At home, at rest

Hello blog.

I wonder if I left you too long. Looks like you’re still here, and for that I am thankful. I know I left you hanging, saying, “Stay tuned,” but for how long?

Deadlines. I work best with deadlines. What about once a week? More frequently if I get to it, but I want to make a date with you.

Uncertainty and major transitions can stop me writing. These times of intense change engulf me. I could still raise my flag through the water’s surface, but I think it might say “Eeek” or “Lots” or “Ahh” or “Whoa” or “Drowning” or “Out for a Ride” or “Inarticulate” or “Blistywhoosuh.” Needless to say, all of me you might catch is the first six inches of my forearm and my fist wrapped tightly around the flag stem.

When I got home, all I wanted to do was be at home. I couldn’t even get my bag unpacked it seemed. It wasn’t until the first week zoomed by and Mary & Dermot really did arrive that I put away the relatively small number of items…the monumental belongings that took me and came with me across the country. I never did post about what I was carrying. Let’s see…

Camping gear: tarp shelter (a nice silnylon bit from Integral Designs with a single shock-corded pole), ground cloth (also silnylon), sleeping pad (Big Agnes, 68”), sleeping bag (REI Sub Kilo down bag 20+, short). All this packed tiny, which was one of my main criteria since I had to get everything into two panniers.

Cycling gear: 1 set of cycling clothes (shorts, jersey, athletic bra, shoes, gloves, knee warmers, sun sleeves, 3 pairs of tall socks, wind breaker, rain jacket). I chose to ride fully covered for sun protection. Many of my everyday riding clothes suffered sun bleaching as did my hair. For the cooler portions of my ride, I also had cycling tights, cold weather gloves, and arm warmers. I brought compression tights with me because I thought I might use those for sun protection. As it turned out, they created more problems cycling than they solved, and I sent them home, unused.

Two water bottles (a large and small because that’s what fits on my bike) and a collapsible 1-liter water botte. Front and rear bike lights. A U-Lock. This was kind of unnecessary, but it provided psychological comfort. I had a packet of tools: pedal wrench, chain tool and two pins, one set allen wrenches, one cycling multi-tool, open-ended wrench, socket attachment and screwdriver for it, tire levers, patch kit, one spare tube, lube (Tri-flow), two rags, spoke wrench, 2 replacement spokes (one front, one rear). I used the pedal wrench to hammer my stakes into the ground sometimes. Don’t tell anyone. I might have had more tools than that, but that covered most of it.

For my body, I had Chamois Butter that I ran out of and replaced with As Master – that’s a long S on the As. One tube of sensitive skin SPF 30. I carried supplements with me also since I had (and still do) some joint issues with my left hip: glucosamine sulfate, calcium (long-distance cyclists are at risk for osteoporosis), anti-inflammatory formula, and high EPA fish oil. Some homeopathic remedies I carried included: Sportenine (which I didn’t use), arnica, apis, ledum, and rhus tox. My first aid kit also included ibuprophen, Epi-Pen, three bad kitty band-aids, tiny Swiss Army knife, x-acto knife, small pair of scissors, glue stick, q-tips, two little hair clips and one hair tie, and later a shell Daniel gave me in New Jersey. I carried all these little items in the packaging for the ultralight dry bag I used to protect my computer from moisture. The supplements I carried in plastic bottles and containers. I’m not sure why I bothered with the bottles, but I had room for them so I did. Given my occasionally clumsy and chaotic travel style, I guess this seemed the safest way to prevent a disgusting supplement mess in my gear.

My toiletry kit grew while I was out from a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste in a bulk food bag to also include: a hotel-sized bar of soap, floss, a small bottle of shampoo, and a hand sanitizer bottle of conditioner. This last item I picked up in Twin Bridges, MT, because I couldn’t stand what was happening to my curly hair out on the road. It was bad enough having horrendous helmet head all day, but I really needed something to help define my curls just a bit while I was out there. It’s the little things that really make a trip. I also had a comb that didn’t go in the plastic bag and a medium sized Pack Towel.

For non-cycling clothes, I took a dress, one pair yoga pants, one t-shirt, two zip-neck long sleeved shirts, one pair stripey socks, one pair lightweight athletic mary janes. I’m not sure if I should admit this in such a public place, but I didn’t take underwear. It seemed totally unnecessary. I bought some in DC when it did feel more necessary. I had only the one athletic bra for the entire trip partly because I forgot to bring an extra, but it worked out ok. I was really glad to get rid of it when the trip was over. If you’re curious how I dealt with my menstrual cycle out there, ask me.

Food items I carried with me were pretty basic. Gu gels, Clif Builder bars. After a time I collected more food items since I found fruit and veggies difficult to come by. I liked having dried fruits with me and nuts. Oatmeal in different forms came along. Instant oatmeal packets worked pretty well since I didn’t need to have a bowl or cooking anything to go along with it. I did pick up a plastic spoon somewhere along the way that I held onto. On the early part of the trip, I carried jerky.

Art and office supplies contributed weight to my bags. My laptop came with its power cord, and I had a lightweight bag to protect the computer from moisture mishaps. Spiral-bound journal. National Geographics. Self-healing cutting mat. Roll of .25” black masking tape. Stamps. Tags (my version of business cards). Google phone and power cord. Digital camera. Camera cable. Cable to connect phone to computer. Extra battery for camera and battery charger. Extra memory card for camera. At the beginning of the trip I had a few other electronic items that went home (Garmin Forerunner with charger, solar panel and battery pack). I also sent the camera tripod home. A couple of small plastic bags. I had some papers with interview questions, a stapled together set of bicycling stretches, and grant guidelines for a Travel Oregon Matching Grant due in August. I had a packet of touring maps to get me across the country and also a stack of TransAmerica Trail window decals and postcards that I handed out to businesses along the route.

I used a little Timbuktu bag as a purse and easy access pouch. It contained my wallet that also had in it an 1897 silver dollar for good traveling charm, a hankie, keys (apartment front door and unit door, bike lock), a Sharpie, two ballpoint pens, a mechanical pencil, lip balm with sunscreen, and a stick of face sunscreen. During the riding day, I would put one Clif Bar and two gels in it. My phone and camera hung out in tiny saddlebags on my top tube. And, of course, my sag wagon 1955 Thunderbird roamed about the bag interiors offering support and keeping my gear company.

I’ve probably forgotten a few things, but that largely covers it.

All of this stuff stayed in the black duffel I picked up in Fairfax to make the train ride back easier. When Mary & Dermot said they’d be in Eugene a week after I got home, I decided I needed to put the stray items away so the place would look presentable for guests.

We had a great time reconnecting with one another, and I even managed to get one wall of my apartment painted. On return home, I couldn’t stand how white everything was. When I first moved in, the white and neutral décor sent me into fits until I became inured to it during the rapid pace of school. I picked a nearly laughable avocado color for the wall, something to set details of red, black, and golden yellow against. The color name, dragon eyes, approaches more of what I had in mind. Whatever, it works. Mary had a way of pointing out details about the place. “Oh my, there’s another spider.” Or, “Do you have a tiny shoe collection?” And, “Are those all your glasses?” Finally, she mentioned the elephant in the room, “Now, I have to ask. Why do you have a refrigerator door on the wall?”

“It doesn’t have to be long.” I keep trying to remind myself of this, to write shorter posts.
“I thought you gave yourself a time limit?”
“Oooh, that’s a good idea. I did give myself a deadline, but I need a time limit too.”

I spent the first week home thinking about how I needed to write about my train ride. In that way I would complete my trip narrative. However, the question of what would become of En Route Transport still remained. At one point I decided that the trip would end, I would finish my blog on that matter, and then something new would begin. But I didn’t quite know what the new thing would be. I still don’t.

Before I could paint another wall in my apartment Dragon Eyes, school started.
“What am I going to do with the blog?”
Well, that question will answer itself as it goes.