Seeking comes in many forms. Last weekend, I took my wife and daughter on a 127-mile bike ride. We had been planning for weeks, starting with a short 20-mile ride and finishing 53 miles two weeks ago. I love doing difficult things, and I’ve written about both doing difficult things and the spiritual practice of seeking. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/loveopensdoors/2024/06/questing-three-days-on-the-appalachian-trail/ and https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/alphabet/view/27/questing
Heading into the weekend, I had been watching the weather forecast all week. The East Coast was predicted to be in for a scorching heat wave with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. I’m pretty confident in my skills at keeping people safe and alive in these temperatures, but I was still nervous. We’d been training for weeks in high temperatures and high heat indices, and had practiced drinking copious amounts of fluids. The intermittent predicted thunderstorms never materialized.
There’s a saying in the military: “Poor planning leads to poor performance.” After setting up our standard operating procedures and hammering out our PACE plan, we were on the road. We enjoyed Type I fun all weekend. On the second day, my wife had a moment where she started to enjoy Type II fun. While we were in camel gear, the heat and humidity never reached Type III fun, but the potential was there.
First day: The journey begins
July 18 – Drive and Stage – Shuttle from Albion, PA to Harpers Ferry, WV to Cumberland, MD
Rising before dawn, my wife and I gathered in the kitchen to prepare a breakfast of French toast, sausage, and fruit. After waking my daughter and eating together, we assembled the last few items to pack in the van and headed out. The drive to Harpers Ferry was uneventful, and we met our shuttle driver, Will from Wheelzup Adventures ( https://www.wheelzupadventures.com/ ) to Cumberland, MD where we set up for the night and the start of the ride. If I ever attempt this ride I would give this group a huge shout out. They handled the logistics for us well. We arrived at our lodging, the 9 Decatur Guest House, where we stayed during our 2022 Great Allegheny Passage/C & O Thru Bike. For dinner, we had dinner at Crabby Pig, another great restaurant in Cumberland.
9 Decatur Guest House http://www.9decaturguesthouse.com/
Grumpy Pig https://www.crabbypig.com/
the 2nd day : Quest start
July 19 – Cumberland, Maryland to Hancock, Maryland
When I joined in 2022, my host at the 9 Decatur Guest House Gale had COVID, so I wasn’t able to experience her legendary breakfast, but this year I was not disappointed. After a hearty breakfast, we gathered our gear, assembled our bikes, and set off for the first leg of the journey. For this trip, we planned to increase the difficulty for our daughter by making the first day a long one. We had discussed the night before and a few days before the ride the possibility of doing this ride in two days instead of three. The current plan was to ride 60 miles, followed by two days of 30 miles.
The first 30 miles were an easy ride, arriving at Paw Paw Tunnel around 12pm where we took a lunch break. At this point my daughter expressed confidence that she could complete the ride in 2 days and we tentatively changed our plans. I told everyone that the easy part of the day was over and the next 30 miles were work miles which would not only tire our legs but also increase the heat index throughout the afternoon.
The first section of C and O and much of the section leading to Hancock, Maryland, is primarily cow paths with small smooth gravel roads. This year was dry and the potholes weren’t too bad, but it still takes some decent driving skill to steer a bike with about 30 pounds of luggage and avoid the potholes to navigate this road successfully.
After lunch we re-hydrated, mounted our camels once more and set off for the afternoon. We covered 30 miles, stopping every 10 miles to eat on the camels. The afternoon flew by and we soon arrived at the C & O Bunkhouse, paid our night’s fee and set up camp for the night. The C & O Bunkhouse, also known as a chicken coop, is basically a bunkhouse with a screened door. It’s basic but has electricity and a refrigerator and there are several restaurants within walking distance. We had dinner at Buddy Lou’s on Friday. https://www.buddylous.com/ )
Third day: Quest – Go to the end
July 20 – Hancock, Maryland to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
After further consideration the night before, I decided to do 66 miles over two days today. To be honest, I was pretty nervous, as neither my wife nor my daughter had ever done this distance before, and they had already done 61 miles. Today the weather was nice and cloudy, which is good as it provides protection from the sun, but it can also be humid. The plan was the same today, to get the first 30-40 miles done by lunch, then refuel with water and food every 10 miles in the afternoon (in fact, I stopped every 10 miles on average during the ride).
Just like yesterday, the morning flew by and I got the first 30 miles done before lunch. I stopped along the way to eat lunch, drink lots of water and electrolytes, and then rode the afternoon part. Eventually, my strength was down into the teens and I reached the footbridge into Harpers Ferry and, after a long climb, we pulled into the van and the hotel and Sarah hit the stop button on my bike computer, officially ending the ride.
We covered 127 miles over two days.
Day 4: End of the journey
July 21 – Harpers Ferry, West Virginia to his home, Albion, Pennsylvania.
By the time we got to Harpers Ferry we were all pretty dirty. I was especially dirty, my feet were black. After a nice shower and some clean clothes we went out for dinner. After dinner we lay in bed and read and got some much needed sleep. On Sunday we got up and had breakfast at the hotel and did some sight seeing around Harpers Ferry before heading home. We got home around 4:30pm.
Inquiry Practice
It may not seem like a spiritual journey, but it was. Trusting my skills, listening to my wife and daughter, and caring for their safety made it a fun but stressful experience. Two weeks earlier, there had been several deaths from heat stroke at the Grand Canyon, and temperatures in the area where we were operating had been in triple digits during the week of the trip. Neither my wife nor my daughter had ever walked such a distance in such a short time, and other injuries such as heat stroke and rhabdomyolysis crossed my mind. There was a lot of noise going into this event. But that is the journey of exploration. Trust the experience, do not attach to the outcome, accept problems as they arise, and deal with them with a calm mind. Attachment is the source of suffering, and attachment to what should be done or the outcome will only ruin the experience.
Jesus went to the desert to clear his mind. Monks all over the world went to remote places to clear their minds. Native Americans used quests to clarify their purpose and goals. I hope that as my daughter grows and faces the many challenges she will face, she will look back on this experience and realize that every problem must be solved with one pedal stroke, and that it is important to reevaluate your plans frequently and be ready and willing to change them as circumstances require.
