Ice skating at Running Y

Griffin, 8 and I skating with classmates at the Running Y Resort this winter. His first time!

Just Do It!

    In May, I am planning a bicycle ride from the Canadian border to the Mexican border. Why?…Why not?, I say. I have wanted to do something like this for years. There are hundreds of excuses why I shouldn’t, and they are all quite practical. But in the end, I am the kind of person who hates the phrase, “I wish I would have done…”, fill in the blank. Why not live life to its fullest? Or as Jack London states it, “The proper function of a man is to live, not to exist”.

   Last May I followed Phil Keogan’s journey across America, riding from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Phil is the host of one of my favorite TV shows ‘Amazing Race’, and he has authored a book titled ‘N.O.W. No Opportunity Wasted’. After reading that, I decided to quit wishing and Just Do It!

   After a successful racing season (for me that is) last summer, I rode by myself from Portland to Cottage Grove, Oregon: Day 1 was 54 miles and Day 2 was 105. The route was flat, my average speed was just under 21 mph and I finished feeling great. In September, I jumped in with the Cycle Oregon event for three days and rode strong accumulating 204 miles; one of those days I passed hundreds of riders and finished first…I know, it’s not a race. But I began thinking I could actually do a long ride…maybe across the country?

  Why not?