Therese Marie

Putting the miles in EARLY this morning!

I found power in waking up early and getting a move on so that I can knock out at least 5 to 10 miles before I start my workday. This proved to be a power-move for my mental state and overall progress. Plus there’s less people out early in the morning.

I am realizing I really don’t like when the trail goes through cities. This morning, I breezed through Albany and good god there was a lot of noise. I was even straight up alongside the freeway for a good chunk. Just floating along with the morning commuters.

Eventually, the scenery thinned out. I was back in nature. I found more apple cider.

I stopped at Chrissy’s Farm Stand and talked to, wouldn’t you know it, Chrissy herself. She had to go walk her pomskies, and her dad came to watch the stand. So then I talked to him while I sipped my apple cider.

It was really nice, learning about his time in the service and how his life has ebbed and flowed and brought him back to upstate NY. He told me about the time he got stung by a scorpion, because he was down in Texas and went fishing with some buddies. They used scorpions as bate, and when he was grabbing his, it got him right in the hand. He told me he was so convinced he was going to die, but when he got to the hospital, the doctor assured him, “You won’t die, but you’ll wish you did.”

It made me think about how you never really know who you’re going to meet, where you’re going to end up. “You’re young yet,” he told me. I am young, I am on a winding road. And yet, my young-ness doesn’t guarantee a long time, I wanted to tell him. Something I’m starting to realize is that I’ll probably never really figure things out. Things are always changing, and my best bet is to follow what the heart wants. She is my truest compass, after all.

I made it through Schenectady feeling easy & breezy!

I had a moment where I felt like the Universe was listening to me. I was desperately dreaming about a bowl of pasta, my family’s Italian home cooking. How badly I wanted to smell my grandparent’s kitchen cooking sauce all day, with an oven full of comforting treats. But then…I did. I smelled something delicious. The trail dumped me right into the Little Italy corner of Schenectady.

I almost fell off my bike running into one of the little shops. The woman could tell I was so overwhelmed, she told me to take a deep breath. I told her I was really missing home. She gave me a slice of tomato pie on the house.

I got myself a sandwich for the next day, and took a moment to rest. To really rest. Thank you to Perreca’s Bakery, this day shaped up to be an amazing one.

I found some great camping, and spent a night under the stars.

My sixth day began with a beautiful sunrise, and mist pouring off of the river.

I got in some miles again at the start of my day and ended up at a library for most of the day. I hammered out my workday, did all I needed to do, and had a lovely conversation with a man who came to look for new jobs. We shared a table because it was the only one near the outlet. He turned out to be a very funny guy and great conversationalist – we talked about hiking, moving around the country, working. He made fun of the customers who mocked/got angry at him for being hearing impaired, and had some hilarious stories about how he’s learned to make people who were mean more uncomfortable than he could ever be. It was just really, really normal.

But soon I had to head off .

Onward to the next stop. I thought I knew where I was going. Cravings started to dance around my head. I’m going to be honest, nutrition is getting really difficult for me on this ride. I know I need to eat, and I get hungry, but there are a few issues I run into: I need time and money to eat. And you should know by now that I run out of time to ride pretty easily. It’s fine that I have to work, it just…takes up a lot of my potential riding hours.

I am really feeling the approach of the equinox.

So I don’t have time to go get food. And I worry that I don’t have space to carry enough food. So I don’t carry really anything with me. And I’m starting to feel it. Like I said, my cravings are getting weird. I was almost brought to tears over the thought of chocolate cake. I compose entire four-course meals in my mind.

I didn’t make it to the campsite I thought I would. I wasn’t sure if it was a real campsite either (more on that later), so I settled in at Palatine Bridge. I made a joke with myself, the town sounded like Palpatine to me, and it made me laugh every time I said it to myself.

I was feeling so lost before this trip.

And I’m still not sure WHAT’s going on in my life. But something I’m learning is that if you spend an insane amount of time wanting something, you have to acknowledge it once you get it. It’s worth your love and appreciation. It might not look like you were expecting, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have it. If you go on ignoring your gifts, you will live a long life of feeling like you never got what you wanted.

I guess what I’m saying is that I’m starting to realize my life is full of gifts that I have been ignoring. I might actually be surrounded with everything that I’ve wanted, and that is such a beautiful happy thing to realize after hurting and grieving for so many months.

For now, Fly On,

Lil