TAT Day 14 – Pinnin’ it to the Panhandle

  
Ponca City, OK – Beaver Dunes State Park, OK

Miles Ridden – 217

Total Miles – 1,994

Today’s Travel Time – 7.5 hrs

Animal Totem – Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Oklahoma state bird)

What I learned today – Crazy keeps good company. 

After 14 hours of rest, the Honey Badger had risen again, revived and ready to ride. 

  

In an attempt to make up time we hopped back on highway 64, ready to pin it all the way to Boise City. 

Although we hadn’t made it as far as we intended yesterday, my solid belief in the fact that everything happens in life exactly as it should, (even when painful and unpleasant) was reinforced today when ran into no less than five other crazy road warriors riding through Oklahoma!

At our first gas stop two other TAT riders, Bryan and Turner, a father and son duo from Louisiana pulled up behind us. It was great to chat with them and compare notes on trail conditions, aches and pains and also highlights of the trip so far. 

   
  

 A little ways down the road we stopped to eat lunch at a gas station Subway. 

  
Not long after we finished our meal these two cross country riders pulled up. 

  
They were riding their way back across the U.S. to California after having ridden from L.A. to D.C. for Ride to the Wall! 

We finally enjoyed some nice weather during the afternoon, taking breaks to nap at roadside tables

    

  

  

  

 

 and commune with horses.

   

  

 

At our last gas stop of the day we ran into the craziest road warrior of them all, Kitt Gasper, who is riding from Florida to ALASKA on a BICYCLE!!!! A bicycle. With no motor. Just feet. And pedals. Wow. He’s making this journey to raise diabetes awareness and promote healthy lifestyle solutions. You can find out more about his travels at his website, resetmyself.com. 

   

 

Kitt’s story was certainly inspiring (he used to weigh over 300lbs and was on the fast track to major health problems), and his mission to raise awareness also helped me to refocus on why it is I am out here myself, doing this ride. 

I’ve said from the beginning that this is my freedom ride, and it is. I am claiming my right to freedom. Freedom from a broken heart, which has plagued me for the last year, freedom from living in a city for 10 years which never was the right fit for me, freedom from making choices in my life based on other people’s opinions or values. But most of all its freedom from those voices of doubt and fear in my head (which influenced all of those other things). We all have these voices, to varying degrees, and they are all prisons of our own making. In my coaching profession I call them your lizard- the reptilian part of your brain that is just trying to keep you safe and alive. 

My lizard had plenty of things to stay before I came on this trip, and even a few during it. Not enough time, experience, money. You might fall off this cliff, or get bitten by that dog…. but my heart is stronger than my head now, and I can clearly see that none of these things are true. And if I do happen to fall, or get bitten by a dog, it will be OK. Really, it will. 

But it’s not just my own freedom I’m concerned about. Through this journey, I want to show others that it is possible to life your life free from fear, from doubt, from worry. To be able to silence the voices of doubt, in order to follow your heart. To know and to trust that everything that happens really is for the highest good. 

If I hadn’t gotten so sick and was no longer able to ride, we never would have run into any of these other road warriors today. Who knows what may have happened instead. I choose to embrace reality, to show up with trust. I choose to believe not just that everything is going to be OK, but that it already is. 

  

As we pulled into camp that night I felt tired, but satisfied. We had completed our first two weeks on the TAT. It was nothing like anything I had expected, except for one thing – it has been, and I’m sure will continue to be, the adventure of a lifetime.