What impact is the trip having on you?
Well, to be sure, my body is feeling the toll...I'm getting all kinds of calluses (mostly on my feet, but my fingers are toughening up a bit too) and am feeling a little sore all the time...but all in all, at the end of a typical day much better than i generally felt after a hard day's ride in the past, when I'd only do one-in-a-row. I know she meant the emotional/intellectual angle here, and while I'm not particularly an emotional guy, and thus not as affected as some people (sadly!), I am certainly getting a lot more out of it than I'd hoped for. I'm still moved to tears a few times a week by the outpouring of support and love that people in the local communities shower upon us (no pun intended). I'm *connecting* with a lot of total strangers about hardships in their lives and emotions they've experienced and it's really intensely moving and wonderful. It's not quite enough to drive me into a career of social work, but it's felt very good, if challenging, to ride the roller coaster. Intellectually, well, I'm not thinking much. Frankly, on the bike I daydream a lot but never about much of consequence, and I soak up the scenery and the moment and the random conversations with my fellow riders but it's more of a gestalt of "keen" that lingers in my mind afterward, than any kind of deep thoughts or realizations. Maybe that'll come afterwards when I edit this all together into something coherent and put some pictures with it. [I've got a few messages to impart now, in the aftermath =)].
Are you getting lots of support from [friends/family]?
My friends and family rock. Did I mention that I had more goodies waiting for me in boulder than the rest of the team put together? I felt loved and loved and loved. You folks constantly offer to send me anything I need (but I'm a pretty good planner...just today I finally figured out a couple things I'll ask mom to pick up for me but nothing I *need*...just spare parts that I feel like I should have backups for. The cookies, the text messages, the positive energy via email and phone and psychic waves...awesome. Thanks so much, kiddos!
Is it hard for you?
I'm gonna choose to interpret this as a physical question rather than emotional since I kinda spoke to that up above. Physically, it varies. If I'm not racing, it's typically fairly easy (rides across the wyoming border and into shoshoni excepted!), but it's not like a cruise in the park. The hills and the winds are like nothing I've ever biked in before, but at least the traffic has been good to me...no close calls, and only a couple of semi-backdrafts that made me wobble. Claire got blown off the road, frinstance, but the only time I wobbled off the road was when I was too busy goofing off to notice I was drifting off the shoulder, and everyone laughed as I struggled to get back off the dirt and onto the pavement. Physically, it's not easy, but it could be harder. I expect that the mountains will make me pay for that statement =)
I'd like to address a couple of questions with hindsight.
Do you feel changed by the trip?
Definitely. On some levels, I'm definitely still the fun-loving, happy-go-lucky guy who signed up for this trip on a lark a year ago. I don't sit around moping about the sadness we were exposed to on the trip, nor am I now a Cancer Warrior! who can't stop thinking about or talking about the odyssey, the cause, the suffering, all of it. So what's different? Mostly my awareness and perception of the world, I think. I've seen many of the faces of hardship, from struggle to loss, personal to celebrity, and i've mourned many fallen soldiers. I've held hands with strangers, hugged new acquaintances, and listened to a lot of people tell their stories. I've come to realize that while I've worked hard, especially this summer, I haven't really suffered, myself, and that that makes me a very, very privileged person. I've come to realize that bad things happen to good people and vice versa, but that fighting the good fight is always worth it. I've come to realize that I can do anything I really put my mind to, and that a good cause is easiest to believe in and lends strength to its champions.
What is the volunteer work like?
We sadly didn't get to do as much volunteer work as we'd have liked. We visited with kids in the cancer ward a couple of times, but most of our outreach was in the form of education, and even that was 2/3 fundraising/cause-advancement, 1/3 prevention/awareness. Meeting some of the kids who were suffering and the occasional adult undergoing active chemo was really touching! Spreading the word about prevention and awareness, particularly of the american cancer society's services, felt extremely good especially to a pragmatist like me. I just wish the message could be spread even further. I'm pretty bad at self-promotion, so I don't really have ideas about doing better on that front, but some more work is needed, IMHO.