About cycling:

**Our love affair with cycling intensified with every ride we made. We loved being a part of the environment, not just viewing it as a movie through the car window. We loved hearing, feeling, and smelling our surroundings. We loved being able to eat whatever we wanted to and not worry about gaining weight. We loved seeing the passing landscape “up close and personal”. We loved the interaction with the natives of whatever area we were riding in. Our bikes became an extension of ourselves and provided ready-made conversation fodder with whomever we met along the way. Bikes are better than puppies or babies as conversation-starters.

About our training rides:

**We saw the sunrise every morning. We saw coyotes frequently. One morning we saw an opossum. Sometimes we saw snakes. Field mice occasionally skittered across our path. We had numerous flat tires from the native goathead stickers, and soon Bob could repair a flat in about five minutes. We learned the names of some of the other early morning exercisers we saw regularly. One fellow shouted, “Go, Lance, Go!” from the other side of the street each morning as we passed by. Carmen, an early morning walker we always passed, told us about her breast cancer surgery, and we watched her grow stronger every day. She wished us good luck on our big ride. We treasured our early morning salute to each new day. I wondered if we could ever give up this healthy habit.

On riding in the cold:

**We put on all the winter gear we had to get started riding the next morning. It was in the low thirties. We even wore our balakavas—fleece hoods that you can pull up over your mouth and nose. It leaves just your eyes showing, and the look is that of a liquor store robber, but it keeps you warm.

We stayed cozy in our good cold weather gear in spite of the low temperature. We ate lunch at an immaculate rest stop, where its electrical power came from solar power. We felt lucky to have a warm place to eat—even if we did have to sit on a bench in the alcove of a restroom facility.

Reflections on the ride:

**While Bob pumped up the girl’s tire, they asked us questions about our trip. They kindly expressed their disbelief as to our ages, both in appearance and achievement. One of them asked, “Do you have children?” I told her that you couldn’t exactly call our daughters “children,” as they were 44 and 46 years old.
“And they let you do this?” she asked incredulously. We all laughed, but it paradoxically caused me to think that I would be extremely worried should my “children” decide to undertake such a trip.

**The trip was also profoundly enriching; we knew so much more about our country and its hard-working, resilient, generous, funny, caring people. The circumference of the circle of people we cared about had expanded exponentially, even though we might never meet any of our new acquaintances again. Henceforth, we could never watch the national weather without truly caring about whoever might be out there on their bicycles or even those who might be snug in their homes. If you don’t presently love the United States beyond all reason, I strongly suggest you ride your bike across its width.

-- Pedaling Into The Sunrise