Days 32-33; Sun.-Mon., 7/27-28, The Pedals On the Bike Go Round & Round

Post date: Jul 29, 2014 1:04:31 AM

Today we rode from Toronto, KS to a small town called Cassoday, KS. While pedaling I was thinking about the routine; this is, after-all, about the 28th day I've climbed onto my Trek 520 and moved my legs up, down, up, down, up, down. That's called a cadence and it's important to have. All those gears help a cyclist to keep their cadence or else the body fatigues. Our lives have a certain cadence as well. The country we're crossing does. Work does. And yet, if we stop and look around, we might see what C. S. Lewis calls a "tiny theophany." I believe that is what happens on this sort of trip. In all the "sameness" does not lie boredom. The cadence of speech in eastern Kentucky is not the same english that I speak. it has it's own wonderful qualities. The sameness of the Kansas prairie is not the same landscapes as the hardwoods of Missouri. Yet, through this I keep the same pedaling going. At work, in life, I need to remember to look for that which is different while keeping my cadence. Theophanies are all around.

A few details, camped at a beautiful spot last night, exhausted from an 89 mile ride but glad to have put those miles behind. Today, we had some strong wind and a loose gravel road for 17 miles that slowed us down and rode 67 miles. Happy Birthday today to Doug. We're both pedaling on as we can begin to see the end in sight, but Kansas is over 400 miles wide and we're going from the SE corner to the NW part, so our route is a bit longer. Great conversations about natural gas wells with a farmer and found an surreal "italian" restaurant on the main street of a small town, 200 people. Guess I'll have to keep making those pedals go round and round.