A stream of consciousness vignette
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My days always start off early, very early, as I am one of those people that wakes up in the middle of the night to pee, sometimes more than once, and then I end up, contemplating my existence, reflecting on the past day, perhaps the speculating on the day to come , and then, depending where I have laid down my bedding, where that patch of dirt is, whether it be in the desert, or on the beach or somewhere in the mountains, or the prairie makes no difference I contemplate life if there’s a clear sky moon or no moon I’ll look at the universe be that one person in amongst trillions of stars, universe, galaxies, whatever, I become small. Very small sometimes and I’ll just lay there and think, listening to nature around me. Perhaps I’ll hear an animal walking or the sounds of a bug crawling.
Sometimes I can even hear the little micro universe going on underneath where I sleep if I’m in a field or a grassy area. I remember one night sleeping cowboy style with no tent. I woke up to a giant beetle next to my head just sleeping next to me knowing that I wouldn’t go back to sleep. I extricated him or her a few feet off in the distance gently as everyone has a right to sleep on a patch of dirt. Sometimes I would even make a cup of coffee. If it’s cold, I might get the stove out. If it's warm, I would just drink it cold and I usually have two or three drinks next to my bedding or tent. One's usually a plain water, one usually has electrolytes, and the other is coffee. There’s always coffee and then ask depends on if I’m sleeping with anybody in close proximity, my traveling companion and perhaps maybe I’ll listen to them snore or fart or cough or get up and do the same thing I’m doing, I’m almost sure that they don’t drink coffee like I do in the middle of the night. I’ll fall back asleep at some point to wake up at first light just to see the first light. I’m always fascinated by the first light, but I love that hour before the first light where night ends and day begins. It’s that time right in between, sometimes if I’m lucky I’ll hear an animal and it’s usually a bird. The one bird who wakes up around 3 o’clock and just talks and I wonder about that bird. Is the bird like me and enjoys the night too or is the bird crazy? Am I crazy? There are probably a few hundred birds within the area that I could hear them but yet only one wakes up at 3 o’clock in the morning and the rest don’t start talking until the sun comes up. What’s that about? So, then I would sleep again.
I sometimes sleep and linger till the sun is shining on my face.
I usually position my tent, so I’ll get the morning sun. I like those first feelings of warmth. It’s the universe's energy. It’s Godlike and helps me understand why people used to worship the sun as a God and it also makes me feel bad for those people that use sunscreen poisoning their bodies especially with the petroleum-based products, I know I know little far-fetched, but these are the things I think about while I’m on tour.
I’ll cook prepare breakfast. It can be hot or cold depending on where I am on tour, sometimes I’ll just eat breakfast in bed in my tent- my tent, my little home, cozy, snug, feel safe even though it’s not safe at all except perhaps from the wind and the rain and then I’ll break down camp and load my bike, that usually takes about 45 minutes, it always takes about 45 minutes.
I’ll look at my maps and figure out where I’m going or perhaps, I don’t care and I just set off into direction, I usually have a vague idea of where I’m heading though. I don’t use GPS unless I am in an urban area, and I have to make lots of turns. I usually just use a map, basic compass. Usually, I don’t need the compass because I have a really strong intuitive sense of direction And I can always tell specially, in the morning we’re north, east, south, and west.
I start riding usually heading into a town if there’s a town around or I’ll stop somewhere to have breakfast number two usually a couple hours after I start riding because you always need a second breakfast as the first breakfast is just to lay a base, the second breakfast is to get you through the day. Those breakfasts are the most fun though and usually the main meal of the day especially if you’re in a town you want a lot of calories for the rest of the day. My favorite is the traditional breakfast of coffee, hash, brown potatoes, and Two or three eggs I prefer them over easy with either sausage or bacon and perhaps a side of Johnny cakes if they’re available basically cornbread type pancakes but they’re hard to fine except on the East Coast -then you have to find somebody who can really make a true johnnycake Which is basically just water cornmeal bacon fat slathered with butter and syrup, real syrup and perhaps I have a glass of milk in an orange juice or just stick to the traditional breakfast.
One of my secrets, I order extra bacon and toast and then make a bacon sandwich with strawberry jam that can always get me over the next mountain.
I ride until early afternoon perhaps 2 or 3 and have lunch number one- usually that bacon sandwich or something else perhaps usually on the road if I’m in a fast wilderness area are usually stop right in the middle of a road if there’s no cars around or on the side of the road really doesn’t matter nothing fancy pull out my food bag and see what I have and eat what I have. Food on an expedition usually consists of a frozen burrito, thawed, or maybe a tortilla with peanut butter and banana and some honey or perhaps a tortilla with some foraged greens with tuna fish and cheese slathered with mayonnaise, perhaps some chips sprinkles on top and you just want high density food lots of calories and then I’ll take a quick nap usually about 15 minutes laying on my back on the ground directly.
Usually on the road.
The gravel road or the shoulder so as to let the body reset and then get up and ride two or three more hours.
Time and space sometimes transcend as I watch the sun arc across the sky.
I think of life, sometimes singing or working out mathematical problems or life problems, reflecting on the past, and thinking about the future, or just being in the present moment watching the world pass by slowly.
I don’t ride very fast, nor do I want to. Travel by bicycle should be at a pace where one can fully observe everything using all the senses and if appropriate stopping many times to either rest, or perhaps drink some water or just enjoy the view.
When you want to hurry something, that means you no longer care about it and want to get on to other things. Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
I’ll stop again later in the afternoon and start thinking about how much longer I want to ride and how I feel and usually I’ll lay down on the ground and let my body relax for a while perhaps drift off in another nap for a few minutes pull out my maps, maybe write in my journal briefly Have some cold coffee, or hot, and then head to where my final destination of the day is going to be could be- perhaps in a town and maybe stay at a hostel, or could be at a camp spot and a campground or it could be just ride until I see someplace that looks like a good place to camp. Those free spots are always my favorite.
And then head off and to the woods or perhaps a field set up my camp and look at my surroundings, and perhaps even explore if there’s a water source nearby to fill up on my water bottles, then make some coffee, make dinner, usually a light dinner because I’ve already eaten so much during the day. The sun starts to set.
I head to my tent and do some journaling and perhaps read. I like reading books and having a book with me. I like the feel of the texture of the paper. Sometimes I have two books with me plus my journal I don’t care it’s usually my one luxury, well maybe two luxuries it’s OK and soon I’ll start nodding off with a feeling of satisfaction that I rolled over a large swath of earth over an 8 to 12 hour period knowing that the past is gone, the future not happened so doesn’t exist and then I’m right there- at that time- fully present.
And I toss and I turn, and I wiggle around in feel the bumps of the earth below me take a few deep breaths and smile, and sometimes I’ll be lonely and I want comfort of a companion, but no one will be around so I might listen to an audiobook program to my phone just because I like falling asleep to somebody reading to me like my dad used to read to me when I was a little boy. End of story.
Bill Poindexter is a travel writer and life philosopher. He is the author of Bikepacking School- What ‘they’ don’t tell you in the guidebooks. He is also the creator of wholeearthguide.blogspot.com. Bill is currently raising funds for his next expedition where he will be promoting World Peace. If you would like to help out, you can find him on Venmo @Bill-Poindexter-1 or subscribe here:
What people are saying…
“You are my Marco Polo!” Victor
“I don’t always agree with what you're saying, but you just have a way of pulling me in!” Amy
From Monica:
“Bill, you inspire me. You live your life so authentically. Even on the days you feel like coming back to Kansas City... you lean in and feel it. What else can we do in life if we're halfway conscious?”
Great work. Keep it up.