This blog began as a documentation of my journey back to the place where I was born - Seoul, South Korea. The year of my life contained within the words of this blog reveal many celebrations and challenges as I have continued to find my place within myself and within the world. This blog will end after yet another trip of a lifetime as I complete a solo bicycle ride around Lake Superior on a continued quest for place and meaning.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Back Home
1 Shawyn
1 bike that I affectionately nicknamed "CT"
1 freak rainstorm that lasted 10 minutes, when I was 10 minutes from the hotel. Figures.
1 thunderstorm (2nd to the last day)
1 blown tire (which I changed standing in a ditch in aforementioned thunderstorm)
1 ride into horrendous headwind (30 mph sustained with 40+ mph gusts) on the last day.
1 dead snake
3 worms
Much sweat, tears, and a little blood
2 retirees that made the best sag team in the world
And 1 BIG lake
In 20 days of back to back cycling, with 32.4 lbs of extra weight in gear (which was 17.2 lbs more than what I trained with), I pedaled my bike 1,207.93 miles following the Lake Superior Circle Tour. I traveled 3 states (MN, WI, MI) and 1 Canadian province (Ontario).
As I sit here in my office, surrounded by all the comforts of my home, it feels odd to be back home. At the same time, it feels like the last 20 days of my life never happened. As we were driving home from Duluth, even though I had biked nearly 60 miles in terrible headwind the whole way, as the car hummed along the highway, I felt like today's bike ride never happened. Since I've been home I've gotten everything unpacked and a load of laundry done. While all feels familiar, it also feels very strange - almost like I am a stranger to my old life. People remember me, my old life remembers me, but I barely remember my old life or my old self. It's hard to describe. I'm sure the magnitude of what I accomplished will hit in a few days. In the meantime, I've just got to sit with everything, adjust, process, and heal my sore, chaffed, and exhausted body.
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