2023 BTUSFMS #7 – Coming Home

August 12 | Shelton to Seattle

Multi-day bike rides are, in many ways, a world apart. The simplicity of their eat, sleep, ride existence bears little resemblance to the routines, worries, conflicts and entertainments that most of us live every day. In fact, it is the striking contrast of that simplicity in comparison to the complexity of daily life that makes the rides so powerful. They allow us hit the pause button, to breathe, and to not simply notice, but to actually see the world around us for a protected period of time.

It’s deeply healing. And the re-entry from that simple, healing space can be a culture shock. I woke up this morning stunned to realize that we were going home today. I knew this day was coming before we started; and I certainly knew it last night before I crawled into my sleeping bag for the final time on this trip. But the emotional reality of leaving the protected structure of the ride and all its soothing simplicity, playful joy and inspiring scenery hit me with surprising force.

After finishing breakfast, my friend, Tim, and I rode out of town well before 8:00 in the morning. The air was cool and the world still quiet through the first hour of our short, 40-mile ride north to catch the ferry back to Seattle.

The ferry ride itself had the feeling of an altered state, with a hazy Mount Rainier first coming into view, and then a sharper Seattle skyline calling across the water, beckoning us home.

As we rode up to the hotel that was the team’s base, tears came to my eyes seeing my wife waving with the other people welcoming the riders back from our adventure. No matter how transformative an adventurous journey may be, there is always a special joy in coming home to the community or the one who loves you. My body hummed with an energy that was different from what I’d experienced during six days of riding; and different from what I ordinarily experience in everyday life.

Perhaps this is the transitional space where the wild and the routine learn to dance, to integrate, to collaborate with each other. I hope so. Each has so much to offer, and life has so much more potential than we allow ourselves to experience. So, I’m going to invite the spirit of the open road that I’ve spent the last six days traveling, and the familiar rhythms and routines of my daily life I’ve just returned to, to become one adventure. Not just fond memories or favorite photos of past moments, but as living elements of this moment. I don’t yet understand the how of it, but I’m going to trust the process.

And I’m sure a lot of bike rides will be involved.

If you’d like to learn more about BTUSFMS and the work they do, you can visit their website at http://www.biketheusforms.org.