in the queue. I loved witnessing the family banter and feeling welcomed into it myself, despite having just arrived hours ago. I answered the usual questions about my bike tour, but also got into great discussion about dumpster diving, health, physical activity, and religion, mostly with two of Ann and Guy’s nephews who were my age. Though exhausted, I felt like I could sit around that fire forever. I think it was here when I fully realized just how much I needed community in my life.

Day 55

New Carlisle, QC — Rest day

Total miles: 2,583

I really want to catch up on past days, but I’m in a beautiful place with amazing people and don’t want to spend much time on my phone. I’m thinking about asking if I can stay another day here. Honestly, I’d love to stay for a week. Ann and Guy are so so kind, and there are people hanging out here all the time. I feel like I’m part of the family. …and I’m very tired so another rest day would be lovely :)

I don’t remember doing much on this day. I think I just slept and followed Guy and Edgar around, listening to their stories from their childhood in New Carlisle. This town is a rare place in Quebec where there is a strong English speaking community. Guy and Edgar grew up with a French mother and Canadian father so were fluent in both as kids. Guy is bilingual and Ann is fluent in French, although she grew up in an English speaking town in New Brunswick. As I understood their teasing, out of Guy’s six other siblings, Edgar is the least capable French speaker. But he’s certainly the most fluent in math, and pushing people’s buttons.

With some hesitation, I awkwardly sat on the porch with Ann to ask if I could stay one more night to continue resting. I was confident she would say yes, but it’s still a bit of an uncomfortable ask. I’m so glad I asked and she said yes — come back next week to learn why :)

This evening was much like the first, except with no fire because of a fire ban in the area. Again, Edgar insisted on DJing, starting many songs, finishing very few. Edgar also delivered on the sugar pie — a Quebec thing — that he had been talking about since the moment I arrived. It’s literally a pie of sugar.

Day 40

Montreal, QC — Last rest day

Total miles: 1,724

I’m at La Fontaine Park waiting anxiously for an email to let me know that my bike is ready to ride. They didn’t receive my email yesterday approving the work order, so it’s a good thing I checked in person this afternoon. I wish I checked earlier today, but alas. They’re installing a new chain, truing my wheel, and adjusting my brakes, but if they don’t finish it by the end of the day, I will just get my bike and buy a chain to put on myself. The rest is not essential. Honestly, I wouldn’t be too stressed about it but I’ll be riding the next couple of days with someone from Montreal so I want to be respectful of his schedule. We’re taking a train out of the city tomorrow morning, then riding to Sorel-Tracy. We’ll take two more days after that to get to Quebec City, then he’ll head back and I’ll continue on my own for the first time in over a month. I’m excited and nervous!

It’s funny and frustrating how low energy I’ve been during these rest days. I guess it makes sense after 1,700 miles. The “startup cost” to get going each day is quite high, but once I’m moving it’s okay.

I love how many parks are in this city, and how many people are always enjoying them! I think I’ve been over-idolizing Montreal a little while I’ve been here. I definitely think it’s a great city, but I can’t really know what it’s like after a few days (of perfect weather, too). Thoughts of moving here have been dancing around my mind but I don’t think that makes sense. I would like to try living somewhere else, even in a new country, but Montreal has pretty brutal winters and I don’t think I could handle it. Maybe I’d like it, but I don’t think it’s worth entering some sort of Master’s program just hoping that I would.

I also really do think I’d like to be closer to family. Montreal isn’t actually that far but it’s not close either. Baltimore, DC, or somewhere else on the East Coast makes a lot more sense. Maybe I continue traveling, though. Bike down south and then across the country again to meet my friend in LA. I’ll have to see how cheaply I can live for the rest of this trip, and whether or not I can get insurance in case I get hit by a car or something.

Part of me regrets reaching out to my new biking buddy (his name is Anas; he’s originally from Morocco and has been in Montreal for 10 years). I’m eager to be on my own now. It’ll just be three days, though, so I think it’ll be worthwhile. So far he’s a really nice guy and seems quite knowledgeable.

This park is truly wonderful. The weather is perfect, there’s a great breeze, and there’s a perfect amount of ambient chatter, natural sounds, and live music in the distance. They’re playing Hallelujah right now — Leonard Cohen is a Montreal legend.

Now that I’ve spent more time with my Anas I’m really glad we’ll be riding together for a couple days. We’re getting along well and the vibes just feel good. My mood is also lifted because I have my bike back! After three days of walking everywhere it felt like a dream to ride to Anas’s place. Walking is great but I like biking :)

I’m very excited to be getting back on the road tomorrow. I’m also very tired but Anas is still getting some of his stuff ready, so I’m writing this. He cooked a really delicious tofu dish for us, which was so nice and unexpected. I feel a cold sore developing on my bottom lip so hopefully the neosporin I just put on it will nip it in the bud.

I’ve spoken a few times about how I like to withhold any expectations as much as I can, especially when doing a trip like this. It’s definitely easier said than done. It’s tough to not let my own and others’ expectations take hold and affect the way I experience things. A big one for me is thinking that this should feel sort of like a movie. But more often than not, I’m just living. It certainly doesn’t feel special all the time. But when I think about it, it is really special. I rode my bike to Montreal. And I’m about to ride it even further. It’s funny to self-reflect right now because I have so many conflicting thoughts. I’m eager to get on the road again, but also wish I could hangout in Montreal longer. I miss home and want to see family, but also excited to go further from home. I’m considering bike adventuring even more after this trip while also considering settling down somewhere close to family. I will continue to trust that what’s right for me will come in time. I reckon I’ll look back on this time with quite a lot of fondness.

Day 41

Montreal, QC to La Visitation-de-l'Île-Dupas, QC — 78 miles

Total miles: 1,802

There are mosquitos in my tent. And it’s hot. But I’m happy. I’m with a new friend, who is riding with me to Quebec City and we’re camping in a beautiful little garden on an island on the St. Lawrence River. There’s a sign for no camping but Anas camped here before with no problems. I definitely wouldn’t do this by myself. I guess I’m compromising my values a little by doing this. We’re not hurting anyone or the garden, but still.

Aside from a little uneasiness about camping here, I’m very happy. It was a great day of biking. I felt a bit dehydrated for the first time in a while because of the heat today. Water tasted so good all day. We found our lunch and dinner in the dumpster behind a convenience store. It was all meat sandwiches — except for a delicious pasta salad — so I had a hefty amount of meat for the first time in over three years. They were all still cold so I’m not very worried about food poisoning, but my stomach doesn’t feel great. I think there’s a good chance it’s because my gut microbes are super confused about having meat. I used to have the mindset that I didn’t want to eat meat from any animal just like I wouldn’t want to eat meat from a dog or a human. I guess I don’t anymore. I feel more flexible on this because I know how nuanced nutrition is. I believe the vast majority of us can be very healthy without any animal products. But I don’t think absolutely everyone can. Most of us should probably eat significantly less animal products for nothing else but personal health, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be part of a healthy diet.

Anyway, at this point in my life, animal products that are being thrown away are no longer off the table. I just don’t think of it the same way as purchasing them. I guess I’m able to do what a lot of us do in normal life: shove the reality of animal agriculture way to the back of my brain. Because it truly is disturbing, disgusting, and heartbreaking. At least the majority of animal agriculture. I know there are some farms where animals live natural and fulfilling lives, but it’s a BIG emphasis on some. Ok, let me step down from my soap box by saying that I do not want to attack or judge anyone for their food choices. I also don’t want to not talk about what I believe to be one of the most important issues in our world today. If what you just read bothered you, made you sad, or piqued your interest, please leave a comment or message me directly. I’d love to talk more and share resources. I also still need to dedicate an entire blog post to veganism. Until then, check out one or more of these documentaries: Cowspiracy, Seaspiracy, What The Health, Gamechangers, Forks Over Knives, Eating Animals, Dominion.

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Good lord it’s hot in this tent!! I am sweating just as much as I did riding my bike! There’s also lightning starting to flash and rumblings of thunder in the distance. I think we’re in for some rain until late morning tomorrow 😅

I don’t have much to say about today. It was cool riding with Anas and seeing more of rural Quebec. The St. Lawrence River is beautiful. Anas is a pretty chill dude — I mean, when we met he was picking mulberries. He’s got a fair amount of bike knowledge and has been going on short tours for 7 years I think he said. He hasn’t done any long ones, though. It’s like other people have responsibilities or something. Weird.

Speaking for responsibilities, I personally feel a great deal of responsibility to serve people and the Earth. As much as I criticize myself and question this trip, I think I am doing at least some service to the world. I’m preventing a teeny tiny fraction of food waste, but perhaps inspiring some of you or people I meet to do the same. Similarly, I’m traveling without fossil fuels (although we did take a train out of Montreal to start our ride in St Jerome… and we’re taking a ferry tomorrow) and experimenting with how that works. And I’m using all second hand gear to do it. I really love my second hand gear. Some stuff is falling apart but I’m coming up with solutions to make it last longer, which is really rewarding to me. I have purchased new tubes and new handlebar grips, but I don’t think anything else. Although I very well might buy a new frame pump because mine is less than useless, as well as new tires because mine are starting to wear out and I’m getting more flats. It’ll also be nice to get some thicker tires to make my bike more capable on gravel and dirt. So, yeah, I think I’m doing okay, but I’d like to do way more. Maybe I’ll be able to figure out how to get there through biking, or I’ll get into something very different and biking will have to just be my mode of transportation and a hobby.

I am literally drenched in sweat. I think it’s partially because my phone is quite warm. Maybe it’s the meat sweats!! Maybe I’m dying. I shouldn’t joke about that… but if you’re reading this I’m alive, so yay :)

I’ve been pondering the idea of getting into policy/politics. It honestly does not seem like something I’d enjoy but I’ve surprised myself before. And if I was good at my job I could make some pretty big positive impact. I have an acquaintance who works in Capitol Hill and encouraged me to get into similar work so maybe I will contact her again.

My friend Claire who has a large following on instagram has been moving away from the platform because of its negative impacts. I’m thinking of doing the same (if you read this post, you know that I did). I really enjoy posting updates, but also feel weird about it. There’s a small chance I could be something of an influencer, but that just sounds yucky. I feel like it’s a one way ticket to insanity and probably compromising my values. I like writing and Substack is nothing like instagram so maybe I put more energy into this (regardless of if I’m trying to make some sort of living from it). I could experiment with deleting instagram for a while, and only posting on Substack to see how I feel. It bums me out to think about the people who won’t get to see what I’m up to… but if they really wanted to they could read my blog! So yeah, I think I’ll do that soon :)

Ok, I’m gonna try to sleep in my puddle of a sleeping pad.

Day 42

La Visitation-de-l'Île-Dupas, QC to Warwick, QC — 75 miles

Total Miles: 1,877

I didn’t write anything on this day, but I remember it as a quintessential day on a bike tour. A long day complete with rain, sun, flat tires, wildfire smoke, surprises, a 2-pound sandwich, and wild camping.

I don’t remember much from the first half of the ride. I just know we were damp with light rain for a while and five minutes after pumping up my rear tire at a repair station on the trail, it exploded. We got eaten by mosquitoes while I replaced my tube. I was re-inflating my leaky tubes for the rest of the day. Eventually, I swapped front and rear tires because the rear was much more worn, and with the extra weight was more prone to punctures. I was getting pretty flustered but Anas was super cool about it, happy to just chillout while I dealt with my bike.

We had hoped to find a warmshowers host but never heard back from the nearby options. Looking at the maps on our phones, there were a few places that looked promising for wild camping but we weren’t sure. Then, out of nowhere (at least that’s what it seemed like) the air was filled with smoke. We pulled over to investigate the cause and ponder our options. Though the smoke was gross and concerning, I’m glad we continued — the next 20 miles were very memorable!

First, we found dinner, dessert, and breakfast behind a little grocery store in the town down the road.

As the sun sunk closer to the horizon, my mood rose to meet it. I always enjoy riding in the evening, so the last few days were really nice. We saw a few spots that would be okay for camping, but not great. Then we came to a house under construction. There weren’t any no trespassing signs and we almost chose it as our hotel for the night but I chickened out. Even though it’d be Saturday the next morning, I was worried someone might come to the jobsite and catch us before we left. It would’ve been a great story… but alas! We carried on towards Warwick, with the plan to set up camp at the park near the school. But about a mile outside of town we found the perfect spot — a public park with no signs prohibiting camping. It was right next to the main road, so a tad noisy at times, but not bad. There was also a sweet covered bridge — I slept on one side and Anas on the other side. I meant to take a photo of our set ups, but I forgot :(

Day 43

Warwick, QC to Quebec City, QC — 81 miles

Total miles: 1,958

Another day, another day-late reflection.

We woke up to soaking wet tents because the air temperature dropped so much overnight, causing some crazy condensation. No big deal, though. The ride was incredibly flat and straight, almost all on a bike path through a few small towns.

First stop was Victoriaville where I shelled out some cash for new tires that should be nearly bulletproof. I’m nervous to look at my tires this morning because I asked the guys at the shop to keep one tube and replace the other that had a slow leak… they did the reverse. I should’ve just gotten two new tubes. It wouldn’t be much of a problem, but new tires (especially Schwalbe — the brand I got) can be a huge pain to take off and put on. Oh well, that’s a problem for later. I admit that I was getting bored after a while. As wonderful as it is to have such good bike infrastructure, it can make for not-so-exciting rides. I’m sure I’ll be wishing I had that bike path later on when cars are whizzing by me.

We made it to Quebec City around 7pm, and arrived to a very warm welcome from our hosts 30 minutes later. I don’t think I’ve washed so much dirt off myself before! I guess that’s what happens after three days without a shower. Our hosts prepared a lovely dinner that started with bruschetta, then a delicious lentil & tomato dish, and finally melon dipped in dumpster chocolate. Yep, dumpster chocolate! Anas and I had been checking dumpsters all day with no luck until 10 miles outside Quebec City. We had given up and decided to take a break at Tim Horton’s before finishing the ride. We skipped the Dollarama at first but it’s a good thing I went back, or else pounds of cookies and chocolate bars would be going to the landfill! The best part is that when I mentioned this to our hosts, they were enthusiastic and even shared their own stories of dumpster diving. I retrieved my bag to show our goodies and was met with pure joy — the chocolate bars are Carol’s favorite! We were already enjoying the melons I bought for dessert, so Kevin suggested we melt some chocolate bars to take it to the next level. Seriously, I couldn’t make up a better outcome! So fun and hilarious. I loved our evening with Kevin, Carol, and their adorable 5-week-old daughter, Azelie!

Day 44

Quebec City (rest day)

Total miles: 1,958

Warmshowers hosts are amazing. Last night’s hosts were so kind and fun, and the same is true tonight.

Anas decided to stick around for a rest day today too so we had a lovely slow morning with our hosts. We took a morning walk with Kevin and Azelie before breakfast, then biked around some of the city with Kevin. We eventually made it to a big waterfall called Chute Montmorency. It was cool — all natural water is to me — but I was surprised by how many tourists (I assume) were there. Rather than wait in line and pay (I think) to enter, we went off the beaten path along a railroad track to get a closer look. There weren’t any signs indicating you couldn’t go there, so 🤷‍♂️

We spent the rest of the day riding around looking for food in dumpsters — we found tons of pastries. I’ll miss having a companion to “dive” with, but also feeling more and more excited to continue my trip alone. No matter how good your chemistry is with your bike partner there will always be compromises. My natural tendency is to go with whatever the other person wants to do, and most of the time I really like that! I’m happy in most situations but I also need to be better about speaking up/being clear with what I want. Sometimes my “go with the flow” attitude leads me to feeling resentful which is certainly worse than just saying outright that I would prefer x over y. I’m interested to see what I do when I have the ultimate freedom of bike touring alone. It’s a bit scary, though!

Our hosts tonight are Françoise and Hugo. Although they would be away guiding a camping trip, Françoise was very kind to offer tent space for us on Saturday. Since we had an option for showers and indoor space with Kevin and Carol, we stayed with them. But when I spoke with Françoise on the phone on Friday, she was very excited to have her first warmshowers guests and sounded so nice. I knew I wanted to stay with her at least one night. We arrived at their place before them and were greeted with lots of enthusiasm. She explained how she’s used warmshowers a lot as a guest but hasn’t been able to host until now, so it’s an honor to be her first guest!! She really is a joy. Very sweet, happy, fun, and welcoming. Hugo is much more low-key, but also very kind. We didn’t get to hangout much because everyone was pooped, but we’re going to make dinner together tomorrow (minus Anas 🥲).

Day 45

Quebec City, QC (rest day 2)

I love the new friends and community that comes from warmshowers but man is it tedious and time consuming to set up hosts! I’ve spent at least an hour sending messages to hosts for the next couple of days. It’s 1000% worth the time though!

Anas is packing up to head back to Montreal and I’m planning my days going in the other direction. After he leaves I might go back to sleep. Then I want to finally catch up on all my missed reflections and take a ride/walk into Old Quebec. I also need to replace my rear tube because the guys at the shop kept the tube with the slow leak instead of the good one :( In hindsight I should’ve just gotten two new tubes. It seems so obvious now. But at the time it seemed obvious to keep using the one that was working just fine. I’m really dreading replacing that tube because I know the new tire is going to be so tight.

I was so wrong! In fact, that was the least I’ve struggled to put on a tire :) I just need to find a real pump tomorrow to bring it up to full pressure. It’s so funny how much I dreaded replacing that tube because I thought it would be such a bad experience, and it turned out to be a breeze. Life!

Surprise surprise, I didn’t catch up on past reflections today. I did something much more important: sleep! I think I napped for 2-3 hours in the middle of the day. I spent my afternoon riding to Old Quebec and enjoying the European style architecture. It was pretty crowded with tourists. As a rule I’d much rather sit on the beach, at a park, or in a forest than go sightseeing but I enjoyed it today. Especially since I stumbled upon an impressive street performance; the guy was charismatic and talented. I wish it was more common for people to make their living doing things like that rather than trading stocks or selling useless plastic stuff. I often wish I felt so strongly connected to a craft like I assume this performer is. Right now I have many potential paths and none are calling to me louder than the other. Perhaps he felt similarly when he was 25.

Actually, what has been calling the loudest is teaching. Specifically, physical education. If you’ve been reading my blogs for a while you know how much I enjoyed my environmental education internship. So, I love teaching. Kids are fun. I know we need more and better teachers in the world. I’d have summers off to go bike touring or do other things. I could coach soccer as well. It seems like it’d be a relatively simple and fulfilling life! I guess I’m not fully sold because I wonder if I could have a greater impact elsewhere. People always talk about how important teachers are, and I agree. They can truly change lives. But is it the best way to spend my life? Will I feel satisfied with how I’m contributing to the health of our planet? I’m sure I can weave sustainability and environmentalism into my teaching. Maybe it’ll lead to something more effective than I can even imagine. Or maybe I stick with environmental ed and weave more physical education into it?

Enough of that jabbering. Françoise and Hugo are amazing people! All of my hosts in Quebec have been fantastic. I’ve felt a real and immediate connection with all of them. As usual, I’m sad to be leaving tomorrow. It feels like the start of a new trip tomorrow, not day 46. I think that’s how I’ll look at it as well. The last few days with Anas have been a short trip. The first month with Jima was its own trip. And now I’m beginning another new trip. Tomorrow will be day one of biking from Quebec City to Gaspé. I’m feeling more and more excited about biking alone. I won’t have to check with anyone about taking a break, I won’t have to feel bad if I get a flat tire or other mechanical problems, I can change my route without consulting with anyone, I can dive in any dumpster I feel like. This isn’t to say that I felt impeded by a biking buddy, it’ll just be different. I’m sure I will get lonely soon enough. But who knows?!

Day 46

Quebec City to Montmagny, QC — 69 miles

Total miles: 2,027

My first night completely alone (except for the mosquitoes)! It’s very interesting to notice my anxiety at this time. Not so much because I’m worried I’m in danger, although that’s on my mind a little, but more because I’m just alone. It’s me and my thoughts. I am completely responsible for myself. I have to entertain myself/be okay with not being entertained. I feel similar to how I felt during the Vipassana retreat I did in early 2023. Fortunately, I don’t feel quite so anxious as I did during the toughest days of the retreat. Maybe that will change. I’m really grateful for the experiences I’ve had up to now that make it a little easier for me to be comfortable when I’m uncomfortable. I can trust that ultimately it will be okay. Furthermore, I know that if it gets really hard, that means more personal growth. So, while I don’t wish for it to get harder, I feel a little excitement thinking about the possibility of facing new challenges. I’m also grateful for this “journal” to help me get thoughts out of my head and look at them a little differently.

I’m in my tent in a municipal park in a little town on the St. Lawrence River. There are a few other people here now, but I think I’ll be fine. There aren’t any signs indicating that camping is prohibited so I’m not trying to hide. There’s probably a small chance that someone calls the police on me, but I don’t know the vibes of people in this town.

I originally planned to go much farther today, but I’m very glad I stopped around 60 miles. My last host, Françoise, advised me to do shorter days in this section and longer ones after Rimouski where the roads aren’t as nice or scenic (spoiler, they’re all scenic). Today was certainly gorgeous and I’ll be riding along the river for the next 3 or 4 days :)

I’m torn between using warmshowers more or continuing to stop whenever I find a good place to camp. I really liked the freedom I felt today. I took a few long breaks during the day, even having a short nap at one point. Then I dumpster dived and hung around the bigger town area for a while. I called my family using the wifi at a Tim Horton’s before getting back on the bike to look for a place to sleep. I saw lots of solid options before this park but decided to keep going since I had more energy and light. When I have a warmshowers host set up, I feel more pressure all day long to make sure I’m there at a reasonable time. I think I have to be more conservative with the miles I plan to do in one day. If there’s a host 50 miles away, great! But if they’re 80 miles away, ehhhh I dunno. I would actually like to do some longer days but my butt is really starting to hold me back. I’ve got saddle sores now that make it quite uncomfortable after a few hours on the bike. I think I can manage it if I take more breaks.

I love the small interactions I have with people throughout the day. As I was leaving Quebec City, I asked a woman in if she had a bike pump and she didn’t speak English so we had a fun conversation that neither of us understood. She was very sweet, though, and I felt like she sent me away with good luck. Maybe 45 minutes after that a man started speaking to me in French. I told him I can only speak English, and I think he said he doesn’t speak English, but I didn’t realize that until I biked away. So I was just kind of looking at him and he started laughing, and continued laughing as I biked away. It was pretty funny. An older man taught me a few phrases in French on the bike path, which I forgot very quickly. It’s funny, I thought for sure I had them locked in, but nope! Another cyclists asked me, “Commet allez-vous” and all I could say was, “sorry I don’t know French”. This was what the phrase the man had taught me. It means “how are you?” In the evening I was repeating to myself “Je suis desole, Je ne parle pas Francais” which should (🤞) mean, “I’m sorry, I don’t speak French”. I think it’ll be nice if I can at least say that in French. I also want to memorize “can I fill my water?” And “do you know where I can camp?” It’ll be interesting to see how much French I’m able to learn. I have very low expectations. It’s so cool to be relatively close to home surrounded by people who speak a different language.

A big part of me wants to turn around and head home. Because if I bike all around the Gaspesie that will be at least another two weeks. Plus three (?) more weeks to get home. That’s a long time! And I miss home. At the same time, that’s just life. The thing or place or person or whatever you don’t have now can be very attractive. It would be really nice if I could just teleport home for a day or two then teleport back. But I can’t! And unless something changes dramatically, I’m at least going to Gaspé before coming home. Then Acadia in Maine, and a few more friends in the Northeast.

My anxiety has dropped significantly since I started writing. I’d like to go to sleep but I don’t feel very tired yet. Usually that changes when I stop writing and start reading :)

Day 47

Montmagny to Rivière-du-Loup, QC — 84 miles

Total miles: 2,111

I didn’t write anything on this day, largely because I got kicked out of my first wild camping spot!

Thinking back on this day, I’ve just realized that I started the day being “caught” and ended it being “caught”. I left camp early and stopped at the market a few miles down the road to check their dumpster. It was probably the most food I’ve seen in the trash with my own eyes. There was hardly any actual garbage. It was all produce, pastries, breads, pies, meats, everything! Truly was a shame. As I picked through my options I heard a car pull into the lot. A couple minutes later the employee who must have just arrived for his shift walks by and starts speaking to me in French. He appeared to be somewhat annoyed, but not upset. I replied with the only phrase I knew: “Je suis desole, je ne parle pas francis.” He seemed to acknowledge that I couldn’t understand him, but continued to speak French. Maybe he couldn’t speak English. I looked at him with blank eyes, shrugged, and said “sorry.” Then he just waved his had at me as if to say “whatever, not my problem” and carried on into the store. I chuckled to myself several times throughout the day thinking about this. It still makes me chuckle today.

After this exciting start to the day, I remember feeling a bit weird. It was a gloomy day which I think was impacting my mood, but I wasn’t sad, mad, scared, or anxious. I definitely wasn’t full of joy or excitement either. I can’t really put my finger on how I was feeling. My eyes filled with tears and goosebumps covered my arms when a Bald Eagle took flight from a rock in the River and seemed to fly alongside me for 30 seconds or so. Whatever weird emotions I was feeling were replaced with awe and gratitude. That felt like a really special moment. Like a sign that I was meant to be there and I could let go of my worries and just keep pedaling.

I sat under a tree by the River for little while to let the rain calm down, then continued pedaling. This was the first day riding along the St. Lawrence when the terrain really started to change. To my right were small, rocky mountains and to my left was the constantly gorgeous St. Lawrence River. There were more hills to climb and the River grew wider every minute.

At times, the sun broke through the gray sky, offering warmth and hope for a dry evening.

I remember this day feeling especially long. My motivation waned after lunch, and I fell back into that weird emotional space from the morning. My surroundings were becoming more and more beautiful, though.

I may have found a more secluded place to wild camp had I not stopped by the town’s weekly square dancing (maybe other types of dancing too?). As I biked through the town, I followed the sound of American country music to a crowd of people watching another crowd of people dancing. I found it fascinating and exciting to find French-Canadians ~300 miles from the US border in a small town dancing their hearts out to country music. It put a big smile on my face and I watched for at least 15 minutes. I briefly chatted with someone who noticed all my gear, but I couldn’t muster up the courage to ask if I could camp at their house. I thought about going in to dance, but didn’t have the guts for that either. To be fair, these people had all the moves down pact; I’m not sure it was a place for novices. By the time I left, it was almost dark.

“Kicked out” isn’t quite accurate… I was compassionately asked to leave. I had just laid down in my tent when I heard some voices nearby, then “bonjour” definitely directed towards me. I returned the greeting but when they spoke again, I fell silent, trying to remember French phrases. Rather quickly, the kid (he was maybe my age or younger) switched to perfect English, and told me I couldn’t camp there. I felt bad because I could tell he was pretty nervous — I’m sure he never had to do anything like this before — but I think I did a good job remaining calm and kind myself. When I explained what I was doing, I could tell he relaxed more, though the situation was still uncomfortable. The park I had set up in was right on the River, next to a little restaurant that was closing for the night. I assume he worked at the restaurant, so maybe they own they park too? Regardless of the details, I appreciated the way he handled the situation — he even called the nearby campgrounds to check if they had space for me.

If I had set up my tent 20 minutes later, no one would have seen me. And I probably could have stayed in the park after he left and had no problems, but I figured there was no point in risking getting in real trouble. Especially since the campground was less than a mile away and not too expensive. So, not only did I set up my tent in total darkness for the first time, I also packed up all my stuff in the pitch black darkness. I rode up the hill to the campground, had a nice little chat with the guy at the gate, and set my tent up once again. I figured since I was there, I might as well take advantage of the amenities, so I took a shower and used the campground wifi to plan routes and message warmshowers hosts.

When I started feeling crummy on my bike trip, I passed the time scrolling on instagram and facebook and watching youtube videos for hours laying in bed. Honestly, it probably hindered my recovery at least a little. The trend continued after returning home. In a lot of ways, it’s been really nice to relax while watching movies and TV, and even using social media. But I can also feel it weighing on me. I know there are other ways to spend my time that will be far more fulfilling. Instagram and facebook are the main problems for me. It’s been a long time since I’ve spent more than a few minutes scrolling on these apps, and it does not feel good to be back in a habit of mostly mindless consumption. It’s hard to believe how addictive they are. How easy it is to watch “just one more” video that adds nothing to my life. That’s not to say there isn’t valuable content on social media. There’s just so much crap. And even if it was all amazing stuff, it’s not my real life. That might be the wort part. The way you can be pulled away from your own life to watch the lives of others — often strangers you’ll never meet. It also often makes me feel sad and hopeless when I see people arguing in the comments or speaking so negatively about another person or group of people online. I can’t help but read the comments even though I know they’ll make me sad. It’s like the people who yell at me while biking: most of them wouldn’t say anything if they weren’t protected by a big metal box just like the idiots online would act completely different face to face.

I too feel protected by my keyboard and screen. Although I’m exposing myself to a little over a hundred people (and potentially the whole world), it feels easier to share some of my beliefs, ideas, and feelings here on substack than face to face with friends and family. It’s a strange thing that I have to say I’m grateful for. Unfortunately, it also enables people to be bullies. More than bullies, I think people can be downright cruel and evil on the internet with minimal risk of consequences. Perhaps most don’t quite realize what they’re doing. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized just how narrow my world views were. And while social media likely helped me expand my world views, it also does a great job keeping us siloed into our echochanmbers. The algorithms show us mostly what we want to see, making us feel more self-righteous and have less tolerance for other perspectives. Online, it seems like very few people want to engage in any sort of conversation, they just want to be right. The great irony is that I see people from every group claim this about the other groups without realizing they’re doing the same exact thing. This is what I believe, anyway.

Okay, I’m getting sidetracked. There was a time when I had a healthy relationship with social media and the internet. I used them sparingly and enjoyed posting my own stuff. Unfortunately, that is not the case today. I’m spending way too much time on them, and can’t seem to find a balance. The last week without instagram has been remarkably lovely. I concede that it very easily could be a coincidence, but I have truly felt happier and more interested in my own life. I rode my bike for fun, spent more time with family, read more, and just felt lighter. I justify keeping facebook on my phone by saying I need it to look for apartments, which I think is pretty valid. But I still get sucked into mindless scrolling on there. I’m going to delete it right now, actually. I’ll just use my laptop to look on marketplace and message lanlords. Liberating myself from this little addiction and distraction from the real world will be worth the minor loss of convenience. I’ve taken the same actions several times in the past, and have never regretted it. Maybe this will be the last time. Maybe one day I will go as far as deleting my accounts. For now, I’m happy to create a little bit more separation between me and social media.

I’ve also been thinking about practicing a non-religious sabbath for the better part of a year. This would mean taking one day every week to truly rest — no work, no shopping, no technology. It’s almost unfathomable that I’ve wanted to try this for so long and have not even done it once. That’s how entangled I had become in social media and the internet. I think part of my motivation for the bike tour was to force myself into untangling myself. It worked quite well, but evidently, it also didn’t. I have come up all kinds of reasons why I need to check my email or text someone or… write a blog post. Even now I want to say I’ll just do it tomorrow, but what if a landlord messages me? Now’s not the right time… But there will always be something, won’t there?

This morning I finished reading Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy, the third book I’ve read since coming home. I flew through this one in three days and the one before it (Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo) in a week, thanks largely to spending less time looking at my phone. It helped that they’re also — in my opinion — fantastic books. Although these are works of fiction, it feels much more real to spend quiet, intentional time reading them and letting my imagination work for the entertainment. The authors create the stories, but so does the reader. Social media is so bite-sized that even when I am inspired by a post, I soon forget about it. The inspiration I get from literature is substantial and longer lasting. I cried reading all three of the books I finished this month. In fact, Wild Dark Shore made me feel more intense emotions than I felt on my bike trip. Again, I’m getting a little sidetracked. I encourage everyone to read a little fiction this month :)

So, why am I taking the time to write this? I guess like most of my posts, it helped me reflect further on my habits and choices. As I wrote more about my challenges, I realized I wanted to delete facebook and youtube in addition to instagram. I’m excited for this reset. I’m optimistic it will naturally lead to more positive changes that help me live better, with more appreciation for all of life. Rather than sleepwalking through the day — jumping from my email inbox to instagram to facebook marketplace and all around again — I know I will start to wake up again. Right now I have no specific goals, but I imagine myself doing all of this more:

• Read — for pleasure and education/self-improvement

• Write

• Move my body

• Think my own thoughts

• Cook for my family

• Play

• Sleep

• Talk to friends

• Go outside

• Smile

All because I won’t be on social media. Maybe I’m being too ambitious. Maybe I’m villainizing social media more than it deserves. I’m excited to find out.

Shoutout to my friend Claire for always having thoughtful conversations with me, and helping inspire this move away from social media. Check out her substack and youtube! …but also don’t spend too much time online :)

I want to invite you to read my friend Emily’s latest blog post about her bike travel this past spring. Some of what she shares will sound familiar and some will be completely unique. Emily includes beautiful photos and descriptions of the plants she passes, and brings you into her fascinating world as a natural builder. Check it out!

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Day 32

Berwick, ME to Portland, ME — 55 miles

Total miles: 1,442

I feel quite melancholy. I don’t fully know what I feel. I’m tired. I don’t want to write. I don’t want to go to the grocery store tomorrow. I don’t want to talk to people. I feel sick about the world and all the sickness that exists. I know I won’t feel like this for very long, and I’m incredibly grateful for all the wonderful people and natural beauty of this world. Right now though, I am sad and frustrated and I want to give up. But I won’t. I can’t.

Why do I get to do this while so many suffer? Why am I smiled at while others are frowned at? What do I do about that? Do I truly care? Am I fundamentally different from the millions of humans all across the world who suffer tremendously? Am I any different from the people who scowl at homeless people?

On Thursday we will be back on the road, and Sunday we will be in Montreal. That’s crazy! Even though we would’ve been there already if we hadn’t taken the detour. I have no idea what the second half of the trip is going to be like. I’ve never bike toured alone before (aside from the first few days of this trip). I might find someone in Montreal to join me for part of it, but maybe not.

Gosh I just want to dissolve into this mattress. I don’t feel like I’m capable of living the life I want to. To help the world in the way it needs. I don’t know if my expectations for myself are too high or my confidence and desire are too low. I don’t know how much of this I will share publicly, but I hope I have the guts to share it all. I want to be real and honest. I want y’all to see what I think about and how I feel. And right now I’m wondering what the hell I’m doing. Am I being unbelievably self-centered to spend months riding my bike, claiming it as a way to learn and connect with myself? Or is it actually filling those needs? Am I inspiring anyone at all to live differently?

I passed out after writing the above last night. I’m feeling slightly less overwhelmed but still full of sadness and grief. I had some pretty awful dreams last night. In some I was living in a dystopian future, others felt more close to now and I could vividly see all the destruction and harm we’re causing, others I was being a selfish jerk at parties. I’ve had lots of vivid and crazy dreams during this trip. I haven’t remembered the details of any of them, though.

Just distracted myself with a little productivity — messaging potential warmshowers hosts in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. That will be our first stop in Canada before a celebratory century ride into Montreal. Pretty exciting! Although I just feel meh right now.

The ride into Portland was quite lovely. We took our time riding mostly on a bike path on the East Coast Greenway and had some really meaningful conversations. We didn’t know if we’d have place to sleep that night until Jima got a phone call maybe 15 miles into the ride. An Ulman employee and friend of Jima’s reached out to a family friend who lives just outside of the city and fortunately for us he was happy to have us.

Day 33

Portland, ME — Rest day

Total miles: 1,442

Will I ever catch up on these? Maybe eventually. Do I really want to? A lot of the time, no… hence needing to catch up on them. But in the big picture, yes I do. Writing these helps me process stuff in the moment, feel more gratitude, understand my feelings, and will help me remember these times in the future.

My rest day was very nice. I slept in a little and we had a slow morning chatting with our host in Falmouth (pronounced fal-muth… i think). I rode into Portland by myself and cried a little while listening to Mt. Joy. I don’t remember if there was anything specific making me cry, but I was glad to be getting some emotions out. I had some fun dumpster diving on the way into Portland, finding store-brand cheese-its and pork rinds behind a dollar store. Also in that dumpster was a bag full of children’s size crocs. What the heck? In another dumpster (I think CVS) I found some sweet Peanuts stickers and a bag of cookie mix!

In the city I rode around to a couple of thrift stores and bought a shirt for Jima. I always think I’ll enjoy thrifting but my interest wanes rapidly. I’ve found some great stuff in the past — one of the shirts I brought on this trip is from goodwill — but all shopping just bores me most of the time. I’m also always slightly concerned about leaving my bike outside so it makes the experience a little stressful.

I also went to a great bike shop called Port City Bikes. It’s operated by a very kind and helpful husband and wife. I bought new handlebar grips and a spare tube after talking with them for a while. I’m really glad I stopped in there because they gave me great recommendations for places to explore later.

On my way to the East End beach I stopped at the Portland Food Co-Op to get some dry goods for the next leg of the trip. I may have stolen some almonds… there was a full bag in the bulk section that no one claimed after at least 10 minutes, so I took it. A friend of mine told me that bulk stores have to throw out any bags that are filled and left behind, so I just put it in my bag 🤷‍♂️. I could have asked someone, but if they do throw it out then it would’ve gone to waste. Maybe I should have more belief/trust in a place like that. I think I’ve just seen SO much ridiculous waste, I automatically assume the worst. So I don’t know if I did the right or wrong thing. But now we have a lot of almonds.

The beach was really nice and I loved smelling the salt water. I enjoyed watching a guy learning to windsurf while I ate some lunch. Then I rode towards the marina on the trail that follows the coast. It was nice but upsetting once the mega yachts came into view. These massive ships make me sick as it is, but seeing them to my left with homeless and sick people asking for change on my right was depressing. What really breaks my heart is that the vast majority of us look at the people on the yachts as contributing members of society — people we should aspire to be like. And we look at people struggling like they’re the problem. Meanwhile one of those yachts is probably causing more harm in one day than the entire homeless population in Portland causes in a year. If by chance anyone reading this has a giant yacht, I would love to speak with you and hear your perspective. The important part isn’t the yacht, though. It’s our mindset. There’s a pressure to be better than the next person and strive for more all the time. To put all of our own wants before the needs of others. We all do it, at least to some extent. I’m doing it with this trip. I don’t think it’s fair to expect anyone to entirely forego personal desires. But man, does anyone really need a 50ft yacht? Or a $100,000 car? Or three houses? I feel like we can all compare ourselves to the next person and say “well look at them!” Regardless of how much we have, there will always be someone with more, which I think makes it easier to let ourselves us off the hook. But each of us only has control over our own life.

What is my point here? I guess I just want to encourage everyone (including myself) to reflect on what we have and how that impacts other people and the planet. How rich (materially) are we really, when considering all of the humans on Earth? Why do we need (or think we need) x, y, or z? Why do we want x, y, or z? Who do my choices hurt? How can I lower my negative impact and raise my positive impact?

So, yeah, I felt sad most of the day. But I kept moving. I did the things I needed to do. I enjoyed a swim in the salty Atlantic Ocean, and a slow stroll around Mackworth Island. On the bike ride “home” I listened to music and dumpster dived. I gotta be better about taking photos of the dumpsters to show y’all the absurdity of food waste.

The way the music combined with biking lifted my mood and energy was remarkable. I guess the sugar from the dumpster donuts could’ve played a part too… Nevertheless, it reminded me of when I first fell in love with biking in spring 2020. I’d go for rides on the roads near my home in Easton, listening to music and letting my mind wander. It turned into a tremendous way to get over a breakup and find peace. I’m so glad I stumbled upon this free therapy :)

To be clear, I don’t automatically think anyone who has multiple homes or expensive cars or boats or whatever is a bad person. Perhaps some people are just bad people… I dunno, I go back and forth on that. No matter what, I don’t think anyone is destined to be a bad person forever. Anyway, I just think we all think we’re the good guys and the other people are the bad guys. But the people we think are the bad guys, think they’re the good guys and we’re the bad ones! You catchin my drift? What if we’re all kinda bad? We don’t have to beat ourselves up about it, but we do have a responsibility to do something about it.

To close, I’ll quote Robin Greenfield, who I think is quoting Gandhi when he says “I choose to live simply so others may simply live.” I want to get to a point where I can say that with full authenticity. I’m getting there, but have a long way to go.

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Day 34

Portland, ME to Bethel, ME — 62 miles

Total miles: 1,504

We’ve come to the first day that I didn’t write anything that night or the following days. I’ll do my best to summarize the day.

I remember it started with a big hill and a relatively busy road with almost no shoulder. At least the first half of the ride was pretty unpleasant because of the road and traffic. Our surroundings were beautiful, but it was hard to enjoy. Eventually, the ride became enjoyable with more chill roads and lovely lakes. We really wanted to jump in one but all the beaches were private access for “taxpayers of [insert town name].” We had a good laugh about this.

The only other part of this day I remember is our host. They encouraged us to take food from their extensive garden and I gladly obliged. The snap peas were amazing. I gave my bike a little wash and chatted with my sister for about an hour. Our host didn’t make it home until after 8pm, but we enjoyed great conversation with her that night and the next morning. She was retired and full of energy. I was very pleasantly surprised when she not only supported my dumpster diving, but gave us bagels she had recently found in the dumpster! It was really encouraging to meet someone else doing the same thing :)

Day 35

Bethel, ME to Colebrook, NH — 63 miles

Total miles: 1,567

Another day I’ll have to write about entirely from memory. Luckily, this one was particularly memorable. For starters, before we started biking we hit our fundraising goal of $3,400 to support the Ulman Foundation’s work supporting young adults with cancer.

With the day off to a great start, we had some nervous excitement in anticipation of a hard day. 80+ miles and 6,000 feet of elevation gain if I remember correctly. It didn’t take long for us to start climbing, but man was it gorgeous. Both Jima and I were in great moods. The weather was perfect and the views were breathtaking.

We decided to throw caution to the wind when we passed a “road closed” sign at the bottom of the biggest hill of the day. Turning around would’ve meant 10 miles of backtracking, plus who knows how much extra mileage for the detour. Jima pulled ahead and I took my sweet time climbing the monstrous hill. I had to laugh a little when I saw him again. The road was most certainly closed. But turning around was hardly in our minds as an option at this point.

I don’t think pictures can fully encapsulate the comedy of us arriving to this ravine after passing a “road closed” sign… We asked the people working there if we could cross and they couldn’t have cared less. It wasn’t too difficult to cross, but it wasn’t easy either. The sides of the ravine were quite steep, so our best bet was balancing from rock to rock (see them on the left side of the first photo). Which is a little sketchy with a bike! We had to take our bags off and make a couple of trips to manage.

The climb resumed once we crossed the ravine and the downhill was magnificent. No matter how many times I struggle and curse my way up a hill, I’ll always forget all about it as I fly down the other side. There’s nothing like it!

Just past the bottom of the hill was the small town of Errol where we stopped for lunch. When Jima and I spotted the man approaching our picnic table we both had a feeling he wasn’t happy about us being there. But we were very wrong! This guy was super nice, and after about 10 minutes of chatting he invited us to fill our water at his house down the road. We finished lunch and biked a couple of miles to Kent’s awesome cabin overlooking Akers Pond. He showed us Moose antlers he had found tangled together — the two Moose must have died of starvation after getting locked together in a fight — and told stories of his grandmother. Kent was a bit of a cyclists as well and he highly recommended we stop by a bike shop in Colebrook owned by a guy named Jonathon.

I think one of the coolest, most amazing things about bike touring is the way random decisions and events lead to perfection, or at least as close to perfection as you can get. I guess the same can be said for life in general. Everything is just so clear and tangible while on the road. Anyway, had we sat down for lunch 20 minutes earlier or later, we wouldn’t have met Kent and very likely would not have met Jonathan. When we rolled up to the shop, Jonathan came outside with a huge smile to greet us. We shook hands immediately and the conversation took off. It wasn’t until maybe an hour later when we realized he had no idea who we were! Kent told us he was going to call or message Jonathan to tell him we were heading his way so we thought for sure Jonathan was expecting us, and that’s why he was so welcoming and excited to see us. But no, that’s just the kind of guy he is. At this point, the remaining 20 miles and 2,000 feet of climbing was not very enticing. At all. We shared our reservations to Jonathan so of course he invited us to set up our tents outside the shop!

We had a really great time chatting with Jonathan and could not believe how much energy he had, nor how he was so quick to help us. Staying in Colebrook was perfect for another reason: we would be the same distance from the border crossing if we biked the 20 miles to Lake Francis.

After dinner, we walked around Colebrook and peeked in some dumpsters. I found a jackpot of cookies and crackers at a Walgreens, which included my favorite ever cookie (other than my grandmother’s chocolate chip): Lorna Doone’s. And it wasn’t just a box or two, it was like 10 or more. I think I took four boxes… There was also a Dunkin Donuts a block away from the bike shop, so we checked for leftovers there. The amount of perfectly good donuts in this dumpster was truly absurd. I cannot stress enough how absurd it was. I probably ate more donuts in three days than I had for the three years prior. If you like donuts, I can’t recommend highly enough you check out a Dunkin Dumpster. I think I’ve found bags full of pastries five out of six times I’ve checked. And they’re almost always in their own dedicated bag. It’s not like they’re mixed in with other gross stuff.

There was still one more interesting event awaiting us after we climbed into our tents for the night. Well, two for me. First, I heard a man screaming at someone on the phone; I was afraid he might come investigate our tents and take out some aggression on us. Shortly after he went quiet, a woman was violently vomiting nearby… well, that’s what it sounded like. As the retching became more intense and sounded like it was moving, I realized it must be a fox. Jima didn’t hear the man screaming, but he also thought for sure someone was vomiting. Then, I caught a glimpse of it from my tent. At first, it was neat and pretty funny, but this fox seemed to have taken issue with us sleeping in its neighborhood because it came back at least five separate times throughout the night. Fascinating little creatures foxes are.

Day 36

Colebrook, NH to Sherbrooke, QC — 50 miles

Total miles: 1,617

We are in Canada!!!! To be specific, we’re sitting on the stoop of our hosts’ apartment building in Sherbrooke, Quebec, waiting for them to see my text. I’m not sure if they’re still out or if they’re here, but we can’t knock or buzz the apartment, and neither of us can call with international data plans. So what else to do than write this post?

It’s quite interesting to be here.

That was all I wrote on day 36 before our hosts showed up. Annie and Nicolas were fantastic hosts. We had a really lovely time hanging out with them and their dog. I am especially grateful for them because it was their encouragement that solidified my decision to continue exploring Quebec after Montreal. I’m pretty sure they were the first to tell me about the Gaspésie, and between their extremely high reviews of the magical peninsula and their other adventures, I was sold on extending my trip. Nicolas and I sat on their little balcony and chatted into the night about bike touring and long-distance walks. He shared inspiring stories about the extremely kind people he met everywhere he went, as well as an Alligator encounter in Georgia (it might have been somewhere else in the south) and what was very likely a Jaguar encounter in Mexico! I went to sleep feeling quite excited for the next leg of the adventure.

Although this was my first time entering a new country, the day was pretty unremarkable. Jima and I both felt nervous and excited as we approached the Canadian border. It turned out we had zero reason to be nervous for this border crossing. The Canadian who greeted us could not have been nicer; he didn’t look through any of our bags and even donated to our fundraiser! He set the bar extremely high for ease of border crossing.

Then we biked for another 40 miles, mostly through vast farmlands. It was beautiful and serene, but it didn’t feel much different than the US. Seeing the French road signs was really cool, though. And when we got to Sherbrooke, it was wild to be surrounded by people speaking a different language. Of course, I’ve been around people speaking different languages, but it was my first time being immersed in it. I was the only one in the Tim Horton’s who had no idea what was going on. It was exciting and intimidating.

We were greeted with incredible kindness as we rolled into a downtown riverfront area. Jima had reached the area before me, and when a pair of locals spotted me scanning my surroundings they called to me to tell me his bike was here. When Jima returned, we chatted for a bit with these kind strangers. Their first question was to ensure we had a place to stay for the night.

Day 37

Sherbrooke, QC to Montreal, QC — 107 miles

Total miles: 1,724

A century (plus some) into Montreal! I didn’t write anything on this day, but of course it was a great day! Biking 100 miles anywhere is an awesome accomplishment. It feels like an even bigger accomplishment when you have to fix a flat and bike through rain and mud. Not to mention reaching the primary goal destination after a month on the road!

Sort of like crossing into Canada, despite biking 107 miles this day, I don’t have much to share. We rode predominantly on a bike path from Sherbrooke to Montreal which was a very welcome surprise. I sounded like a broken record all day, telling Jima how impressed I was with the bike infrastructure. It was just so nice! It was like Quebec actually wants people to safely ride their bike and exercise. What a concept! But I admit that it was also slightly boring… especially after 70 miles of straight, flat riding.

After fixing a flat (which took way too long), I was riding much slower than Jima. I think it was for a couple of reasons: he was more eager to reach Montreal than me, my rear tire was about half the PSI it should have been, and he’s generally a stronger cyclist anyway. So, he pulled ahead and we biked alone for something like 30 or 40 miles. When we reunited in Granby, we both agreed that we had a lot of fun riding through the rain on our own. And we were excited to finish the rest together.

I started to get a little loopy from the long day, but I wasn’t exceptionally tired thanks to the relatively flat terrain. The loopyness made it more fun. Then all of a sudden we were crossing the bridge to Montreal.

I think Montreal is a really cool city! After eating and showering, we hit the town. I loved the pedestrian-only streets and seeing so many people enjoying the evening as we were. Jima and his friend/our host, Rena, pointed out all kinds of stores and locations to me, telling little stories connected to all of them. Eventually, we made it to Old Port, the historic downtown of Montreal. It was a beautiful place, but I was getting tired. We weaved our way back to Rena’s apartment and I happily passed out on her couch.

Day 38

Montreal, QC — Rest day

Total miles: 1,724

I’m coming back to this on day 42, so it’ll probably be a brief and possibly slightly inaccurate reflection on what happened :)

It was a pretty chill morning — instead of writing this I wrote (and posted!) a blog about arriving in Montreal. I went on a nice walk with Rena, Jima’s friend who very kindly hosted us. It was really neat to get to know her a little better and see a bit more of the city. We continued chatting through the morning and even made lunch together. Rena is a lovely person! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, meeting new friends and connecting with people is possibly the best part of bike touring. It makes it really easy to start conversations because people are usually immediately quite curious, then you can take it in different directions from there.

That’s all I wrote on day 42… So now I will try to recall the rest of the day.

Jima and I said our goodbyes in the afternoon, but not before walking to and exploring McGill University, his alma mater. I didn’t see much of the campus but it was cool! I really like visiting college campuses; each one is unique and charming in different ways. I remember taking the metro back to Rena’s but not sure if anything else happened before I left.

I had planned on biking up to Mount Royal but my chain snapped on the way. I awkwardly scooted along, crouch-standing on one pedal and pushing off with my other leg. It was kinda fun but also tiring in whole different way. Luckily I was only a couple miles from my next host, Jen — the daughter of the site director at Five Rivers :)

Jen welcomed me with a wide open arms and a big, comforting smile. I felt like I could finally exhale and relax once I walked through the door. I immedicately jumped into helping Jen make their contribution for the potluck they were hosting. Before I knew it, I was making five new friends, as they each trickled in. Although I often have the tendency to seek solitude after a busy day, the shared meal gave a lot of great energy.

After dinner we all biked (I used a bikeshare bike) to a nearby pub where they play live traditional Quebecois music. Everyone I met was SO nice and I loved listenting to the conversations in French. I usually don’t like pubs, but I really enjoyed myself at this one.

Day 39

Montreal, QC — Another rest day

Total miles: 1,724

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. I’m so behind on writing. But I think I really do want to write and reflect on each day. I know I’ll be grateful I did in the future. Plus, it doesn’t have to be perfectly complete. Something is better than nothing!

So before I go back in time, I’m going to write about today. Then I will go to sleep and maybe get more than 6 hours of sleep for the first time in what feels like forever!

Today was a very slow and relaxed day in Montreal. I really enjoyed being alone almost all day. My host, Jen, is a wonderful person and has been very kind to let me stay here for as long as I need. Tonight should be the last night, but it depends on if my bike is rideable tomorrow! I coasted down to C&L Cycles at 10am, hoping they could give my bike some TLC and quickly get it back to me. The guy I spoke with was very kind and made it seem like I’d be good to go tomorrow afternoon. They sent me a quote around 4pm today, but never confirmed that they could finish the work by tomorrow, so I’m hopeful but not too hopeful.

Oh man, I’m gonna slap someone. Half of what I wrote just got deleted! Goodnight.

G’day. It’s the next day. More about the bike repairs later. When I gave up last night I was sharing my frustration for all the litter that will forever taint my experiences biking and exploring cities. More than litter, the amount of waste in general haunts me. Trash cans are overflowing everywhere. Even big dumpsters are piled beyond capacity. It’s unbelievable how much stuff we throw “away”. Food, plastic, clothing, equipment, everything. There’s way too much. It breaks my heart to think about and see what we’re doing to ourselves and the Earth. It’s honestly remarkable to me that we aren’t facing even more serious consequences already. Plenty of people and wildlife are, though. It’s just so damn easy to tune it out and carry on with life as usual.

I wish I knew how to do something about this. Nothing feels like enough. Everything feels too hard. It feels selfish to not think about it, and overwhelming to think about it. I guess the biggest thing I’m missing is a sense of community. I feel so alone in my beliefs. I know other people care and sympathize with me, but very few get it. That’s what it feels like anyway. Maybe I’m too full of myself.

All of this grumbling came from me thinking about my walk up to Mount Royal — a big hill that overlooks the city — where I saw litter and full trash bins. I found myself at a bit of a loss for words just now so laid down and looked up through the Maple leaves fluttering above me. I’m reminded that nature will find away. No matter what, at least nature will find a way. We might ruin what we have now, but at least it won’t be ruined forever. That’s something.

But there’s a lot of suffering every day. People are dying, starving, being oppressed, getting deported, losing their homes. Animals are being tortured and killed for human consumption at incomprehensible levels. And I’m just laying here feeling useless.

Yeesh… that was somber. It’s now September 9th and I’m catching up on this from Whitelock Community Garden in Reservoir Hill, Baltimore, MD. If all goes well, I’ll be moving into an apartment down the street within the month! Though somber, I decided to leave all that I wrote on day 39 because it’s real. That was how I was really feeling and I believe most of what I said is true. Which is why I’m so excited to be moving to Baltimore where I feel very hopeful I can find a strong sense of community like I felt while staying with so many of my hosts on this trip. But let me get back to day 39.

First, the quick and dirty on my bike is that I did not get it back until the next day. More on that in the next blog. In hindsight, I should have just bought a new chain and installed it myself. For some reason I was convinced there were a slew of other issues that I should have checked out. So, I guess I’m glad I took it in and they were able to diagnose and fix some other problems, but I think I could have handled them myself. Oh well.

I spent the majority of this rest day walking around Montreal, and up to Mount Royal. Plus napping. That eveing, Jen showed me a couple of their favorite spots near their apartment and we listened to a jazz band practice next to the railroad tracks. It was a beautiful night, in spite of my sour attitude.

Thanks for reading! Check back in this time next week for days 40-47 :)

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In this post I’ll be sharing details and stats from the ride. If you kept up with the “Where is Hayden?” tab, some of this will look familiar :)

Easton to Canada (and almost back) Fun Facts and Statistics

Length of Tour

• June 14th to August 21st

  • 69 days on the road (just one day shorter than the 70-day ride across the USA in 2023)

  • 51 days were spent biking from one city to the next.

  • 18 days were spent resting/exploring around the same place.

Riding stats

• Total miles: 3,016 miles

  • Longest day: 107 miles — Sherbrooke, QC to Montreal, QC

  • Shortest day: 20 miles — Orono, ME to Ellsworth, ME (stopped halfway to Ellsworth and hitchhiked)

  • Average distance per day: 44 miles

  • Average distance per day of riding: 59 miles

• Total elevation gained: 127,309 feet

  • Most elevation gained in one day: 6,319 feet — Albany, NY to Grout Pond, VT (Day 25)

  • Least elevation gained in one day: 941 feet — Easton, MD to Kent Island, MD (Day 1)

  • Average elevation per day: 1,845 feet

  • Average elevation per day of riding: 2,496 feet

Accommodations

• Nights spent in a bed: 24

• Nights on a couch: 11

• Nights on the floor: 8

• Nights in my tent: 26

Locations

• States and Provinces visited: 8

  • New to me: 3 (New Hampshire, Quebec, Nova Scotia)

• Most time spent single state or province: 21 days in Quebec

  • 12 days in Maine

  • 11 days in New York

• Least time spent in single state or province: 1 day in Massachusetts

• The most populated city I stayed in was Boston on the second-to-last day.

  • Excluding Boston (since I took the train there), the most populated city I stayed in was Montreal, followed by Baltimore, then Quebec City.

• The least populated town I stayed in was Haynesville, Maine with 97 residents.

Costs

• Food: $276 ($4/day)

• Accommodations: $110 ($1.60/day)

• Gear: $532

  • Bike: $200

  • Pedals: $20

  • Sandals: $60

  • Bear spray: $52

  • Bear canister: $35

  • Camping gear (stove, pot, fuel, water filter, etc.): $50

  • Patagonia jacket: $115

  • All of my other gear (clothing, helmet, bike bags, tent, sleeping pad/bag, pillow) was either give to me for free, loaned to me, or I already owned it

• Bike parts/repairs while on tour: $291 ($4.22/day)

• Public transit to get home: $237 ($3.43/day)

• Grand total: $1,446 ($20.95/day)

  • Considering I will continue using almost all of my gear for years to come, I’m quite happy with the costs of this tour. In the future, I know I could save money by taking better care of my bike, eating out less, and wild camping more.

Extras

• New friends made: 40+

• Silliest meal: peanut butter and twizzler sandwich

• Wildlife encounters: Too many to count!

  • Highlights were Seals, Moose, Gannets (super cool diving sea birds), Fox (barking all night outside our tents), Cat (jumped up on my bike!), Bald Eagles (specifically the one that flew alongside me for a few hundred feet)

• Times I explained being unemployed: One billion (give or take)

• Photos/videos taken: 683

• Rescued pastries consumed: At least 25

Any stats I didn’t include that you’re curious about? Let me know!

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Here is the complete map of the route (not 100% accurate):

and a link to take a closer look if you want :)

Here is a list of all the places I stayed plus type of accommodations:

• Easton, MD — home

• Kent Island, MD — family (couch)

• Galena, MD — warmshowers (bed)

• Joppatown, MD — warmshowers (bed)

• Baltimore, MD — Jima! (couch, 2 nights)

• Washington DC — friend (couch)

• Near Harper’s Ferry on the C&O Canal — camping

• Caledonia State Park, PA — campground

• Dillsburg, PA — warmshowers (bed)

• Lewisburg, PA — warmshowers (tent, 2 nights)

• World’s End State Park, PA — campground

• Elmira, NY — warmshowers (bed)

• Ithaca, NY — friend (couch)

• Binghamton, NY — warmshowers (bed in a tiny house!)

• Bear Mountain Campground, NY — campground

• Woodland Valley Campground, NY — campground

• Hyde Park, NY — friend (bed)

• Hudson, NY — warmshowers (bed)

• New Lebanon, NY — friends (bed in a converted bunny house! 2 nights)

• Albany, NY — friends (floor, 2 nights)

• Grout Pond Campground, VT — campground

• Lebanon, NH — warmshowers (floor)

• Montpelier, VT — friend (bed, 2 nights)

• Wildwood Campground, NH — campground

• Lake Winnipasaukee, NH — campground

• Berwick, ME — warmshowers (bed)

• Portland, ME — friend of a friend (bed, 2 nights)

• Bethel, ME — warmshowers (tent)

• Colebrook, NH — camping at a bike shop

• Sherbrooke, QC — warmshowers (floor)

• Montreal, QC — friends (couch, 4 nights)

• La Visitation-de-l'Île-Dupas, QC — “wild” camping in a community garden

• Warwick, QC — “wild” camping in a town park

• Quebec City, QC — warmshowers (floor, 3 nights)

• Montmagny, QC — “wild” camping in a town park

• Rivière-du-Loup, QC — campground

• Rimouski, QC — warmshowers (couch)

• Grosses-Roches, QC — camping with host from Facebook

• La Martre, QC — “wild” camping in a gazebo on the river

• Cloridorme, QC — camping at Azellus’s

• Gaspé, QC — warmshowers (tent)

• Grand-Riviére, QC — “wild” camping

• New Carlisle, QC — warmshowers (bed in a converted train caboose! 3 nights)

• Atholville, NB — “wild” camping on the river

• St Quentin, NB — “wild” camping at a truck stop

• Perth-Andover, NB — warmshowers (bed)

• Haynesville, ME — camping in a strangers’ yard

• Burlington, ME — warmshowers (bed in an off-grid cabin!)

• Orono, ME — warmshowers (bed, 2 nights)

• Ellsworth, ME (via hitchhike) — friend of a warmshowers host (bed, 3 nights)

• Biddeford, ME (via hithhike) — friends met on the road (couch)

• Boston, MA (via train) — friend (floor)

It’s funny, during the last week or so of the tour I was so ready to be done. Not just because of my questionable physical health; my attitude was souring and I was focused on the destination far more than the journey. It’s only been a couple of weeks and I’m quickly forgetting my exhaustion, and find myself planning the next adventure. However, for the forseeable future, I think I’ll stick to bike commuting and much more local, shorter tours :)

I hope you’ll stick around as I catch up on my daily reflections and write about stuff other than biking.

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Day 24

Albany, NY — Rest day

Total miles: 1,009

Wow! What a fun and full day. This morning I worked on and posted a blog after what felt like FOREVER. It was very gratifying to click post. Once that was done I biked to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. Even though I only lived/worked there for 10 months it feels like a second home to me. I guess the whole Capital Region (including New Lebanon) feel like a second home to me. Maybe even the whole Hudson Valley!

At Five Rivers I really do have a big second family. Everyone was so happy to see me and I got hugs like a family gathering. I walked and talked with Robin — my old biking buddy — for close to an hour. Then I sat and talked for another hour with Nancy — one of my wonderful mentors at Five Rivers — who never fails to give me chills and make me a little bleary-eyed with her honesty, integrity, and genuineness. Drew — another colleague and mentor — and I chatted for a while, too. Gina — the site director — got the fixings for salad and some of us had lunch together before I hit the road again to see Jaimy — another colleague who was off today but lives nearby. We had a lovely conversation, too! It was such a great day! I have tons of energy and encouragement to fuel me for the rest of the trip.

On the way to Jaimy’s house I stopped at a Stewart’s and found sandwiches, brownies, donuts, and cherry pies in the dumpster.

Before returning to Ruby’s, I went to my favorite grocery store — Honest Weight Food Co-Op — and stocked up on dry goods and got some veggies for dinner. I cooked a simple stir fry for everyone which was fun and we stayed up pretty late talking and laughing. Again, such a great day!

On paper tomorrow is just about the hardest day of the trip so far. 67 miles and almost 6,000 feet of elevation gain (we’re starting at sea level and ending at 3,000 feet!). So it’s probably not great that I am awake at 11:41 pm. Goodnight!

Day 25

Albany, NY to Grout Pond, VT — 70 miles

Total miles: 1,079

Rained on while camping again!!! This time the rain didn’t arrive until further into the night, but boy did it arrive. I passed out early after we watched a beautiful sunset over the pond so I’m writing this from inside my tent at 5:30am (my typical wake up time). The rain has stopped, but it’s still dripping from the trees all around. My bike bags are probably soaked. Life.

Our ride into the 4th state of the tour was a doozy. Probably our most physically challenging day of the trip. 67 miles and over 6,000 feet of elevation gain. I think we’re also at the highest elevation so far at around 2,500 feet above sea level. We ended the ride with a 9.5-mile, 2,000-foot climb up a gravel/dirt road to our campsite. Though exhausting, Jima and I both had a really good time. Jima pulled ahead of me pretty early on which was surprisingly nice for both of us. We each found our own rhythm and I really enjoyed the slow ascent by myself. I reflected on why I’m here, what I’m learning and how I can translate it to life after this tour. I didn’t find any concrete answers, and honestly it was tough to think clearly at this point in the day, but I did make progress.

Before the climb the ride was very pretty. It was epic to see the mountains that we’re on top of right now getting closer and closer all day.

We passed a furniture store (I think) that also sells maple syrup (basically every store in Vermont sells maple syrup) and they had this sign outside:

I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited and then so disappointed in such a short span of time. When we pulled up to the store, there was a sign saying “had to step away, be back around 1:20pm”. It was 12:50 at the time, so we decided it wasn’t worth the wait. I still can’t believe it.

While we were finishing dinner, our campsite neighbor walked by and told us she had just seen a young Black Bear in between their site and ours. She was slightly concerned because we’re on bikes and don’t have a car to put food in. We were really grateful for her heads up and her offer to let us leave food in their car. Normally we’d be fine with my bear can, but we just restocked on food so not all of it fit. So this was perfect. She’s gonna drop it off this morning :)

This is a lovely place. We saw a handful of people paddle boarding on the pond which looked like a lot of fun. We both got in soon after arrival which felt very good. Cool mountain water can really work some magic on a tired body and mind. We still haven’t seen a Bear but lots more Chipmunks today and a Beaver in the pond! I did however have a moment of panic last night when I woke up convinced that there was a Bear right outside. I sat with my bear spray in hand for at least 5 minutes before I realized it was just Jima breathing…

We’ve got another long day ahead but should be a bit easier than yesterday. Time for me to get up and see how wet my stuff is 🙃

Day 26

Grout Pond, VT to Lebanon, NH — 82 miles

Total miles: 1,161

It’s hard to believe I’m still awake right now. 82 miles and 5,000 feet of climbing didn’t break me. I wonder what will. I’ve been curious about ultra endurance sports ever since I learned of them, but haven’t really thought I’d ever partake myself. I can happily say “our bodies are capable of much more than we think” and believe it, but shy away from exploring that for myself. Long distance bike touring is getting close to finding my limits, but even after a long day like today I feel like I have plenty left in the tank. That’s not at all to say today wasn’t hard as hell or that going longer would’ve been easy for me. I just know I could. But that’s for another time… maybe.

We expected a difficult ride today but we didn’t expect 4 flats, getting separated, or arriving at our host after 8pm. It was a beautiful start to the day after a rainy night. The pond near our campsite was lovely and peaceful and the trees in Vermont were smelling SO good. Not long into the ride Jima had a flat. He’d fixed a flat yesterday and it seemed the same thing happened this morning. Our surroundings were gorgeous but the tire was making us both a little anxious. Finally we got it pumped to full pressure in Stratton — a ski town that felt odd to be in at this time of year.

Before we knew it, the gravel road gave Jima another flat. We had just passed a bike shop so I rode back to buy a new tube. In my haste, I got a tube with the wrong valve. I went back to get the right tube and a new tire because I misunderstood Jima who just wanted me to see what types of tires they had and let him know. In hindsight I should have just let Jima ride my bike back to the shop so he could get exactly what he needed. I returned for the second time and the new tube/tire were not cooperating. Right when we were talking about throwing in the towel, a man offered us a ride back to the bike shop.

So we finally got moving again but it didn’t last too long. There was more gravel and Jima’s new tire wasn’t up for the challenge either. I enjoyed a long downhill but turned around to no one riding behind me so I biked backwards a half mile to find Jima walking his bike. This time he did throw in the towel. Or so I thought.

I continued on the route after Jima insisted I let him figure something else out. It was sad to split up but I think the right thing for both of us. Jima needed space and didn’t want to feel like a burden (of course, I didn’t think he was a burden). I also feel like a burden at times because I want to go a little slower, enjoy the unpaved sections, and stop to check dumpsters. It was nice to be alone for a change. And it was a very good thing Jima didn’t stay on the route with me because there was even more rough gravel plus a huge gravel hill that I eventually had to push my bike up.

Soon after that hill I noticed my rear tire was a little slack. I pushed off replacing the tube by periodically pumping the hell out of it until I had to accept I needed to change it. I texted Jima to see how he was doing and he was ahead of me! He fixed his tube again and took paved roads instead of our original route. I was shocked and elated. Initially we thought we could meet and finish the ride together but it made more sense for us to carry on as we had been.

Jima beat me to our host and I rolled in after 8:30pm. Almost 13 hours after leaving Grout Pond. What a great day.

Our host, Freddie, was awesome to accommodate us at such a late hour. He even made us bean burgers, salad, grilled corn on the cob, and watermelon. He’s a really cool guy who I will always be grateful for.

Day 27

Lebanon, NH to Montpelier, VT — 63 miles

Total miles: 1,224

Wow. If we stuck with our original plan we would be in Montreal in 4 or 5 days! Instead, we’ll be in Portland, ME in that timeframe and Montreal after another 4ish days. Either way, we’re so close! It’s a little sad but still exciting.

That’s all I wrote the first night in Montpelier. We had fun hanging out with my friend and host, Amelia, after arriving and by the time I opened my notes I was exhausted.

The ride was one of the flattest of the trip aside from a massive hill 5 miles away from Amelia’s in Barre (pronounced Barry). We were on low-traffic roads nearly all day which was great. It was a very peaceful and fun day. I got some dust or something in my eye with 20 miles to go and I just could not get it out. That was irritating.

In Montpelier we went to the grocery store right before it closed to get some vegan ice cream and I checked the dumpsters/food waste bins. In Vermont it’s illegal to throw food waste into the garbage so a lot of places have bins specific for food waste which is an awesome step in the right direction but I found a bin entirely full of bread and pancakes. No idea why. Compost is way better than landfill, but getting eaten is way way better. When food gets wasted, so does all of the time, energy, and resources that went into planting, growing, harvesting, packaging, shipping, stocking, everything! To me, that’s a real tragedy.

I recognize how challenging it can be to perfectly balance supply and demand, and I don’t know if zero food waste is realistic. Still, what happens in our country right now is unbelievable. Somehow it’s profitable to overproduce and throw away all this food instead of occasionally running out? Doesn’t make any sense.

Day 28

Montpelier, VT — Rest day

Total miles: 1,224

Rest days really fly by. I guess every day flies by. But it feels different on rest days. I simultaneously wish I could spend more time doing stuff with friends and more time doing nothing with friends. We got to spend a lot of time just cooking and chatting with Amelia here in Montpelier and it’s been really nice. As usual, it’ll be a little sad to leave in the morning. After this tour I’m gonna have 10 or more cities that I want to move to…

I planned to go back into town after dinner to dumpster dive but I decided to stay in. It was getting late and Amelia lives on top of a decent hill that I just did not feel like coming back up. This led to more nice conversation, so yay! As I wrote yesterday, it’s illegal to throw food waste in the trash in Vermont — which is amazing! — but there isn’t enough infrastructure to support this. There are bins specific for food waste outside stores and restaurants that I assume goes to a big compost facility. But they aren’t everywhere. And I found unopened boxes of cream cheese and a bag of strawberries in a random trash can today (they were hot and gross, so I did not take them). So it seems like stores workaround the law. But it’s definitely way better than everywhere else I’ve been!!

I’m very happy that Jima got new tires today so his bike should be able to handle the gravel sections from here on. We walked around Montpelier a little, but mostly just hung out with Amelia at home and then went to a small river to take a dip and explore. I also checked out a thrift store and a community bike shop. I love community bike shops because I feel like they exude all my favorite things; community and bikes (duh), scrappiness and reusing, and constant curiosity and learning.

I’m spending more time pondering my options for after this tour. I feel far from a clear path but I like the way things are progressing. It’s really hard to explain but it just feels like my ideas and goals are becoming more tangible. At this point, in an ideal world I would come home for a little while, go to my best friend’s wedding, then get back on the road and tour full time. I’d have to figure out how to finance it and use it to serve others. I don’t feel satisfied if I’m not doing something for others for too long. As much as I love the independence of bike touring and being in nature, I can’t be content to keep that to myself. I’d love to bring it to other people either through more writing/social media or with bike tours. Next year I will need to find my own health insurance so I think that’s the biggest reason for me not to continue touring. I feel incredibly lucky that I’ve had almost no significant health or medical challenges and have always had insurance. I don’t know what it’s like to worry about not having coverage. Even though it’s in my consciousness now, it still doesn’t feel like a big deal to me. And I want to recognize the privilege to be able to say that. Anyway, I don’t think it would be wise to spend months riding my bike without some coverage in case I get in a serious accident.

The other options floating around include returning to my gradually growing dogsitting/dogwalking business, entering into a PhD program, working at a bike shop, substitute teaching, or doing another AmeriCorps term. Maybe it’ll be a combo of these or none of the above! All I know is I want to be active, find community, and help the planet and people on it. An unexpected joy of this trip is how much inspiration I’ve gained from people we’ve met along the way. They all have their unique lives with nuggets of gold that I can learn from and possibly follow for my own life.

Forgive me if I keep repeating myself but these double as my personal journal (with some editing) so often it’s just how I’m processing things.

Day 29

Montpelier, VT to Wildwood campground, NH — 54 miles

Total miles: 1,278

I’m beat! Depending on how tired I get while writing this entry, I may go back and finish previous days. We’ve had a lot of long, tiring days lately. Today wasn’t actually that long and yesterday was a rest day… but I’m still quite pooped. I guess a month of biking will do that to you. I also think I’ve been in a calorie deficit most days recently. I’m trying to plan my meals and snacks as best I can to make them last while creating minimal waste, and I think I’m just learning how to adequately fuel myself in this way. I haven’t had any big dumpster dive scores to supplement my bulk food and bananas. Overall, I think I’m falling short of my goal to produce little waste. And that’s okay(ish). I’m learning what works and what doesn’t, and what’s realistic to expect in terms of food rescue, bulk stores, and loose produce. I don’t love buying a new jar of peanut butter or tortillas in a plastic bag, but they can feed me for a while. My dinners have been great — lentils or soy protein with pasta, tahini, nutritional yeast, and spices. I mostly just struggle during the day when it’s not convenient to stop and cook food.

We finally saw a state sign today! We’ve crossed into Vermont and New Hampshire twice and this is the first one since New York. It wasn’t a very exciting sign, though.

I wish I could just lay down, sleep, and wake up when it’s time to start the day. But no, I gotta be all restless. Now that I think of it, I’ve been sleeping pretty well this trip. Not as good as I would at home, but better than I usually do while camping. So that’s really great. And I have myself to blame for most low-sleep nights; I stay up late trying to write or doing something else that is less important than sleep. Cumulative subpar sleep is probably contributing to my fatigue lately too.

Today was really pretty. We spent about half of it on the Vermont Cross Trail, which is mostly a bike trail but also goes on main paved roads. I enjoyed all of the trail sections, but a few parts were frustratingly unrideable for both of our bikes. For me, the questionable trails are a lot of fun and really add to the adventure. But it’s also always nice to get back on a smooth road afterwards.

As we approached the White Mountains National Forest we had spectacular views of the mountain range around us. It fascinates me when we’re riding along on an unremarkable road and then all of a sudden there’s a stunning view of the mountains. There was one house with a bench that faced perfectly at the maintains and I imagined sitting there every morning.

It’s pretty crazy we’re going to be in Portland in 3 days. Then Montreal 4(?) days after that! Then I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I’d like to stay in Montreal for a few days, then see what I’m feeling. Maybe the people I’ll meet in Montreal will have recommendations. One thing I will definitely do is visit Acadia National Park in Maine. And there are a few friends I still want to see. I’m also thinking about going to Rhode Island just because I’ve never been, and back to Five Rivers so Robin can ride with me a little. Then there’s all of Eastern Canada that would be epic to explore. But I gotta admit, thinking about all of those things is a lot. I’m not sure I have all that in me. Good thing I don’t have to decide right now!

Maybe I’m too much of an idealist but camping at campgrounds seems kinda lame to me. Even coming here on bikes. I never went camping as a kid other than my backyard, and my first real camping was primitive camping while backpacking. It’s cool to be here for sure, but it feels artificial. There are cars everywhere and it’s just not really in nature. I dunno.

I was thinking today that it’ll be so weird to type on a computer whenever I do that again. I’ve been doing everything on my phone which has its pros and cons. I’m not using it very much but I’d still like to use it less. I haven’t watched YouTube or any movies since I left which is pretty crazy. At home I was watching a movie almost every day. It’d be nice to sit back and relax to watch something but I don’t really miss it. When we’re not biking, eating, exploring, or hanging out with friends, I have my writing and kindle to keep me occupied. I’ve been reading the Artemis Fowl books which I wanted to read my whole childhood but never did. They’re fun and great for relaxing before bed. I have some other more serious titles that I’d like to read next.

After dinner we walked down to the creek near our campsite and sat for a few minutes. It’s a very beautiful and calming place. As I watched the minnows dart around at the bottom I thought, “how can we protect you? Like, really protect you?” Everything feels like not enough. It feels like no one else wants to change their lifestyle for the betterment of others. I think most people think they’re doing something(s) to make a difference, but are they really? Am I being too harsh? I just think we’re all so caught up in our own lives that we don’t think about how our actions hurt others. We feel entitled to do our thing and can come up with reasons for why we deserve it but others don’t deserve their thing. Is that what I’m doing with this bike trip? Probably…

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Day 30

Wildwood campground, NH to Long Island campground, NH — 52 miles

Total miles: 1,330

I’m starting this entry at 7:30 in the morning because we got ready a little too quickly this morning. We stored half of our food in a fellow camper’s car and they’re still asleep, so we’re just waiting around. It’s a bit of a bummer but worth it to not risk inviting a bear into the campground.

I’m getting bored with these entries. It feels like basically the same thing every time, and I’m not articulating very well. Maybe I’m just being overly critical of myself. I wish I could write more eloquently and share more interesting stuff.

I was thinking yesterday how there’s such a fine line I think we need to balance between having goals and being content with ourselves/our lives in the moment. It seems to me that having goals to strive for is crucial for a happy, fulfilling life. And yet, if we’re always striving for more with the wrong mindset, we’re doomed to be unhappy and unfulfilled. There has to be joy in the striving and the achieving. Always more excitement for the next step, but never expectation that it will be the final one. We need to be satisfied with what we have but not complacent to the point that we stagnate. It’s almost like, “which one is it? Should I be happy with who I am/what I have now? Or should I try to improve?” I truly think it’s both. Somehow we live with both existing alongside each other.

Isn’t so cool when things seem like they’re going wrong, they end up working out in ways you never expect? Sometimes things just simply go wrong, but in my experience magical things come from difficult/frustrating/uncertain times. Today was a prime example of that. We were ready to get on the road at 7am and just waiting for our new friends — who were very kind to let us leave our food in their car — to wake up. I took a walk down to the creek, and on my way back said good morning to another pair of campers. They had a big sprinter van and mountain bikes on the back. My “good morning” led to them asking if there was a road bike race nearby because they saw our jerseys. Before I knew it I was giving them the whole story of our trip, and Jima walked over to join the conversation too. Not only was it a lovely chat, but our other friends woke up during this time. We started riding shortly after and met the mountain bikers again at Beaver Brook Pond at the top of the first hill. They took our photo and offered to host/help me if I pass through Boston on the way home! To top it all off, the guy goes by “Magic”.

The rest of the ride was pretty cool too. It was a fun downhill stretch after we opted not to pay $28 for entry into Lost River Gorge, and the day was beautiful like almost all have been. Unfortunately, we were on busy, no-shoulder roads for a good chunk of the ride which made me sour. But that also made getting to our campsite and jumping in Lake Winnipesaukee even more rewarding. There was one moment when we could see the lake after climbing a huge hill and I just yelled “wow! Lake!!” Because it was so incredible. Later in the ride the same thing happened and I yelled “water!!! Oh my gosh it’s huge! Wait no, I’m an idiot!” It turned out to be another forested mountain in the distance that looked wildly like a giant body of water. We had a good laugh about this. I felt less dumb when Jima agreed it looked remarkably like water.

Lake Winnipesaukee is huge and beautiful. It made me a little sad to see so much tourist activity there. The disconnect between our modern culture and the actions of our past that hurt so many, and continue to hurt more, is heartbreaking. I’m embarrassed by my ignorance when it comes to American history and indigenous people in general, but I know for sure that people who look like me have done some horrific things. Being at this lake whose name remains indigenous while nearly everyone using it is white and materially wealthy hit me as extremely ironic. Not only that but we’re actively making the lake sicker with plastic pollution (I found trash all around and in the lake) and fossil fuels.

As I’ve mentioned a lot recently, I’ve been thinking more and more about what I will be doing after this trip, and my night at the lake was ripe with these ponderings. Indigenous culture was top of mind and made me wonder how useful it would be for me to study in greater detail (like a PhD). Since childhood I’ve been fascinated by the people who lived in America before us, but I’m ashamed to admit I really don’t know anything about them. And what I do know is probably mostly wrong. Would studying Indigenous culture/Native Americans be appropriate for me to do? On one hand, I feel like I (a white man) should just leave this to actual Indigenous people, and their descendants who can speak from their own experience and wisdom. On the other hand, I feel like I could be an additional voice with a valuable outside perspective that might resonate with more people. I just wouldn’t want to overstep and cause more problems than I’m helping. Would I learn valuable information that could be used to improve the world? I have no doubt I’d learn a ton and I think I’d enjoy it a lot, but would it be fulfilling for me and my goals?

Day 31

Long Island Campground, NH to Berwick, ME — 57 miles

Total miles: 1,387

I feel very content right now. For all the distaste I have for social media, posting photos usually makes me feel happy and grateful. It gives me a reason to look through photos and remember the moments.

We got moving earlier than ever (around 7am) and finished our ride before 1pm today! It wasn’t a remarkably beautiful ride, and I think our speed was fueled by a desire to get away from busy roads with tiny shoulders. Luckily, we had more time on ~mostly~ empty roads that winded through New Hampshire forests. I noticed myself thinking “what a great day” less than an hour after I was thinking the exact opposite while on the busy roads. It’s funny how quickly moods can change when bike touring. The overarching emotion of gratitude is never absent, though. Even in the most frustrating, annoying, or downright dangerous times, I’m always able to remember how lucky I am to be doing this and how happy it makes me every day.

Our warmshowers host let us swim in their pool while we waited for them to return from a doctor’s appointment. I jumped in almost immediately to cool off before making my lunch and doing all the usual end-of-ride stuff. Now Jima and I are showered and waiting for what smells like an amazing vegan meal. It seems that our first night in Maine will be a really great one :)

We’re barely in Maine, though. New Hampshire is a 10-minute walk away and Boston is just 85 miles from here! Tomorrow we head to Portland where we will stay for two nights before the final leg of the trip to Montreal!!

I really love staying with warmshowers hosts. It’s one of my favorite parts of bike touring. I was interrupted by our host while writing that sentence to eat a delicious dinner of grilled zucchini, mushrooms, tofu, and pasta salad. The only thing better was the vegan yogurt with black raspberries for dessert.

And the only thing better than that was the company. I feel like I’ve said that so many times it’s getting quite corny, but it’ll always be true. No matter what we’re talking about, it’s just the feeling you get from becoming friends with strangers. It’s especially nice when they tell you that you give them hope, ask genuine questions about veganism, and share poem & book recommendations. I’ll be reading “Questions From a Worker Who Reads” by Bertolt Brecht tonight.

Whenever I am settled in one spot I hope to host many bike tourists. It might sound crazy but I think it’ll even play a role in deciding where to live. Not a big role, but a role nonetheless.

I remain insecure when people ask me what I do. I feel pathetic following Jima’s description of his PhD studies with “I had an internship last year, then I did some dogsitting, and now I’m here!” Maybe people appreciate it more than I think. Regardless, I should just stop worrying so much about what they think. I’ve made conscious choices that I’m happy with. I made them for reasons important to me. So why not be proud of it? One day I’ll figure out how to say it all concisely without sounding like I’m trying to prove anything.

Life is good. There are a lot of problems. They seem insurmountable. It feels impossible to figure out what to do. People are crazy. But people are good. The world is beautiful. Human life is as mysterious as ever and we get to play around in it.

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I’m grateful to be home, typing this on my laptop from my bedroom, resting with no anxiety over being a burden to anyone. My feelings about the trip as a whole and ending early are still unclear. It was certainly quite anti-climactic to arrive via train and car after biking everywhere for two months. I have all the amazing memories from the trip, but it almost feels like it didn’t happen. Like my first bike trip across the USA, it simultaneously feels like a blink of an eye and a lifetime. In this post I’m going to try to elaborate on my feelings about ending early — though I don’t think I’ll ever be able to articulate it the way I want to — as well as explain why I made the decision and how I got home. In the coming weeks I hope to catch up on my reflections from each day of the trip detailing my experiences from day 23 (the last day included in my updates) onward. As always, thank you for reading and being a part of my life!

Do you know The Gambler, by Kenny Rogers? Well, that was the song stuck in my head this time last week. Specifically the famous lines,

It was a little over one week ago when I decided it was time for me to walk away from this adventure. I was looking through my photos/videos and found a video from August 3rd in which I was complaining of stomach pain and fatigue. I didn’t realize that I had been feeling this way for almost three weeks. Watching that video made it clear to me that it was time to throw in the towel, having also just experienced a couple of restless nights due to pretty intense nausea and cramps.

Whether or not I could keep going isn’t important. Nor are all the sights and new friends I’ll be missing out on. There will always be more to see, whether I bike for 10 more days, months, or years. I’m not thrilled to cut the trip short — I really wanted to complete the loop, fully human-powered. But I had to listen to my body. I was tired of sitting around feeling lousy, waiting to not feel lousy. All the while benefiting so much from the kindness of strangers, without being able to give much in return. At least when I’m feeling well, I can engage in interesting conversations.

Here’s all I wrote on the night of August 13th:

I feel quite bad. I don’t know if it’s because of the heat, general exhaustion, something I ate, a combination of those, or something totally different. I just feel real nauseous and super tired. I’m in a wonderful place but I’m really struggling to enjoy it because of how I feel. I have no motivation at all to do anything so I’m just gonna lie here at 6:07pm and see if I fall asleep :)

Fortunately, I think I fell asleep pretty soon after that. I know it was definitely before sunset. The four days prior were just as hot and exhausting, but this was different. Walking devolved to shuffling and I could barely get myself to drink anything, let alone eat dinner. I felt slightly better in the morning and managed to eat a couple of granola bars for breakfast. The 38 miles to my next host in Orono, ME were treacherous — not because of the riding itself, just because of my pure exhaustion. I wanted to go back to sleep the entire time.

I began feeling better after resting for the remainder of the day. But after dinner I thought for sure I was going to be sick. I tossed and turned all night, and with some awkwardness asked my host if I could stay another day to rest. I lay in bed almost all day, and again started to feel better, only to struggle through the night. Although I was far from 100%, I thought I could handle the 50 miles from Orono to Surry — a town near Acadia National Park. After about 20 miles I did something completely new to me. I traded my legs for my thumb.

A few cars passed with no luck so I decided to try riding a little further. Maybe one mile later I was sat next to my bike in the grass. I’ve never felt so utterly exhausted. The next car that passed going my direction — a BMW SUV — barely slowed down, but the little Ford pickup going the opposite way spun around to check on me. A few minutes later and I was going 50mph. Harold assured me that I wasn’t disrupting his day at all, and he seemed quite happy to tell me all about the places and people we passed on the way to the urgent care in Ellsworth. He told me about his career as a roofer, his family, how he got sober, and even his frustrations with the Trump administration despite voting for him. I was glad he felt like talking because I barely had it in me to answer with some chuckles and the occasional “mmhm”. I would’ve loved to spend more time with Harold. When we entered Ellsworth he said, “This is actually good; it’ll give me a chance to see this road for the first time in a while.” He even made sure I had cash before he hit the road again.

I was pleasantly surprised by the level of care I received at the urgent care. They suspected dehydration was the culprit but still asked a lot of questions and ran a number of tests, including an abdominal x-ray and a tick panel. I was very grateful for their thoroughness but with all that time in the office, I left FREEZING. My “prescription” was to drink a lot of water, get some electrolytes, prune juice, and laxatives… maybe a little TMI but the dehydration led to constipation which led to the nausea and discomfort I was feeling. So, I put on my jacket and shivered my way through the 85-degree parking lot into the grocery store nextdoor.

I had set up a place to camp with a warmshowers host that night but I desperately wanted to be inside and in a real bed. A quick internet search let me know that a hotel room was absolutely out of the question ($$$$$), so I texted my host to update her on my condition and my goal for the night. Just a few minutes later I was on my way to her friend’s house only a mile down the road — she told me her daughter received a lot of kindness while hiking the Appalachian Trail so she figured she’d do the same for me. All the pain, discomfort, and worry I was feeling that day was matched by the kindness and generosity of the people who helped me.

I was full of optimism as I lay down to sleep that night. I thought I’d take another day to rest and recover, and I’d be biking around Acadia the day after. I planned my route for the remaining two+ weeks and started contacting friends and hosts along the way. Surely I’d finish the ride! Wrong again :)

Over the next couple of days I would feel marginally better, but it seemed like it’d take everything I had left to bike just 10 miles. I couldn’t sit around and wait at Mary’s house forever. Now that I’m home and feeling normal again, I wonder how much of my inability to recover was due to my actual physical health and how much was because of my mental/emotional state. Maybe I had reached the point where I was mentally done and my symptoms were the physical manifestations of that. Who knows?! Is it really important to figure out? I don’t think so.

Before Harold rescued me on Saturday, I chatted with a couple in Bangor who gave me their number and invited me to stay with them if I needed a place south of Portland. At that time they were headed north to visit the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick. On Monday I figured they might be on their way home and it wouldn’t hurt to ask if I could catch a ride with them. By another stroke of good fortune and generosity, I was right! On Tuesday I took a bus from Ellsworth back to Bangor, then biked 30 miles to a town called Newport to meet Jordan, Susana, and their dog Yoshi on their route back home. I tried hitchhiking again at first, but had no luck. The ride was really nice, and there were barely any hills so I managed okay. I was still pretty spent by the end of the ride. They rearranged their Rav-4 to make room for my bike and we enjoyed getting to know each other for the two-ish-hour drive. I happily ate their food and slept on their couch that night and took a train from Saco, ME to Boston the next day.

Planning my trips and boarding the trains were possibly the most stressed I felt during the trip. I was so worried I’d miss the train or something would go wrong. It all went quite smooth, though! Barely even any delays :)

Meeting this little guy in Boston made me so happy I took the train. He and his owners were on their way back home to Florida after riding up the coast to Maine.

I had to skip meeting a few friends on the way back, but it was great to meet my friend Emily in person for the first time in Boston. I realized how excited I was to be heading home when she asked what I was looking forward to back at home. A smile appeared on my face as I listed all the things: seeing family, friends, and my dog, sleeping in my own bed, watching movies, exercising in ways other than biking, eating more vegetables, giving more attention to my job search, and plenty more. I’m really grateful I got to stay with Emily for the final “day on the road” — I felt like we could’ve swapped biking stories and reflections on our lives and the world for many more hours :)

I’ve enjoyed being home for the last five days. It’s pretty crazy it hasn’t been longer. I feel like I’ve been here the whole summer and Quebec was years ago. Ok, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but returning to “normal life” after two months on a bike really is a strange thing. I feel like I have far less tolerance for things that are not in alignment with my goals and values. And though I think they’ll always be changing to some extent, my goals and values seem clearer. As corny as it sounds, life is short so I want to do my best to live the way I want to live while causing little harm and helping others. I don’t want to simply slot into the machines of capitalism and consumerism. I don’t want to get stuck believing I need this that or the other to be happy. I guess I’ve had this mindset for a while, but I think I feel it more now. Perhaps my biggest takeaway from the trip — at least right now — is how important community is to me now. I found temporary, micro communities everywhere I went, making me feel like I could happily live in any city/town I stayed in. My excitement to keep going was almost always at odds with a desire to stick around for a while. Now that I’m in one place again I want to prioritize finding/creating more permanent community. I want to hang out with friends multiple times per week. I want to go on group bike rides. I want to try some new hobbies. I want engaging discussions about topics that matter with people who want to take action. I want to help people and be helped. I want to see what else I can learn from people different than me. I’ve been very fortunate to find a lot of great community online, but I haven’t felt nourished by them. Its time I change that. Wish me luck on this next adventure! :)

To those of you who hosted me this summer, THANK YOU! Merci! From friends, to warmshowers hosts, to complete strangers, I will never be able to thank you enough. Without you I would’ve walked away much earlier. Now I can’t wait to host my first warmshowers guest!

Jima, the same goes for you. I don’t think I would’ve had it in me to keep exploring Quebec if we hadn’t spent the first month together. Thank you for joining this adventure and making it way more fun.

To my family and friends, thank you for supporting me wholeheartedly despite not really understanding why I like doing stuff like this. I’ve been extremely lucky to never feel pressured by you to live up to some sort of expectation. I know that’s not so common in our weird world. Y’all are the best.

And to anyone I don’t personally know, thanks for being here! It’s an honor to communicate with you through these blogs. Everyone in the photos above were strangers at one point! Never hesitate to reach out to me.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading. Reflections on days 24-31 coming next week :)

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Hello! I’m posting this thanks to the free wifi at Tim Horton’s in Ste-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec. I may not have wifi until I reach Gaspé, my next major destination, on Monday but it’s been too long since I last gave y’all anything so I’m taking a little time to do this. Most of you probably don’t even know where I am. So here is a very brief update and some photos from the last few days cycling along the beautiful St. Lawrence River.

After the encouragement of basically everyone I spoke to in Quebec, I decided to ride around the Gaspésie (see photo below) before returning to the states through Maine. Jima went home after Montreal, and I rode for three days to Quebec City with another traveler, but now I’m all by myself. At first, it felt more uncomfortable than exciting, but I’ve been really enjoying the last few days. After Gaspé, where I will spend a few days, I think I will cycle along the northern New Brunswick coast a little, then drop down into Maine. Nothing past Monday is set in stone, though.

My butt is starting to get rather tender, and I’m generally quite tired. I miss home and family and friends. But when will I have the chance to explore like this again? Possibly never. So I hope to take full advantage of the time that I have.

Every day has brought more awe and beauty, as well as personal reflection. I still have no idea what direction to go after this, but that’s okay. Right now life is simple: pedal, look at our beautiful Earth, try to learn French, and dumpster dive (I had to buy food for the first time in a week today). I hope you enjoy the photos below, and I hope I’ll see you again soon!

You can also check back in with me by clicking “Where is Hayden” at the top of my Substack page. I’m able to update that more regularly :)

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My goal with this post is to give a little update, but keep it pretty short so I can spend more time catching up on the last couple of weeks of writing. Sorry for the hold up! Its been a mix of procrastinating, spending more time with Jima and our hosts, and passing out while writing :)

Not only have we reached our destination (sort of a half-destination for me), we reached our fundraising goal! $3,621 raised for the Ulman Foundation to support their work supporting young adults affected by cancer.

THANK YOU to everyone who has donated and shared what we’re doing. Really, this was Jima’s fundraiser with me as a side character. With this goal reached, Jima has raised over $10,000 total for Ulman :) If you feel called to support their mission, you can still donate using this link: https://impact.ulmanfoundation.org/fundraiser/6414257

I still need to get a tattoo for raising over $7,000 in 2023, and now a perm for reaching this goal… I will live up to my word, I promise!

37 days have really flown by. Yesterday feels like a week ago, and a week ago feels like yesterday. We’ve seen a lot of the beautiful northeastern USA and now some of Quebec. We’ve met incredible people and hung out with pre-existing friends. We’ve swam in Lakes, Ponds, Rivers, Creeks, and pools. We’ve biked over Mountains, through Valleys and closed roads, on trails and on highways, in hot sun and in rain, alone and together, and we’ve crossed into New Hampshire four different times.

It’s been a wonderful month on the road with Jima. We have had plenty of differences and it wasn’t perfect, but we work well together. I think we came to understand each other’s goals, preferences, strengths, and quirks pretty well which helped us help one another as best we could. It’s crazy that between 4K For Cancer in 2023 and this ride, Jima and I have bike toured together for over 100 days and almost 5,000 miles. It’s the end of an era 🥲

I don’t think either of us expected to become friends when we first met two years ago, yet here we are. Pretty cool.

I’m noticing a trend in my life where “big” things don’t seem to fully set in when I might expect. I didn’t have a big emotional response to reaching the Canadian border or Montreal. I don’t really feel much about parting ways with Jima in a couple of hours. It might be weeks before I process both of these things. And that’s okay :)

Being in Quebec has been really cool and interesting. The landscape has been very similar to the US, but the signs are in French, people are speaking French everywhere, there are different stores, and BIKE LANES. I don’t think Canada in general is known for great bike infrastructure, but Sherbrooke and Montreal seem pretty fantastic to me. Well, I haven’t biked in Montreal very much yet. But for our 107 miles from Sherbrooke to Montreal, I think 80 or more were on a dedicated bike path, 15 were on protected bike lanes, and the rest were safe roads. Sorry for the bike lane tangent. I wanted to explain how odd and extremely cool it is to me to be in a place where English isn’t the primary language. I’ve never been anywhere like it! Also, after a month of rural areas, small towns, and lots of white people, it’s really cool to be in a big city with lots of diversity.

I go back and forth (surprise surprise) on whether I want to live in a city or stick to small towns. I definitely want to experience living in a city at least for a year (maybe?). For much of my life I held myself back, thinking I’d never want to live in a city. But they have so much to offer! Especially in a different country.

Thank you so so so much for reading this post and supporting me. I wouldn’t be here without all of the people in my life who have directly and indirectly guided me to become who I am right now. I’m incredibly lucky to have you in my life. I still have LOTS to learn, and more growing to do, but I’m quite happy with where I am so far. Who knows where I’ll be (as a person) after the next month or two of biking??

We move.

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Day 16

Ithaca, NY to Binghamton, NY — 44 miles

Total miles: 743

Words will never be able to adequately describe how beautiful and amazing these days are. Everything about today was just about perfect. The temperature was so lovely it was the first day we had people saying “nice day for a ride, huh?” Instead of “it’s a little hot to be riding a bike isn’t it?” The roads were very nice for the most part, as were the drivers. And the scenery was incredible!

I’m very happy it was a relatively cool day because with over 3,000 feet of elevation gain over 44 miles, it was a tough day! My legs are definitely feeling tired. Plus, I had the extra weight of the bear can and lots of food that friends in Ithaca gave us. Jima and I laughed a lot today; there was one moment where a little dog just popped out of some bushes without making a sound and slowly chased us for 50 ft. For some reason this killed me.

Our hosts tonight were perfect. We went from hanging out with friends in Ithaca to hanging out with friends in Binghamton! They made us feel right at home as soon as we arrived, and we hung out all evening, as if it was what we do every Sunday. As amazing as it has been to be with new people the last few days, I’m excited to be camping tomorrow.

Jima was talking a little about his PhD studies (classics — Ancient Greek and Latin) tonight which promoted Becca to ask me what I like to nerd out on. The question made me feel a little self-conscious because I don’t really have an answer. I’m not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, I do consider myself more of a generalist with a variety of interests. On the other hand, I wonder how much of my lean towards generalistness(?)?is because of a fear of commitment/rejection/failure. Do I choose not to dive deep into things because I prefer to learn little bits of a lot of things? Or do I do this to avoid falling too hard on my face? I think there’s a bit of both. I think right now my interests are spread too thin. I can’t just like everything but never progress past a beginner level of understanding. That won’t be fulfilling or useful to the world. I gotta give a little more of myself. Put myself out there and expect to fail more.

Coming back to this a week later, I think maybe I was too hard on myself. I mean, I’m biking to Canada so I think I’m giving a good bit of myself to this. I can’t rush my own discovery.

Day 17

Binghamton, NY to Bear Spring Mountain, NY — 61 miles

Total miles: 795

I am delightfully tired sitting at our campsite in Bear Spring Mountain campground. Today was quite the day; 61 miles and over 5,000 feet of elevation gain. And the climbs were BIG. It wasn’t like gradually going up all day. It was slight hills almost all day, with huge hills sprinkled throughout. But we did it! And had fun. And saw beautiful places!

For whatever reason I started the day grumpy. I was tired and didn’t eat enough for breakfast so I guess that’s at least partially why. I sort of stayed in a low energy funk all day. I’ve had low-ish moments already, but this was my first day like this. I think it’s inevitable though. We’re just two weeks away from Montreal (not really anymore… read on) so it’s starting to feel more real which is exciting, but I think also causes more introspection. Which is also good.

I couldn’t be completely unhappy all day because you just can’t when you’re riding a bike through beautiful New York Forests, Rivers, and Reservoirs. Like most days, almost all 61 miles were spectacularly beautiful. We happily rode with little traffic along the side of Highway 17 on Old Highway 17 for the first 20+ miles. The majority of the rest of the day was on nice wide roads with great views. I tried not to gaslight myself into being happy by thinking “how can you be upset in this beautiful place?” It’s tough because I do sort of agree with that question, but humans aren’t designed to be happy all the time, no matter how amazing their surroundings are. I feel like that’s a really important lesson to learn. It’s not like once I reach Montreal I’ll feel bliss. I’m sure it’ll feel pretty cool, and adventures like this certainly make me happier than baseline on 9/10 days. But I’m remembering that I can find happiness in different ways closer to home. That’s somewhat like what I hope to share with this trip: adventure without the harm (or a lot less harm, anyway). Anyway, I’m feeling a tad homesick today, but mostly in a good way. Ya know?

After climb 6 of 7, it was like the world opened up. I forget how long it was, but I know at least 800 feet. The hard work was rewarded with a sweet downhill with a full gradient of green trees on the horizon for a mile or two. I said wow at least ten times. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing, but I’m getting more and more confident with downhills each day. I trust myself and my bike to get me down safely without squeezing the brakes the whole time.

It is absolutely POURING rain right now. We knew there was a chance for rain, but this was still unexpected. Luckily, Jima and I just finished cleaning up after dinner, and we got all of our stuff (and ourselves) out of the rain just in time. My tent is holding up well so far, but I am slightly concerned that I haven’t set it up correctly. Some of it is sagging a little so if the rain lasts a long time it might not be pretty for me. This tent is a challenging to get nice and taught because the tension come from the attached rainfly which you stake into the ground. I guess I just need to be better…

I’m really glad we have a bear canister and bear spray now. I think with the all the places we’ll be camping bears aren’t a major concern — the guys here said there hasn’t been a bear in the park in 6 years — but I’d like to do some more wild camping later in this trip and both will be good to have beyond this trip as well. Regardless, the extra peace of mind just in case, is worth the cost. More importantly to me, I feel good to be doing my part in protecting people and bears. The problem of bears getting into human food extends well beyond the incident itself. Of course, bears eating your food at your campsite could lead to one or both animals involved getting hurt in the moment. Even if nothing happens, the bear will be eating food (or junk) that’s not meant for them, harming their digestive system. But most significantly, once a bear learns that it can get high-calorie food (especially compared to all the vegetation they have to eat all day to survive) from campsites, there’s a great chance it’ll keep coming back for the easy meals. Which means more chance for interactions with people which means more chance for bears or humans to get hurt. If a bear happened to become food conditioned then attacked a person at a campsite, the bear would have to be killed. And perhaps even worse, more stories like that have the potential to hurt bears’ reputation. People might like/care about them less, or be afraid to enjoy nature themselves, even though the real danger is very small.

It makes me so sad how we’re constantly encroaching on wildlife and then they’re the nuisance animal. “The deer jumped out in front of my car.” Probably true, but also why do we expect deer (or any animal) to not? I think I mentioned roadkill in a past blog but I’ll just say again that we see a lot every day. It sucks. I’m even more curious to see Montreal now after Jima told me the city design is basically anti-car.

I thought I’d be more tired and ready for bed but I’m not. It’s 8pm and the rain has slowed down but not stopped. Today Jima mentioned being grateful for his body to be able to do this and I want to second that notion. He also pointed out that we sort of forget what it means to bike 60 miles. That’s become a pretty short day for us. While most people see that and nearly faint. I’m pretty sure every adult without serious chronic medical conditions is capable of doing the things that they see others doing and saying “I could never do that!” Seriously. I know many of you reading have said that to me about my biking. You definitely can. I hope I’m not sounding condescending. I mean it in the best way possible; you can do “crazy” stuff if you want to. As cliché as it sounds, I’m not special. And this is advice to myself too! I see lots of people doing Ironmans, ultramarathons, longer bike tours, playing music, writing, learning a language, etc and think to myself that they’re just different. Sure, certain people seem to have natural talent in different areas, and we can’t all become movie stars or professional athletes, but we can definitely do a lot more than we think. I’m really excited to keep pushing myself this trip, and maybe train for a marathon or triathlon, or start something else to push myself when this adventure comes to a close.

I went outside and fixed my tent. Very easy adjustment and it looks way better. The rain is barely coming down but my feet are wet :( That is life.

Day 18

Bear Spring Campground to Some other campground, NY — 60 miles

Total miles: 855

Another rainy campsite 🙃. Hopefully my tent holds up okay. Jima and I were both taking showers when it started pouring so I returned to a wet raincoat, phone, pannier, and my tent falling over. The ground here doesn’t suit my tent very well — it needs soft but solid ground so the stakes can go in and stay in to keep the tent upright. Here the ground is rocky so it’s hard to find a good secure spot. It’s doing okay after I fixed it the first time but if the rain picks up again, I’m not sure it’ll last. It’s a pretty mild rain now but just enough to keep us in our tents. At least we got set up before it really started so all things considered were in good shape.

Just before the downpour we sat in the very cold creek by our campsite. It felt incredible! I almost immediately felt more relaxed but also energized. I almost always take cold showers but this was way different.

The woman who checked us in gave us a lock to use for one of their bear proof barrels and warned us there has been a bear spotted recently. I was also glad to see there are also signs in various places to educate people about bear safety. Since we have it, we’re gonna put most of our stuff in that barrel. I would LOVE to see a bear this trip, but not at my campsite :)

Today’s ride was another beautiful one. Seriously nothing to complain about. And yet I was in a somewhat funky mood again. We took it slow (although somehow made really good time) today which felt really good. As we snaked around the Pepacton Reservoir, Jima and I discussed the option of biking into Maine first, then to Montreal.  At this point I think we’re both leaning a little towards that option. But it really doesn’t make much difference to me. I’ll just get to see Maine twice! Jima wants to extend the trip a little and see our friend Jadyn in Portland.

A couple of times today I noticed leaves falling slowly in front of us, the Sun seeming to catch and hold them in mid air momentarily. For a reason I can’t explain seeing this made me feel a little emotional. It was magical looking and felt special. I could search for a metaphor but I think I’d rather just feel the magic of nature. I don’t need to place undo meaning on things like this. Though sometimes I believe there is deep meaning to be discovered (or perhaps uncovered).

It seems like we’ve seen less roadkill in New York which is cool. But drivers have been slightly less gracious. There’s almost never a moment while riding when there’s nothing to look at. Sometimes it’s a Chipmunk darting across the road, tail held high. Other times a Faun following her mother through a field. Often it’s a Stream, Pond, Lake, River or other body of Water surrounded by magnificent green Trees. There’s plenty of Woodchucks to spot, too, usually bounding to safety under an old barn.

We’ve had somewhat bad luck while camping. Two consecutive nights of rain and we were rained on the last time we camped, too. But it’s kinda nice. A little frustrating in the moment when your stuff is getting soaked, but I’m loving listening to the birds singing through the raindrops. Plus, it makes the days with a roof over our head mean so much more. I’m really excited to pass through New Paltz and Hyde Park tomorrow where I’ll see several colleagues turned friends from my SCA term last year. Then it’s on to New Lebanon where I began my year in New York State with a workaway gig and volunteering at Song of The Robin Animal Sanctuary. So many friends coming soon! I wish I could be more communicative with them but I’ve hardly had service since lunch time yesterday.

I am coming to enjoy being less connected. I told my family I’d potentially be unavailable yesterday and today so I can be at ease with that. Now I have a bear can and spray so that’s another weight off my back. All that’s left is to take care of myself :) While I do enjoy time “offline” I’m realizing how much I had come to depend on the internet to entertain myself and basically pass the time. It’s so silly how much time I spend trying to just pass the time. Why do I want the time to pass? Why is it so uncomfortable to do nothing? I think answers (direct or indirect) to these questions become clearer the more time spent not doing so much. As I sit with the discomfort of not occupying my brain and body every second, stuff starts to unravel. Anxiety fades away and peace starts to replace it. Happiness comes easier with far less (stuff, activity, praise, etc). All this might sound like I’m on some path to enlightenment. I might near-ish the path, but definitely not on it. I have to actually do the work, not just talk about it. So how about a ten minute meditation?

Wow. It’s been a while since I’ve actually sat for a meditation. It’s surprising how similar it is to exercise in the way you need to keep practicing or else you lose your strength/skill/whatever you want to call it in this context. Two years ago I completed a tend day silent meditation retreat, meditating for 10+ hours a day. Today my mind was wandering all over the place within seconds. Honestly, it was pretty fun. I was coming up with crazy scenarios that were dream-esque but more realistic. I also spent about 25% of the time thinking about what I’d write about the experience. Whatever it was I thought about has since left my brain. But even with all the distractions, I feel great. I’m very happy I did it, and would like to get back into a routine. When I used to meditate often, people would say they can’t because their mind is too crazy or they can’t sit still. YES, that’s the point. No one meditates with a 100% empty head for the entire time. It’s more about taking the time to just sit. Let the thoughts come and go, chuckle at them. Enjoy the time without external input. Like usual, this is advice to myself that maybe you can use too. But I don’t mean to preach at anyone :)

Now it’s 6:30pm and I’m getting ready for bed. I fully thought it was at least 7:30. It’s just not very fun to be out in the rain. Everything is damp and it’s getting a little chilly. My tent is dry and cozy, and the rain sounds nice outside. So I think I’ll just lay here and read, maybe open up this note every once in a while to jot down some thoughts. Then fall asleep whenever sleep comes.

With almost three weeks of riding on second hand gear and eating out of dumpsters, I’m thinking more about where this is going. I don’t quite know yet if I love it so much I want to keep going for as long as I can, or if a couple of months will be enough to satisfy me for a while. Part of me wants to move to a city and work at a bike shop. Maybe try my hand at leading small bike tours and showing people how to eat for free while preventing food waste. (Shoutout to my friend Claire for working at a bike shop and leading tours!). I’m not sure the style of sustainability leadership that I was practicing through the workshops I’ve mentioned in the past really clicks for me. I  think I need something more active and tangible. Ideally spending time in nature and doing my best to conserve wild areas. I would love it if my current actions translate to some sort of impact, like inspiring others to reduce waste and adventure in more sustainable ways. I think for that to happen I need to dedicate more time to creating content online, which is an idea I don’t love. Regardless of what I do, I’d like to become firmer in my beliefs. I’m very happy that I seem to naturally be an open-minded, go-with-the-flow kind of person, but if you don’t stand for something, you fall for anything, right?

I want to be part of real change and make a real difference to people and the planet. I’ve been passed by thousands of cars during this bike ride, all spewing pollution into our air. I’ve seen litter on every single road. I’ve been yelled and scowled at. I’ve seen close to a hundred dead animals, slain by cars, in one day. I’ve passed tractors covering our food in toxic pesticides. I’ve seen piles and piles of edible food in dumpsters. I have to admit, I feel sad and lose hope in our future often. We’re growing far too fast, using far too much, and caring far too little to live happily and healthily on Earth for much longer. Of course, I’m not a scientist and I don’t really know how long (or short) we can keep this up, but I honestly can’t imagine living to my natural old age without some very serious global catastrophes if our species continues to live as we are. Gosh, that’s sad.

But I’ve also made new friends. I’ve been emphatically waved at and encouraged by strangers. I’ve seen beautiful Forests, Rivers, Lakes, and Mountains. I’ve been fed warm meals by complete strangers. I’ve met people who bike everywhere they go and people who just want to pay forward the support they were given in the past. There is magic all around us on our beautiful planet. Exploring it at 10mph makes it visible.

Day 19

Woodland Valley Campground, NY to Hyde Park, NY — 54 miles

Total miles: 909

It’s 4:45am, still at the campsite, still raining. I just had a dream that I woke up around 6:45 and actually recorded a video of myself giving people advice for how to sleep better and longer while camping 💀. I had this whole spiel and everything. Turns out I’m still not good at sleeping while camping.

Now I’m playing catch-up with these daily reflections. Today is the morning of day 23…

The ride to Hyde Park was very nice. I remember the morning being chilly but so so nice to see and feel the sun again after being damp for so long. I also remember freaking out a little because of the mosquitoes attacking me while I packed up. It was not a nice, calm morning at the campsite for me. But, I survived of course and at some point found peace with the dampness and the mosquitoes.

The first 5 miles were slightly downhill and like I said, the sun was just fantastic.

We rode through a small town and busy roads for a few miles before finding another beautiful reservoir. The roads were great and the Ashokan Reservoir is extra special.

I don’t remember much else from the ride until we reached a sign that said “Road Closed. Emergency Vehicles Only”. And we said, “it’s probably fine.” It was! Kinda :)

To me, these moments are what make an adventure an adventure. It was mildly concerning and challenging but 100% fun and sort of comedic. The adventure continued just a few miles later when we jumped on the Walkkill Rail Trail to take us to New Paltz. The trail itself is really lovely, but the coolest part was literally cold. As we rode past a group of cyclists who were all stopped and off trail, we felt a rush of cold air and simultaneously questioned what the heck just happened. We turned around and discovered an amazing cave that must have been 20 or 30 degrees colder than the outside temperature. I’ve never been caving but after exploring this one, I can see the appeal. I just wanted to keep going!

Jima and I were both in great spirits arriving in New Paltz. I saw my SCA program coordinators for the first time since last November, we all hung out, got lunch, played with Tugboat, and dried out our tents a little.

We had to wait a few hours to go to Hyde Park where we were staying with a fellow SCA Hudson Valley Corps member from last year. He wouldn’t be home from work until the evening so we just enjoyed New Paltz — very cool little city!

The last 15ish miles over to Hyde Park were very nice as well. We were on a rail trail for most of it and got to ride on the Walkway Over The Hudson which is a really cool pedestrian bridge over the Hudson River. I love riding in the later evenings. Something about it feels special. It also seems a little more laid back and I find myself riding slower without the urge to go faster.

My friend in Hyde Park made a delicious curry for us and we had a great time catching up. It’s been very neat to stay with a variety of people this trip. A lot of times the conversations are similar (people want to know where we started, how long it’s going to take, etc), but always unique in some ways. You can never predict what direction they will go in :)

Day 20

Hyde Park, NY to Hudson, NY — 40 miles

Total miles: 949

We had possibly our most stressful moment of the trip this morning! The friend we were staying with has an ornery cat (aptly named Riot) who can open screen doors… needless to say, he showed off his skill right before we left. My friend had gone to work already, so it was pretty much worse case scenario. But not really because little Riot didn’t go far. He made us work to get him back inside, but he didn’t run off into the woods, just under the neighbor’s porch and in their trees. It was somewhat of a Cold War until somehow Jima grabbed him. Crisis averted!

Before that fiasco I rode my unloaded bike a few miles to the FDR National Historic site to meet another SCA friend who recently started working there. For some reason I thought he lived in Hudson but he lives in the opposite direction in Beacon, so it was awesome to see him and catch up at his work. He also got me a ticket to explore the museum a little which was pretty neat.

Between meeting my friend and the cat chase, we got a pretty late start. And for one reason or another we were both rather low energy. The icing on the cake was some pretty crappy and busy roads for the first 15 miles. So the day started a bit rough. We rode through Bard College and some lovely rural areas, but struggled to find much excitement in anything. Our mindsets were holding us back. But we pedaled on and eventually arrived at our host in Hudson right before a quick storm blew through!

We thought we’d be camping in his backyard and not interacting all that much, but ended up riding into town with him and sleeping inside! The city of Hudson is cute and very boujie. Our host called it the land of the $16 cocktail. Fortunately, we didn’t need to do any shopping there. Our host met some friends while Jima and I walked to the Hudson River.

We walked back to the bar where we left our host and met his friends and chatted for a while. Again, it’s so neat to meet such a variety of friendly faces :) Our host dropped us off back at his house before he left again to watch a movie. Jima and I cooked food and I went to bed 😴

Day 21

Hudson, NY to New Lebanon, NY

Total miles: 984

Happy Independence Day! I’ve gone most of today forgetting what day it is. For all the problems our country has, I am grateful for my freedom. However, as a straight white man, I know my freedom is pretty different from the freedom of other US citizens who don’t look like me. I’m grateful that I can feel comfortable and safe while biking thousands of miles. I’m sad that many others cannot. I don’t know what else about my genetic makeup or past experiences have made me want to explore my freedom in this way, but I hope I can be part of a growing community of people living similarly. I also hope I can somehow make real positive change in this world. I’ve bounced all around trying to figure out how I can do this, and right now I feel more lost than ever. Though I have built little missions into this bike tour, it feels mostly self-serving. Not quite selfish, but close.

I’d like to believe that this lifestyle that I love can feed significant positive impact, but I haven’t figured out how yet. Maybe the two worlds will never collide. Maybe adventuring will always be a self-serving endeavor that I enjoy on the side of whatever other work I end up doing to help the world. Luckily I have another month or more to think on this.

I haven’t been writing for the last three days. It’s crazy how quickly a habit can fade away. I’ve also just been tired and trying to focus on being with the people we meet or the friends we’re staying with. I’m going to catch up tomorrow (spoiler, I did not catch up).

It’s really cool to be back at Song Of The Robin Animal Sanctuary in New Lebanon, NY. This is where I started my year living in New York State. Now the owner, Lisa, has volunteers coming from all of the world to help care for the animals, do maintenance, cook, clean, fundraise, and more. I’m sleeping in Betty’s old house tonight. Betty was a big white bunny who recently passed. They converted her house into a little cabin for volunteers. It’s lovely! I highly recommend visiting/staying or volunteering here if you ever have the chance!!

Today’s ride was short and relatively flat, but the day was long. We left late after a nice morning with our host in Hudson, then had mechanical issues for the first half of the ride until we got to Ok Spoke — a bike shop right off the Empire State Trail. There Jima had a spoke replaced and we both filled our tires to adequate pressures. Other than that, not much happened.

I think Jima and I both had two big servings of the awesome spaghetti with vegan meatballs that Lisa made. Lisa and I got to catch up a little bit, but more to come tomorrow —  the rest day tomorrow will be great for many reasons, including posting a blog (sike)!

Day 22

Song of the Robin Animal Sanctuary — Rest Day

Total miles: 984

I’m almost caught up!! It’s Sunday morning and one of Lisa’s dogs, Kira, is laying on my feet in the kitchen. Lisa is making breakfast for guests and I’m watching Kira to make sure she doesn’t lick her stitches (she had a couple of tumors removed). We’re also talking about food waste.

Now I’m outside with Wylie! He played fetch for one toss before asking for scratches. I loved going on hikes with him when I lived here. Especially in the snowy forests in the winter. One time he took off after a deer when Lisa was walking him and I followed his tracks about a half mile down the road. That was fun.

Anyway! Yesterday was a wonderful rest day. I watched Kira like I did this morning and did the dishes after breakfast. It was great to help out, if just a little bit. We took a tour around to see the animals and just relaxed for the rest of the day.

I took a ride to my first New York State workaway host who lives about 8 miles from here (and up about 1,000 feet) right on the New York/Massachusetts border. I really enjoyed riding by myself, unloaded. I had a lovely visit with her and her current workawayer from France. She gave me organic Spinach and Blueberries directly from her garden and let me take as much Purslane as I wanted.

On the ride home I stopped behind a family dollar and found a bunch of donuts, chocolate and other sweets. If you like that kind of stuff, stop paying for it and check dollar store dumpsters!

In the evening, one of the volunteers at Lisa’s played the French Horn for the goats, who seemed to enjoy it. Jima made risotto for everyone and he made a donation to Song of The Robin for an essential piece of apparel. It’s been very nice to find ourselves in all of these mini communities along the way. It’ll be hard to leave this morning so it’s good we have our (most likely) shortest ride of the trip to Albany :)

Day 23

New Lebanon, NY to Albany, NY — 25 miles

Total miles: 1,009

1,000 miles traveled completely thanks to my own power and my bike!!! But also thanks to all of you who have supported and encouraged me, as well as all the people who have helped me and Jima with places to sleep, food to eat, guidance, and friendship. Crazy stuff. It feels like I’ve reached this milestone so quickly! It’s also a little funny to me that I surpassed 1,000 miles today on what will very likely be our shortest ride of the whole trip.

It was a little bit sad to leave the sanctuary this morning. I felt similar to how I felt when leaving for my internship at Five Rivers. I’m excited to continue on our journey, but being around great people and being able to help out feels really good. It made me very happy to see Jima enjoying it too. I still have no idea how I want to live after this ride, but weirdly it feels like I’m getting closer to figuring it out. I think it might be like learning a new language. I’ve heard multiple people say that it can sound like gibberish for months, then all of a sudden you can understand everything. There are ideas and questions floating around in my head with very little form right now, but I’m optimistic they’ll take shape at some point :)

The ride today was relatively uneventful but full of nice conversation between me and Jima. We were on the Empire State Trail for most of the ride so it was easy to chat safely. Then we bumped into a married couple who were finishing their ride from NYC to Albany with the man’s dad and uncle. I think we rode with them for about 10 very fast miles. It was awesome to share stories and tips with each other. I never got any of their names. I’m learning to be less sentimental on this trip. Or perhaps attached is the better word. One of the older gentleman was shocked I was riding to Canada in sandals, to which I enthusiastically explained how much I love biking in sandals. My earthrunners are seriously my favorite piece of gear I have!

Though we took our time leaving this morning, we made it to Albany around 1pm so we had plenty of time to hang out with my friend Ruby!! We shared some fun stories, caught up on life, got vegan donuts at Bitch’n Donuts, made curry (Jima made curry), and played games. Returning to the Capital Region or the Hudson Valley is very tempting to me because I have so many friends that I like a lot in this area! Maybe I will 🤷‍♂️ All I know is I will be on my bike for another 2,000 miles :)

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Day 11

Lewisburg, PA — Rest day

Total miles: 528

It feels like it’s been way less but also way more than 11 days. I experienced this same sort of thing in 2023. The hours are long but the days are short… something like that.

Today was apparently a MUCH needed rest day. Jima and I walked around Lewisburg a little and hung out in the Bucknell Library where I posted my last blog and did some other stuff online. Then I passed out in the booth we were sitting at. I woke up and I was practically hallucinating. I immediately asked Jima what he said and he looked at me like I was crazy. He had been silent for as long as I had been asleep. I was so tired. Now it’s 9pm and I’m much better. Ready for bed again, but also ready to ride tomorrow.

We had a delicious lunch at a Turkish restaurant in town before returning to our hosts’ home to cool off and continue relaxing. I did a little reading and we planned routes for the next few days. Tomorrow we’re staying at World’s End State Park, about 50 miles North of us. Then we’ll be in New York on Thursday!

Around 5pm I went dumpster diving and didn’t have much success until I visited the back of a dollar tree. Their dumpster was FULL of nothing but food. Seriously, there wasn’t any actual trash. It was all frozen burgers, chicken tenders, pizza, and other stuff like that. I found some mozzarella sticks that were still cold and a bunch of melted dessert/candy that I took home. If you saw Jima’s Instagram story, you know that some of the Twix bars exploded in my pannier 🙃. But! It was funny and not that hard to clean. I also stopped by a bakery and asked if they had anything they’d be throwing out. They gave me two huge croissants which I put in one of my ziploc bags.

I bought bananas and sweet corn at the grocery store. I had two raw cobs of corn which were absolutely delicious. I have three more for tomorrow and maybe the next day. So I’m doing pretty good with my goal of low waste. Though I’ve been heavily aided by hosts cooking for us. Still, I’m getting more and more confident going dumpster diving and asking people for “trash” food. So far it’s been a good combination of challenge, little bit of stress, and fun! I hope to continue becoming more self-sufficient.

Today was a true rest day… although we did probably walk a couple miles, and I biked about 6 miles while dumpster diving.  Otherwise we just rested, so not much to say. Our hosts have been lovely and very generous. They were kind enough to let us linger here since last night and feed us. Plus, since they’re familiar with the roads around here they helped us plan our routes.

Jima and I talked briefly about me exploring more in parts of Canada north of Maine. Like New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. I should have time, so why not? Maybe I’ll feel differently when that time comes, but the idea is exciting to me. For now, I’ll try to focus on each day as it comes :)

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Day 12

Lewisburg, PA to Worlds End State Park, PA — 46 miles

Total miles: 574

I have to admit I am a little anxious about three things right now. First, we haven’t had service since the middle of the day and because I didn’t think about losing service, I didn’t update anyone on my location and well-being. I hope anyone who has tried to contact me today isn’t overly worried. We’re absolutely fine, and it’s quite nice to be out of service! In fact, today has been an amazing day. Still, I wish I could have at least texted someone to say we’re okay. Lesson learned to keep people updated ahead of time when camping (feels like such an obvious thing now)! I’m grateful I have people in my life who I can worry about worrying about me :)

Another thing giving me slight anxiety is we’re in a pretty wild area and I don’t have a bear bag/canister or bear spray. I’m pretty sure it’ll be totally fine, especially since there are zero signs posted at the campground about bears. But I just wish I had been better prepared. I would have peace of mind if we had a canister. I put all of our food in sealed bags away from our campsite to at least keep a separation between us and any animals who might smell food. If they get into it, oh well. Well, not oh well because then they will have learned they can get food near people. But still better than them breaking into our tents I suppose. I know that Black Bears are very very unlikely to engage with humans, but it just seems silly to take any chances. Especially with what I know about wildlife and food conditioning. I’m embarrassed that I’m not better prepared! I will definitely not go camping again anywhere where bears may be present until I have the right gear. Anyway, I think I’ve done the best I can given the circumstances.

Lastly, I have slight anxiety about sleeping. I’m worried I won’t fall asleep because of the other two things. And in general I tend to have some anxiety around sleeping when in new places. But! Writing is helping and I’ll just read until I pass out :)

Like I said, the ride was fantastic! The majority of the roads were in good condition and felt safe. We did have one man honk at us and yell something (if you’re mad at a cyclist, you need to enunciate very well or else we will not hear you) as he drove by. I just gave him a thumbs up. I hope we didn’t ruin his day for causing him to wait 10 seconds to pass us :)

It was 45 miles with lots of hills. Big hills! And beautiful! It was a very scenic ride. As we rode past one house near the top of a climb a lady was out watering plants and offered us water. Her and her husband came out and chatted with us for 10ish minutes. It was really nice! And perfect timing because after a 700 foot climb, we were running low.

Random aside: I found a nice water bottle on day 2 riding on the C&O canal. It was practically brand new! I wanted to mention that because I love sharing my ride finds and today I found a portable solar battery bank at the campground! Pretty epic.

Jima said something very accurate today when we were thinking about how we don’t have many photos together so far. He said, “it’s been like 60% beauty all the time, rather than 100% beauty in one spot.” The rides have all been really lovely and pretty (for the most part) but there haven’t been INCREDIBLE overlooks or anything where taking a photo feels obvious. I took one photo today while we were climbing but you can’t really tell how high up we were nor how beautiful it was. Oh well. We have the memories :)

The campground is lovely. We spent some time sitting in the creek which felt very good. It was fun letting the current push into me with a rock at my back holding me up. Rivers and creeks are very awe-inspiring for me. The shear force combined with the fact that they’re just always flowing and supporting the ecosystem is so cool. We also met a nice guy who helped us find our spot when we arrived.

Before dinner we did a 2-mile out-and-back hike (4 miles total) to a sweet overlook. Then, after dinner we biked a few miles away in search of phone signal to send people messages but we had no luck. I’m really glad we tried, though because it was beautiful. It had just rained (it’s dripping a little now) and the fog floating above the trees around the creek looked magical. It was a very nice couple of extra miles. I think tomorrow’s ride into Elmira will be beautiful too :)

We’ll need to restock some food on the way and probably return a handful of messages once we get service! I love that we’re in central PA, almost New York State, all under our own power. That feels so great to me. It feels right.

Day 13

Worlds End State Park, PA to Elmira, NY — 79 miles

Total miles: 653

We are in state #3 — New York (just one more before Canada 😮)! I’m so happy to have gotten here on a bicycle. Very soon I’ll be catching up with friends all up along the Hudson River for the first time in almost a year.

Tonight we’re staying with a super cool guy with some fun bikes in his garage. He also had two adorable 3-month-old pit bull puppies. We accidentally rode an extra 6 miles today because I used “Rd” instead of “Dr” for his address. Why is there a “Road” and a “Drive” of the same name within 5 miles!? Whatever, I messed up. Then I got snippy with Jima, mostly because I was frustrated with myself and embarrassed. We rode in silence back the way we came for a couple miles, then I apologized at a stop light. It’s so funny but not really funny how hard it feels to own up to a mistake when it really feels so good once you do it. In this instance in particular, a very quick apology changed the mood from sour to comedic within minutes. We spent the evening happily enjoying dinner and conversation with our host.

We didn’t get signal back until after 10 miles as we came to the top of a farm road. Ironically, it felt like the middle of no where. We both messaged people to let them know we were alive, and I finally got the route onto my bike computer for much easier navigation. I am honestly ashamed by how stressed I was about having no service for 20ish hours. I’d like to think it was mostly because I was worried others were worried about me. But I’m sure some of it was because I’m addicted to social media and the other conveniences I get from the online world. I’d like to entirely unplug for at least one day this summer. I can let everyone know in advance so that’s taken care of, then just live. We’ll see.

The ride was another beautiful one. With the exception of maybe 15 miles on busier roads and through towns, we were climbing rural roads with mountains and forests all around us. We had to follow a detour rather early in the ride which added at least five miles to our ride. But it was very beautiful with about a mile of climbing rewarded by several miles of amazing downhill.

I dumpster dove in a town called Towanda and found a bunch of sweets at a Dollar General. Also a container of PERFECTLY good tomatoes except for one with a small blemish. That dumpster had other veggies that were definitely rotten and lots of other packaged stuff I couldn’t reach. It’s really cool to rescue the cupcakes and similar things, but it’s just not very helpful for me. The sugar and other ingredients make them hyper-palatable, but barely provide any real fuel for riding. So I’m still buying the majority of my food at grocery stores which means more packaging. It’ll continue to be a process of learning and balancing the junk that I’m more likely to rescue with the whole foods I prefer to sustain myself. And I’ll keep trying to document it!

I’m really proud to have gotten so far so fast, and equally excited for the many more days to come :)

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Day 14

Elmira, NY to Ithaca, NY — 37 miles

Total miles: 690

Arriving in Ithaca after two weeks on the road feels pretty big.

That was all I managed to write yesterday! We got here relatively early, but have been going going going ever since. In a good way! Our host, Carolyn, is a wonderful friend of a friend. And I got to meet Jima’s friend from undergrad. We all had delicious Ethiopian food for dinner last night and despite being the only non-PhD student at the table, I kept up with the conversation okay enough.

The ride from Elmira to Ithaca was very lovely. After we got out of Elmira (which is a nice little town!) the roads were very nice and the views were beautiful. There was very little traffic all day, and those who did pass us gave lots of space. We really enjoyed the cooler weather, and with some of the downhills it even felt cold!

Just as we entered Ithaca we spotted Buttermilk Falls and made a short pit stop to check it out. This city is really beautiful and it’s so neat how easy it is to get into nature and find waterfalls!

It’s funny, I thought I had more to write, but I think I covered it all. I’ll just reiterate my gratitude for the people we’ve met thus far who have given us shelter, food, showers, and family-like company. Two weeks done, two weeks to go! Plus an undecided amount of weeks for me after Montreal :)

I of course love the rest days, but I feel myself really wanting to get back on the road. Jima and Carolyn were in agreement last night that the biking is probably their least favorite part of bike touring… that is not the case for me. I find a lot of peace and beauty on the bike. Self-reflection, deep thinking, gratitude, and FUN! I’d like to get a bit better at enjoying the rest days as well as downtime after biking each day.

Day 15

Ithaca, NY — Rest Day

Total miles: 690

Ithaca is a very beautiful place!! It seems like nature trails and waterfalls are around every corner and people are super nice. The hills are little tough when walking/biking, but always worth it.

Jima and I started today with a walk to the Cascadilla Gorge, then Cornell campus. We didn’t have much time and the hills to get up to campus were crazy so we only saw a small portion of campus. What we saw was beautiful though. Then we took a trip to the community bike shop which was amazing. I got a new front cassette ring because mine was getting very worn, as well as a new chain. Everyone there was very friendly and I learned a tiny bit more about bike maintenance :)

After the bike shop we went to the stunning farmer’s market. I really like farmers markets for many reasons, but I also get pretty overwhelmed with all the people and food/stuff everywhere. While the rest of the group was getting food I walked to the Aldi grocery store around the corner and found over 50 peaches in the dumpster along with other veggies, fruit, and bread. To give them a tiny bit of slack, a lot of it was actually rotting, but the peaches were perfectly good (and delicious!). To remove that credit, is it really that hard to start a compost? Or send it somewhere else for compost? Maybe it is. But a lot of things in life are hard, and usually they are the most meaningful. Of course, there’s also the fact that stores continue to overstock their shelves with food that will never get eaten. It’s kind of painful to see in real life with my own eyes. I’m grateful for it, though.

After the farmer’s market we went to Ludlowville Falls where there was a beautiful waterfall and swimming hole. It was a very magical place; the water felt amazing. I love the nature here so much. We’ve been blessed with some awesome routes and destinations that have brought us through/to beautiful nature. And people!

I spent the rest of the afternoon writing and talking to friends and family. I didn’t quite finish before it was time to make tofu dumplings! Tonight was my first night helping to prepare an actual meal in over a week. I cooked a little in Baltimore and DC, but since then it’s been very easy/plain stuff or food made for us or dumpster food or just whole fruits and veggies. I’m sure I’ll get tired of this simple way of eating, but I’m honestly loving it right now. I love cooking too, but it’s fun to just make do with whatever you can manage. At least for me.

It’s rather warm in this apartment right now, but I’m no stranger to toasty evenings after choosing to live with no AC last summer. I’m really excited to get back on the bike tomorrow.

I bought bear spray today at REI and I’m buying a bear canister from someone on Facebook marketplace tomorrow morning. So I’ll have a few extra pounds to lug around but it’ll be very worth it to be safe whenever we’re camping in New York and Vermont. Plus, I’ve been wanting to have both for a while now. By the way, there were no issues a few nights ago at Worlds End State Park :)

Day 6

Baltimore to Washington DC — 51 miles

Total miles: 270

It feels much later than 10pm. But I also don’t feel super tired? The human body is pretty incredible. While eating dinner with Jima and our host (my wonderful friend Aylish), I commented on this in an ungrateful way. I basically bragged about not being very tired after our ride today. All I wanted to get across was the amazing ability for our bodies and minds to adapt. I have the past experience of biking long hot days from 4k For Cancer 2023, and I’ve just gotten used to spending lots of time in the saddle over the last six months. Because of these things, I can handle a lot more than many people can fathom. When I rode 50 miles in one day for the first time in 2022 I was destroyed. And that was riding on FLAT terrain. Now 50 miles with a loaded bike is not that much. Again, I’m not trying to be arrogant. I’m just excited for the potential growth to come!

Jima and I rode from Baltimore to Proteus Bicycles in College Park with a friend who took the metro home. Then we carried on another 10ish miles to Aylish’s apartment in DC. Despite not being very tired, today was not an easy day. It was very hot and humid, quite a bit of elevation, and less-than-amazing roads. It was great to stop by Proteus and the mechanics gave us great advice and help with our bikes — we both will need a new chain within the next few days 😅

I enjoyed showing Jima where I lived in College Park and how I got to campus. The last 10 miles into DC felt like forever. Lots of stopping and starting, and it seemed like we were biking on all of the roads without bike lanes 🤦‍♂️. But! We made it inside right before the storm came through so that was a big positive.

As always it was lovely to catch up with Aylish and hangout!! I’m realizing just now that I think she’s the first of my friends that Jima has met. We either share friends or he introduces his friends to me.

Tomorrow we are camping for the first time! We’ll ride 60-70 miles mostly on the C&O Canal up towards the Frederick, MD area. Even though I could’ve been out of Maryland 4 days ago, it might end up being the state with the most days riding in it! I’m really glad I decided not to go for the most efficient route.

Day 7

Washington DC to Brunswick, MD (ish) — 67 miles

Total miles: 331

I am sitting at a picnic table at a lovely campsite off of the C&O Canal Trail, looking at the Potomac River. I will finally go to bed early tonight! Unless the bugs keep me up 😅

We had a nice ride out of DC to get onto the C&O Canal where we stayed for the rest of the day. The Great Falls were beautiful and the power of the water was awe-inspiring. I have to admit that while the trail is very lovely, it does get a bit boring. You’re going almost exclusively straight and the scenery is mostly the same everywhere. Though there are some awesome views of the Potomac. And riding without worry of car traffic is amazing. It also enables you to have nice conversations with your biking buddy!

It’s neat to be camping right in the river. Especially because we met two very kind strangers who we chatted with for a while. Today feels like the official start of the adventure and has set the bar pretty high! Lots of nice interactions and lovely riding. But the size of this trip still hasn’t really sunk in for me. Maybe it never will and I’ll just enjoy each day. I’m actually looking forward to really hard days, physically and emotionally. Who knows when they will come? Not me!

We’ll be in a new state tomorrow! Pennsylvania here we come :)

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Day 8

Brunswick (ish), MD to Caledonia, PA — 72 miles

Total miles: 403

It is getting dark! There is a crying baby at the campsite next to us. I just spent the last hour + messaging warmshowers hosts in Harrisburg, PA and trying to better figure out my bike computer. I was successful (I think)! I would be thrilled if we woke up to a host accepting our request to stay with them tomorrow. We need some bike maintenance and laundry would be amazing. But if nothing works out, we will make it work like we did today!

We had to simply believe that the campground we were headed for would have space for us. And they did — a whip-poor-will is calling very near our campsite right now! Ok back to today’s ride. We had almost 40 miles on the C&O Canal before jumping off just before mile marker 100 at Williamsport. That was a cute little town with nice people. While resting there, we weighed our options for where we would sleep tonight. The goal was to secure a warmshowers host but everyone I contacted either couldn’t have us or didn’t reply :(

So Jima found a couple of campground options and we ultimately decided to start riding towards Caledonia State Park, keeping an eye on my phone in case a nearby host replied. I called the campground around 1pm to check if they had space. They did, but said it was filling up and was first come first serve. But like I said, we just had faith it would work out. Even if they didn’t have space, we were confident we would make it work. Fortunately, when we arrived absolutely exhausted they still had a few spots left. Hearing those words was a magical moment.

A lot happened in between our campsite on the trail in MD and securing a campsite here in Caledonia, PA. For one, we saw some beautiful scenes on the trail. The 70-100 miles section of the C&O were definitely my favorite. We also met some nice people who were riding the whole trail from Pittsburgh to DC. It’s been very cool to meet other cycle tourists. No one else so far has been doing a long ride like us. We’re wondering if we will run into any more now that we will be riding on roads rather than a popular trail.

Another exciting part of today was entering our second state of the trip! We also stopped at a little farm store and bought local strawberries that were SO delicious — I dumped the whole quart into a bag that I brought and we finished them by the end of the ride. I also got a zucchini and an ear of corn which was amazing at the end of a long day. After the quick store visit we had some serious riding. We crept our way up several BIG hills at 2-5 mph. A bunch of people commented on how hot it was today but for some reason neither me or Jima felt super hot most of the day.

Finally we came to Michaux State Forest and the biggest climb of the day, and probably both of our biggest climbs since 4K. Although, Jima may have done more in New Zealand. It was very similar to climbing the Rockies in Colorado — the incline wasn’t crazy steep, but it was significant, and the scenery was just beautiful. Though we were already exhausted at this point, we both thoroughly enjoyed this climb. Powered by fresh local strawberries, we felt invincible. The best part about this was after reaching the top, we had 4 miles of nothing but downhill riding until the campground. It was amazing. During these hard but magical times I feel most alive. I also feel very grateful to be where I am and for the people in my life. I think the combination of intense physical exertion and awe in nature leads to thoughts and emotions that seem somewhat unrelated.

Today felt like a true day on a bike tour. Difficult and long. Challenging logistics. Beautiful sights. And new friends.

I really am wondering how these journals will develop over the next month or two. It’s nice to recap the day, but how else could I be spending this time? What sort of value am I bringing to the world? What value am I bringing to myself? We shall see!

We need to do some grocery shopping (or rescuing!) tomorrow too. Oh, and one final note: I am becoming slightly concerned about my left hand/forearm. I’m not sure what is happening but it seems that the position of my handlebars makes my hand function sub optimally. After a day of riding I have very little strength in most of my fingers and much less dexterity than usual. Nothing hurts, it’s just weird. I’m not sure if it’s something I will adjust to or if it’s something I need to address. I will continue to monitor.

I’ve been awake for the last 45 minutes (it’s 1 am) listening to the couple arguing at the campsite next to us. I have to admit it was a little entertaining. But also a little scary. And annoying. Someone else came over and said they’d call the cops and they have since calmed down. The good news for me is I got up to go pee and got to see the beautiful night sky! It’s a perfectly chilly night for camping. Back to sleep I go :)

Day 9

Caledonia, PA to Dillsburg, PA — 40 miles

Total miles: 443

Phew. I am very tired but very happy. It wasn’t a particularly long or hard day of riding, but a very full day!

The first 20 miles or so leaving Michaux State Forest were wonderful. Though our sleep was interrupted, we were in good spirits. Gradually, we made our way into suburbia where the views were still great, but after being spoiled by the shade of the forest, left us a tad perturbed.

We secured a warmshowers host in the morning so we knew we’d have a place to stay. Knowing this makes a big difference in bike touring. The crazy thing is that our hosts were driving back from a 2 week stay in Colorado! We were shocked they accepted our request. They shocked us even more when they called me around 2pm to tell us we could go to their house and get settled before they even got home! We had ridden into the town of Dillsburg to get groceries and charge electronics, so we backtracked a few miles and did as our guests suggested.

We were showered and unpacked when our hosts arrived. They greeted us almost like family. Like it was totally normal to have strangers wait for you at your own home. It gets even crazier, though! Kim made dinner for us and Les helped us get our bikes washed. Then after dinner we spent at least 2 hours in the basement working on our bikes with Les. In reality, we BARELY helped while Les fixed problem after problem. I do believe I at least learned a little bit. Sort of passive learning by watching and being there. I would really love to know more about bike maintenance and mechanics. I guess I’ve just gotten by with my bare minimum understanding so the motivation to learn is not there. I now have a new chain, improved shifting, and improved braking. However, the shifting is not amazing and Les has been the second person to advise me to get new brakes. Mine are just not good. Not the brake pads but the brakes themselves. They’re also very hard to work on. So I’m definitely considering going to a bike shop to get new brakes and pay for a full tune up.

I’m still shocked at Les’s work. He just kept going! And seriously may have saved my life by putting so much effort into improving my brakes. We had very nice conversation with Les and Kim which truly felt like a conversation and not like getting talked at (or vice versa). I’m bummed we have to get going early tomorrow because I would love to stay here longer. Kim and Les are so so great. If you’re biking near Harrisburg, find them on warmshowers!!!

While we were in Dillsburg I had two successful food rescues! I stopped into a cafe and told the girl at the register what I was doing, how I was trying to keep the trip low waste, and asked if they had any left overs or day old bread or something that would otherwise be thrown away. Well, pretty ironically, they had a yogurt bowl with granola and blackberries that was going to be thrown away because they accidentally made it with dairy yogurt. I would not order dairy yogurt, but if it’s literally being thrown away, I will eat it. That is my position right now. Perhaps it will change. So, I had a yogurt/granola bowl for lunch!

I checked out a few other places and gave the same spiel at a small grocery store who didn’t have anything… except in their dumpster! There was a bunch of pasta salad in little plastic containers so I grabbed about 6 and dumped them all into a ziploc bag I brought. Idk exactly what is in it (definitely a lot of oil…), but it’s pretty good. There was also some seafood thing in a similar container but it seemed gross (even if it wasn’t in a dumpster) so I left it behind.

I met Jima at a Wendy’s where he was doing some work and ate my pasta salad in a bag. A little later I was on the phone with my sister outside Wendy’s and some guys yelled “weirdo” at me as they drove by. I think that means I’m on the right track in life.

Today was another amazing day on the way to Canada!

I am so grateful for Kim and Les!!!

Day 10

Dillsburg, PA to Lewisburg, PA — 85 miles

Total miles: 528

I am writing this entry one day late — the first missed day of the trip — because I was so exhausted last night (and still am today). We’re taking a rest day today in Lewisburg, PA, a cute college town home to Bucknell University. Jima and I are sitting in the library doing our respective work right now. We’ll probably hang out here for a while, then walk around town more and try to stay as cool as possible.

I think I was the hottest I’ve ever been yesterday. Though it was hot and humid the entire day, I felt fine until the last 15ish miles. We had been cruising at 15+ mph on the highway for most of the day so the wind was enough to keep us relatively cool. But as we got closer to our destination the temperature kept rising and our speed slowed down.

Despite so much time on a major roadway, the surrounding area was beautiful. We rode along the Susquehanna River for most of the day, and when it was visible, it was mesmerizing.

A really tough part about biking, especially on busy roads, is seeing all the roadkill. Death is completely normal on American roads.

A really awesome part about biking is turning off the highway and into a beautiful, peaceful forest with singing birds and a bubbling creek. We savored the couple of miles we had in that environment.

Our hosts in Lewisburg are both retired professors, and one studied classics — the same as Jima. I listened to them discuss lots of stuff that I didn’t understand while I ate pasta and salad. Even though Im very lost when they’re talking, I’ve found much of it pretty interesting. And it’s fun to see people with shared passions asking each other questions and having engaging conversation. But I have been a bit zombie-like since arriving yesterday, so I probably looked drunk trying to digest at least a little of the discussion. In addition to great food and company, we got showers and a beautiful backyard to camp in.

My favorite item I got for this trip is my Earthrunner sandals. It will be hard for me to ever go back to biking with closed toed shoes. Sure, putting sunscreen on my feet is a little annoying and I get the occasional rock or stick to the toe, but letting my feet breathe all day is so so wonderful. I seriously can’t recommend sandals for biking highly enough!

I feel like I’m forgetting things but I don’t know. Leave a comment if you have questions about anything!

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