March 8, 2018

I was thinking 2018 would be the year of running, in contrast to 2017, which was the year of biking.  Last year I bought a bike-themed calendar and recorded my miles.  I ended up with (only) 1,400-something.  I had hoped to hit 1,500, but December just didn't really happen, lol.  I blamed my decreasing desire to bike on my increasing desire to run.  September was my first 10k, and it was awful ("I'm never doing this again!") and awesome (I signed up for my second 10k within an hour or so of getting home, LOL).  The second 10k was on Thanksgiving, and a third was in mid-December.  I'm a slower runner, around a 10-ish minute mile, so my 10k's have never broken an hour, nor my 5k's 30 minutes.  I'm hoping one day...

Anyways, late 2017 I bought a running-themed calendar and started dreaming of doing the Ragnar Trail Northwoods Wisconsin relay, in September 2018.  I started tracking my (meager, January was cold!) running miles on this new calendar, but continued to track 2018 biking miles on another.  Neither January nor February were fantastic months for either activity.  I guess I did run two 5ks--on snowshoes!!!  And biked just over 200 miles over the two months. 

And then I met this guy.  Who bikes.  A LOT.  Remember how I biked 1,400-some miles last year?  He biked 7,000-some.  Yeesh, I used to feel proud of my 1,400 miles!!!  Eh, I still am.  But I'm also biking more (and running less, ha). 

This month...dare I admit it?  I'm shooting for 300 miles.  Or better, 310, an average of 10 miles a day.  Aw, what the heck, let's make it 330, because I like those double-threes, lol.  The most I ever did in a month last year was 227 miles, in June, which was when I did the 145-mile bike trip.  Second most was 220 miles in April.  So far, I'm at 73 miles for March, but it'd be nice if the weather would warm up just a bit more and melt this snow and muck off the road so I can ditch the heavy commuter bike (concrete frame, mountain bike tires, fenders for said snow & muck) for one of my faster, lighter, and more comfortable-for-longer-rides-on-muckless-roads road bikes (sans clothing-saving-fenders). 

But back to the guy.  He's scheming a cross-country bike trip, of course (of course).  It probably won't happen until next year, and who knows if I'll be around then to weigh the pros and cons of quitting my job to join him on this epic adventure.  But yeah, I'm pretty much sold on the idea of an epic adventure!  So I'm dreaming about it a bit, too.  I've been reading Going Somewhere by Brian Benson about his bike trip from northern Wisconsin to Portland, Oregon.  Ohhh!  Reading about his biking across northern Wisconsin, just miles from where I rode last year, it makes me ache to hop on a bike and GO.  I want to see more!  See Lake Superior, slowly!

I think the guy (Mr. 7,000 miles, that is, not the author of above book) had tentatively mapped out a route...to Portland as well, I think.  I glanced at the route and have to admit, it wasn't what I would want to do...because I want to see everything, haha.  I want to see South Dakota and Wyoming and Montana and Utah and Idaho and Arizona and New Mexico and ALL of California.  Heh, dream big :D

Tonight I added Nebraska to the places I want to see at 13.5 miles per hour. 

I sat down on the couch at 12:30am (I worked 2nd shift) to relax with a book for a little bit before bed.  And I heard faintly though the closed windows, that utterly bizarre sound of Sandhill Cranes.  I've been seeing them more frequently around my neighborhood (have I mentioned how lucky I am to live near the UW-Madison Arboretum?!  Such a treasure!), and I've learned to recognize their vocalizations.  I opened the window to hear better, then googled Sandhill Cranes to read more about them. 

And I learned their name comes from the Sandhills of Nebraska, through which they migrate in huge numbers.  I googled Nebraska Sandhills, saw the photos, and thought: yep, I would totally bike that! 

So I started looking into bike trails and routes in Nebraska, and there's this bright red gash of a trail across a good portion of the northern part of the state between Norfolk and Valentine--the Cowboy Trail.  And that looks like as good a 195-miles-of-biking as any other, right? 

And then I'm looking into other attractions in Nebraska (might there be any others?) and I read of Scotts Bluff, which is an intriguing natural wonder and a historic part of the Oregon Trail. 

And long after the Sandhill Cranes have gone to bed, and so should have I, I am sleepily convinced I must bike Nebraska someday.  With Mr. 7,000 miles, with someone else, or independently.  Nebraska.  (Of all places!)