225 miles in one day...

Donned in brightly reflective clothing, Bill and I rolled away from the house at 4a.m. not knowing exactly what adventure me might find. The plan, was, well, insane... our intended goal was to ride 350 kilometers... in one day. This trip was starting out as an emotionally challenging event to begin with considering that my brother Christopher was supposed to be going with us... He always did enjoy an adventure like this, in fact he was with me the first time I set out to do a personal record when him and I did 120 miles together... I planned this trip to see how far I could go, and I intended for him to go with me, and he would have made it.


Bill and I had my brother with me in spirit and though I wanted to quit for the first 100 miles, I feel my brother encouraged me to stay the course.

The green post may look familiar to others who have followed my blog in the past, for it was the very post that my brother, Caleb and I have used for very similar bike poses... The caboose picture as well has been used to pose one a number of occasions that we had made it all the way out to Inverness... this time it didnt take two days to get there... this was only our halfway point. The Istachatta General Store has changed a bit, though it is still neat inside and has become more of a thrift shop, they have repainted and taken down the sign outside.

All things being said, despite some serious emotional challenges, passing by a murder scene, and being extremely depleted by the time we rolled into my driveway again at 1a.m. the following morining, we completed our goal and improved my personal one day distance record by more than 100 miles, completing 225 miles in just 19 hours of riding time. This is a trip I will never forget. And the personal reflection that I had to put myself through over hours of saddle time will not soon be forgotten, as well my brother will never be forgotten.

The end of an epic era.

The hardest thing I have ever had to face has been the death of my little brother last month. Christopher did much adventuring with me as my blog will attest, and we were very close friends. No one understood me in the way that he did, and I will never be able to replace him as a friend. My brother and I shared our entire lives together, both in time and emotionally. I do know that he will be with me in spirit on any adventure I take, and when I am working on something in the garage, and when I'm just standing around enjoying a beer. I love my little brother. I will miss him greatly.