Therese Marie

It’s all in the title.

This weekend (Sunday. So, two days from now) I am beginning my latest adventure – bikepacking the Empire State Trail! If you know me at all, you know that I royally SUCK at planning. Darting thoughts, new ideas, trying to accommodate others…all contributors to my plans constantly changing and shapeshifting.

But ADHD is my superpower, and I will make it work for this trip.

Wait, what IS the Empire State Trail!?!?

The Empire State Trail is 750 miles of connected paths/trails/roads that come together to create a throughway for people on foot or bike. Wow! Thanks, State of NY! The section I have my eyes on begins in New York City and ends in the sweet, sweet northern city of Buffalo. Most of this section is off-road; very appealing to someone who’s an easy-target for cars.

I am ecstatic to finally take my Surly Long Haul Trucker for a spin. I bought her back in 2018 with the intention of my first bikepacking trip being one from coast-to-coast. Yeah, an ambitious full-send idea. But many, many things occurred in my life, so the trip never happened.

Like most plans put on the back-burner, I let my dreams get dusty and never revisited them. This year, I caught onto the way my brain likes to make excuses, and I started making action items to combat. Whenever I scrolled through Instagram and thought to myself, “man it would be so cool to go on a bikepacking trip, but I just don’t have the gear. Like the pedals, the shoes, the panniers…” instead of getting overwhelmed, I stopped myself and purchased just one of those items. I’ve been slowly accruing all the things I need, and I finally have it all (I think. Probably. Hopefully!)

She’s packed and ready to go. Impossible to talk myself out of this one.

Now I stand on the threshold of departure, and I’m freaking terrified.

There’s an incredible amount of doubts filling my head. But I’ve felt that feeling a ton of times in the past, and every time it’s led me to the most incredible adventures of my life. I once said something about that being my favorite feeling. I don’t know why I’m so scared now.

There’s been a lot going on in my life. I’ve been making poor decisions. I feel like I’ve really gotten away from the person I am, the Real Therese. This has also happened before…and that last time, I went off to hike the AT. It didn’t solve all my problems. It just brought me back to who I actually am.

I think that all the chaos and calamity I’ve created for myself, though painful and stressful, has also given me comfort due to its predictability. That’s the best guess I can make.

It’s scary to leave my routine. But a good scary. Because I’m not doing my best, and that needs to change. I’ll take this as a good omen. This must be a grand adventure if I’m so afraid to start it.

So, come along if you’d like

I’ll be checking back in here as much as possible (and also still working during this entire ride! Fortunately, I can do my job remotely), so this is the place to hear about all the wild things I encounter. Thanks for reading, and I sure hope this doesn’t disappoint.

Fly on,

Lil