April 12, 2017 – There and Back Again

        The last 400 miles of this trip started with a bad nights sleep in Austin Nevada followed by bad coffee about 100 miles later in Fallon.  I successfully timed my day to be crossing the Interstate 80 pass between California and Nevada at midday.  Never the less there was still rain and snow flurries at the Donner Pass due to another light rainstorm moving east.  Being careful and riding much slower than the day before, I crossed over into California and made my way back to the Bay Area in light rain and light traffic.  The rain started to wash clean some of the bugs and grime that had accumulated as a badge of travel authenticity on the bike.  So it is that California and spring calls for renewal.             It was not until I caught sight of the waters of bay that I realized the last ocean I had seen was the Atlantic and that I had successfully crossed the country in both directions.  I think it will take a few days for things to sink in.  The last few days have been movement intensive, so I hope to process what it all means after I can take a few days to rest and ponder.  The bike on the other hand is ready to continue traveling…

For the record, I arrived back home at around 3:30 pm on April 11, having rode over 12,800 miles in the last 75 days.  I would have liked to be greeted by cheering crowds and laurel wreaths as my trip has internally felt quite epic like the Odyssey of Homer.  Instead I arrived back to the same home I had left and not even a cat who would come out to greet me.

In the next few days I will be posting summary highlights and main lessons learned from my trip.  In the mean time if you have enjoyed the blog so far please let me know.  I am trying to figure out where to take the ideas from here and the best Ideas are Ideas shared…