The evolving definition of mindfulness is the practice of paying attention in the present moment. The act of bicycling from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean required more mindfulness than physical stamina. It required my best attention, for as long as I pedaled my bike on the road. The bicycle ride was 2842 miles, over 37 riding days, averaging about 12 miles per hour. That is a conservative average of 384 minutes per day of pedal time on the side of the road with cars and trucks passing at speeds 2 to 6 times faster than my bicycle. The physical exposure to the vehicles passing close by, not including nature’s elements of dust and rain, was emotion provoking. For those readers that do not know, I personally enjoy taking calculated risks; this contrasts in some ways to the conservative advice I give clients being sensitive to emotional and physical resources. However, my risk calculator “maxed out” on one occasion when I had to make a split second decision to ditch my bicycle off the road; fortunately, there was no mechanical damage hampering my continued journey. I developed a “love-hate” relationship with commercial trucks, as in many instances where there was little room on the road, when the trucks passed beside me I received a air burst requiring me to physically brace from getting blown off the road followed by bracing for back-draft that would lunge me forward. Getting lunged forward felt like a godsend when pedaling against headwinds. There is a lot that could be said of the focus required for me to ride those miles while my feet, posterior, and hands ached. There were nights that my legs cramped; I had never experienced cramping in my quadriceps before. I am proud that I met every challenge along the way; repairing flat tires, fending off dogs, never getting off the bike to walk, visiting American Legion Posts, and working with my cousin day by day to reach our interim destinations. In the end, “being considerate” is the mindful theme to my journey; it includes being thoughtful of the people driving the cars, of natural surroundings, and the people in my life.

Post-journey reflection makes me ever so grateful that my cousin invited me on this ride. I got to know him more as a father to his children Emily and AJ and a husband to his wife Julie. Mindfulness was a practice for both of us, to be in the present when we were on the road for the safety and enjoyment for both of us, and then to be present for our family, and then to be present for our work.

Thank you to my wife Holly for being encouraging and loving for the last 28 years; to my mother for raising me to believe that I can accomplish great things; to my father for being the sounding board of reason; to Audrey for sharing her patience and thoughtfulness; to John for keeping me informed of the latest news; and to Bill Strobel who taught me to charge forward and get things done.

Thank you to my sister, my children, my aunts, uncles and cousins, my married family, my friends, and my office co-workers for their example. They are all doers, and their influences on me have made me a better person.

Thank you to Falmouth American Legion Post 164 and Commander Mazerolle for scheduling my Post visits.

Thank you to the leadership of the 157ARW for supporting my plan to take the 39 day ride across southern continental United States.

Thank you to the Maine Judicial Courts, Bar, American Legion Posts for their scheduling flexibility.

Special thank you to cousin Duffy, through his planning, experience, and encouragement; he got me through the ride of a lifetime. Special thank you to Cousin Lee, she was our SAG for the first 7 days of the journey; she supported us over the mountains and through the deserts; she was indispensable and we were so fortunate to have her with us. Special thank you to Rob and Steve for letting me borrow needed equipment for the journey too.

We, with friend Paul Dietrich, rode from east Jacksonville to St. Augustine for 37 miles and 534 feet of bicycling elevation gain. Paul was a great “pace setter and safety monitor” for the last leg of our journey. We ended our journey at the A Street and A1A crossing in South St. Augustine; we were met by friends Al, David, and Joseph who aided us in our journey completion celebration at the Beachcomber and windup. We ended our evening with $1 Tuesday tacos at the Gypsy Cab Co. Grill, also located on the A1A.

We rode from Lake City to east Jacksonville for 90 miles and 834 feet of bicycle elevation gain. We stopped at the Lake City American Legion Post 57 and met new friends Irene, the Adjutant, Rusty, service officer, and Sue, social manager and author. Rusty is focusing on getting certification training for VA disability benefits counseling as a service to community veterans. From our visit there we proceeded east and passed through Jacksonville proper continuing east. We were happy to visit American Legion Post 316 not too far from Jacksonville NAS. We met new friends Wayne, Maggi, Luci, Suzanne, Travis, Denise, Aaron, Don, Lindsey, and Patty. The post supports a tasteful and well-kept veteran’s park next to its Post building; the American Flag and pole are remarkable.

We rode from Tallahassee to Lake City, going through Monticello, Greenville, Madison, Lee, Ellaville Junction, Falmouth, Suwannee, Live Oak, and Wellborn for 107 miles and 2856 feet of bicycling elevation gain. Route 90 to Monticello was picturesque for most of the 22 miles, with trees lining both sides of the road, including Spanish moss. In the city of Monticello, also the county seat, the courthouse was modeled in 1909 to be like Jefferson’s Monticello, designed with four similar faces. The route 90 east of Monticello was not as “culturalized” as the segment from Tallahassee, but naturally attractive with big trees setback from each side of the road. Some of trees were so big, like you see on the main drive of Savanah. We were happy to be behind the storm system passed in front of us for the day and the winds were gentle for the most part. Cousin Duffy graciously permitted me take the lead for most of this ride. We plan to finish in St. Augustine on October 28.

We rode from Marianna to Tallahassee against some of our strongest headwinds of the trip for 72 miles and 2511 feet of bicycling elevation gain. On our way to the capital city we “stepped foot” in Georgia for a moment to add another state to our list of travels. When we arrived in Tallahassee, we rode past a stadium of cheering FSU fans during homecoming weekend. We were able to ride through a good part of the FSU campus (as part of our biking route); it is big. Their Legacy Walk was lined with trees on both sides. We have yet to see the capitol building. Our day consisted of wind and riding up and down hills, both outside and inside the city. Do not let anyone tell you that all of Florida is flat, as they just need to travel to Tallahassee. We stopped at a few places to eat last night. Our clerk at our hotel, Genevieve, and one of our waitresses, Jess, were both FSU students, and hard workers, of course. Cousin Duffy has a lot of energy when he gets off the bike and it can be a challenge for me to keep up with him, then get up in the morning. We capped off the night with a swim.

Our next day we plan to pedal route 90 as far as we can. We figure we may have three days left of riding to the Atlantic Ocean.

We rode from Crestview to Marianna for 87 miles and 1771 feet of bicycling elevation gain, facing head winds and two rain storms. After we ordered up a good breakfast at Waffle House, We passed through a few interesting towns. The first that caught my attention was Ponce De Leon; spent about 15 minutes riding through the town looking for the fountain of youth. We stopped in Bonifay for lunch at the Holiday Restaurant. We were served by Selicia, and I had the Friday Lunch Special. The Friday lunch special menu was well worn, if not parched. Assuming that the Friday lunch special must be special every Friday, I ordered it. Although Selicia was not one for words, I figured out how delicious the special was when it was placed in front of me; it came with ice tea, fried chicken, barbecue beans, cole slaw, rutabaga, and coconut cream pie- all homemade. It should be noted that the Cole slaw had shredded bits of dill pickle for a little bite. We also passed through a town named Caryville; the “worm fiddling” center of the world, and celebrates it fame with an annual festival. We arrived in Marianna at a motel being renovated; after desk clerk Selena and cousin Duffy cleaned the pool, we went for a swim. Selena told us about how the motel had been dormant for 15 years before the new owners acquired it. Once acquired the owners had to displace numerous squatters via the legal process.

Tomorrow we hope to ride past the capital.

We rode from Gulf Shores to Crestview, FL for 92 miles and 2485 feet of bicycle elevation gain. I saw my first Tom Thumb convenience store. We rode along an expanse of ocean front including Orange Beach and Perdido Key all the while working against a fair amount of head wind. Then, we crossed this big bridge and before I knew it we were going by the the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Soon thereafter we got another flat tire, and Duffy wanted to repair his tire at the bike shop, so we pumped up his tire enough to get it to the shop; we left from the shop following highway 90 out of Pensacola and on to Crestview and into the rain.

The plan for the next ride is to get to Marianna, FL.

We started our morning at the Hard Rock’s Sugar Factory with a delicious big breakfast for $7.77. We rode from Biloxi to Gulf Shores, via Dauphin Island for 87miles plus 6 miles on ferry and 1329 feet of bicycling elevation gain. I saw Gasoline as low as 2.15 in MS. By the way the lowest price for gasoline that I saw in Texas was for $2.07 at an Exxon in Kountze.

Unfortunately, outside of Pascagoula, I got my third flat on the trip, that delayed us to getting to the ferry terminal for an earlier ride to keep us on a good amount of daylight to continue for significant miles. We changed the flat by standing beside the road like pros. We arrived at Fort Morgan at 1730, with sundown at 18:12. On that 6 plus mile ferry ride, which cost $5, I counted 13 drill platforms in all directions from the ferry and saw dolphins swimming beside the ferry. We needed to bike 20 more miles to Gulf Shores, AL when we got off the ferry so we so we could find a hotel.

Our plan for the next day is to bike to Defuniak Springs, FL.