Day 7.208 Complete Readiness

I am on my bike. The sun is high and warm. The Pacific Ocean relentlessly washes the beach more than a thousand feet below the twisty chip-sealed road on which I travel. There are few shoulders and seniors in Winnebagos come way too close.

I am riding North. Into a headwind, fiercer in legend than the reality of today. Yesterday was eighty coastal miles, a campsite on the beach, two bean burritos and a cheap beer to wash them down.

I am reading The Good Earth by campfire. Tomorrow's ride will include a substantial increase in elevation. We have reached that point in the trip where hills become mountains, where easy rides morph into monsters and granny gear is the norm. Cadence is slow, calories toasted fast.

Maybe I am a simpleton, easily amused, but I find this scenario absolutely peaceful, powerful and magical.

I love being out here.

Just me, my bike, camping gear, laptop, two water bottles and trusty Swiss Army knife.

Everything after that is gravy flavored icing on the cake. Seven-up flavored sliced bread.

Pressed with the question as to how we find happiness, with hand on bible I would say, this is that.

I so swear that this is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

My first trip up the coast took 23 days, LA to Seattle. That was in 1993. Second trip took 21 days in 1996.

Meaning that it has been almost 20 years.

I am stand in complete readiness.