Contemplation in the calm

It's been a busy week or ten days, as you would expect with a wedding and stag (bachelor) party to hold.

But before we get to all of this, I was just arriving back in Jacksonville. First I dropped Jordan and Ariel on 2nd street, Neptune Beach and guided them towards 3rd St (A1A) as hitching was likely to be best from there. Next Javier and I had to find the rental location where I was to return the car, and we had 40mins. It was at least a 20min drive and we had to get gas. As it turns out, getting gas in this country is harder than expected. You have to pay before you pull, and my pump didn't work. In England we just fill what we need then pay. Simples!
But the attendant was the nicest girl we could have hoped for and her directions to the Hertz rental location were absolutely spot on. We made it with minutes to spare and it seemed that everyone we met this morning was having a good day. Smiles abounded and the guy sorted a taxi for Javier, who has since made it to Gainsville, and I believe is now in Miami. For me, the Hertz driver gave me a lift the final few blocks to Lee and Nina's house. And I arrived back were I had started, a day shy of one month on the road.

Made it. An unusual finish to a bike trip but hey!

As they were out I had a couple of hours to myself to pull all my things inside and sit in contemplation in the back yard. The turtles were sunbathing and all of a sudden it felt as though I had never left. It was a strange dislocation, knowing how long each day on the road had been but feeling that somehow time had compressed all of these days into one and I was back gazing at the pond in Leena's yard. I recounted the days in  my head. I find this easiest to do by thinking of where I slept each night, and the journey to those places. I missed a couple of nights the first time i reflected this way, but that still leaves me with 28 days as clear in memory as i could wish for.

 Memory is a strange thing. It seldom gives exactly what you wish for. We cannot re-live the feelings we had as we were pedaling, surfing, cooking or writing in the present, but it gives a new perspective. Perhaps before I had spent too long fighting memory, willing feelings to be as strong or as real as they once were. Now I sat having finished the one thing I have wanted to have a go at for years.

I have wanted to cycle in America for years- since my gap year in 2003 before University. I think that I can trace the idea back that far. But it was always simply a dream; a wish never considered at length, until I began to work as a coach at Skern Lodge. Here I learned to kayak, canoe and surf, all of which had been dreams dating back even further. This instilled in me the belief that I could turn my dreams into reality without the need of chance or a lucky break. I could achieve the cycling on my own. So as the whirl of chaos at being newly single dissipated around May last year, and Gemma rang me and told me she was marrying Chuck in Florida, a plan hatched almost instantaneously. It wasn't borne on the wind and plucked from thin air. Now was the right time to chase the dream of cycling in the States, and the wedding of a great friend was the catalyst. The first plan was to go from Texas, point-to-point as it were. This would have costed far more and I realised it was unnecessary.

As i sat in contemplation I hardly moved. The swirling around me had calmed, and for the first time in over 15 months I was perfectly at peace. I had no other goal tugging at me and was able to totally enjoy the feeling of accomplishment. No-one could erase that feeling. I highly recommend it. True not everything went along as originally planned but the fault there is not to recognise the new opportunities afforded in the changed plans. Of course, being me and needing something to do, the need for a new goal will arise, but not just yet. I'm going to enjoy the calm for a while longer. Besides, the next weeks were about Chuck and Gemma.
And the one thing everybody is keen to know is the distance I covered... I broke the cycle computer so I can't really say for sure, but I have inaccurately calculated it to being 910 miles. This is from the internet and doesn't quite take into account my detours and use of less than direct routes, and I have yet to cycle to the wedding itself. But it will do. I think of the journey more in terms of the time between friends found on the route.

I don't smoke, but a celebratory cigar is a time to break that rule!