Retrospect: Leg 5 from Indianapolis, IN to Erie, PA

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466 Miles, 11310 feet of climb , Days 38-43, IN, OH, and PA

Every Emotion Possible!  
(Indianapolis, IN to Erie, PA)

 

Okay… I will get it out of the way up front. Only twice did I get angry on this whole trip.

It is never a good sign when everybody else
is going the other way

Anger is generally foreign to me, surgically removed during my military training after attending a non-standard high school that specialized in curing such un-pleasantries in wayward boys. Before our first pedal stroke from the Pacific I pleaded my lack of experience to the group and solicited advice from anybody and everybody to help me make it the Atlantic. I promised to listen and apply their wisdom from their experiences. I was not disappointed in all the helpful responses.

One such coaching session came at an Indiana SAG stop where two strong personalities were agreeing I needed to change my diet but disagreeing on the particulars. One advocated fruit and the other protein. Well, two days later we were on a tough century ride in Ohio, and the first SAG was a long 42 miles into the day. The guy

Greenville Falls, OH
This is where I took time to cool off

that advocated fruit was running the SAG stop. When I got there, the only thing available (for me, the last rider to arrive) was fruit, except for cookies – Fig Newtons. No bread, Oreos or Rice Krispy treats, no salty snacks, no peanut butter, no jerky. All that stuff was already packed away in the van. What he thought to be helpful, I thought humorless, and I complained noting this was a pathetic response to my preference for protein the previous day. After I calmed down (took the half mile walk back to the waterfalls) I had to remind myself of one of my favorite sayings: Never assume malice when just being a guy can fully explain the guy like behavior.  Ohio isn’t a desert; there will be sweets and snacks enough to be found in the next ten miles.

 

The next fit I had was a few days later. Lying on the riding shoulder of the road I found a cheaply made 12” x 18” American flag on a thirty inch stick, most likely a remnant from a

My Flag, Our Flag, My Reminder

4th of July celebration. I could not it leave it there to get ran over or rained on, so I stopped, backtracked and picked it up, and then mounted it on the back of my bicycle. When I got to the hotel, one of the other riders saw me coming in with the flag waving mounted on the back of my bike. Being friendly he started a conversation saying he said he had seen it along the road too. My blood boiled as I started to say, “And you didn’t pick it up?” Fortunately I changed my countenance before I brought offense. It bothered me all night that the other riders must have seen the flag too and rode over or past it. I tried to convince myself that I was much too sensitive about this. Nevertheless, it still was a ten Tums night. It still bothers me. Okay… time for me to go find some more Tums. I didn’t get a T-Shirt from AbB, but I brought home this flag instead. It is a most precious addition to my home decorations. I don’t get angry often, but when I do I re-internalize these memories. They churn within my conscience and the only resolution is to make another feeble attempt not to repeat them. I’m convinced these insults to my equilibrium are designed to self-expose my blind spots and let me discover what are the genuine passions hidden in the deepest recesses of my heart. Some passions are good; but to my shame some are bad. In both cases the offender meant no harm or insult. Fruit is fruit, and not worth the agitation. Time again to go find some Tums…

Secret Angel Headquarters
They are known to lurk behind soybeans

Okay… breathe deep… recollect my thoughts… give the Tums a chance to work…

This leg of the trip was fantastic. I no longer had to look for goodness, it found me. Is it an unwritten law sewn into the fabric of the universe that fat guys on bikes are harmless? Of course, other bikers would wave or say hello, but random adults and even kids seemed to know I was writing a book about the goodness in America and wanted to add a smile to one of the pages. I felt as approachable as Santa Claus in December, except on a bike instead of in a mall. This was beyond weird, as if angels were orchestrating every mile. How a conceited old buzzard like me gained so much unmerited favor is beyond explanation. I fear the people who work with me back in my office (and know me, yikes) when they read this will start believing in things like alien abductions. Just thinking about Dave on a bike is funny enough, but this too? Too weird.

Something really goofy was going on. I would start the day thinking, “Today I’m just going to ride

Rails to Oblivion
Just like life - You can only see
the next couple feet in front of you.
(PS: Smell the flowers, not fear the future)

and think, think and ride, and then ride and think some more.” None of that was in the script for any of my days. Yes, I got to think, but not about bumps and cue sheets, but started to inventory all the different emotions and positive character displays I saw in other people… deference, kindness, honesty, friendliness, humility, initiative, self-control, alertness, sincerity… bubbling up all over the place. I met people who were suffering greatly, I saw families playing together. Flexibility, gratefulness, determination (Sarge’s gift to all of us), generosity, hospitality, all sprinkled with innocence in the children and lakes of love I saw in parents and grandparents. Priceless. How can this be happening to me? My whole world was upside down, or better said, right side up. I resolved that maybe I should start displaying some of these positive character traits in my own life. That would really turn me ‘right side up’. Wouldn’t that be a shock to my family! Yup… this is so weird. Aliens must have beamed Dave up to the mother ship in slipped into his teeny-tiny heart one of the North Pole elf’s winsomeness.