Rest Day

After our rest day in Breckenridge, we'll climb Hoosier Pass and then begin a rapid descent out of the mountains which have so far defined our trip as we move into the plains of eastern Colorado and, of course, Kansas. It will be a big change.

We are also closing in on another milestone. Although it may not look like it on a map of the United States, we are nearing the halfway point of the trip. In Pueblo, Colo., we will turn east once and for all, beginning a relatively straight shot to Virginia, through Kansas, Missouri, a bit of Illinois, and Kentucky.

Once begun, any grand scheme moves closer to its end. After forming the idea of another cross-country trip, I noticed how the idea gained momentum, helped along by the fact that I was working as a freelancer, which allowed for flexibility to take off for a while.

I knew that having retired from work, my dad would be highly susceptible to going along. And he was.

The idea also didn't encounter any serious opposition, although I felt like I went into something of a holding pattern, unable to begin anything else until the trip was completed.

Seeing places we visited as a family 25 years ago was a main motivation for me. I was only 12 years old, so I was intrigued to see and experience some of the things I had first experienced as a 12-year-old.

Often, I have only the vaguest recollection of doing this all before. As I bike along, I can be certain that I biked along this exact road so many years ago.

Some things feel eerily familiar, but not most things. And, except for having a rough outline of what is coming, it seems new.

So much of the past just slips away and is lost forever; the thoughts, plans and problems of a moment or a day completely erased by the plans and problems of the next day, month, or year. It's hard enough to recall yesterday's set of stressful circumstances, let alone those from 25 years ago.

Nevertheless I feel like we're riding along with the group from 25 years ago, feeling a kinship with them -- and my 12-year-old self--, especially through some of the hardships they encountered and which we have so far avoided (wind and rain in Wyoming, for example.)

Both trips were begun on June 11 and I keep track of where we are and what we're experiencing in relation to "them." Currently, we're two days ahead of "them" although we'll likely leapfrog "them" a day tomorrow if we climb Hoosier Pass early and then do the long descent to Canon City in one day.