My big goal....is no longer

Update May, 4, 2018

So after announcing my big goal to the world, I now announce that my big goal is no longer.

After driving to Raleigh and back three times, I realize that I simply can't do the big goal. The commute wears me out. I would have to spend a couple nights each trip, but overnights can wear me out just as badly as driving crowded interstate traffic. Plus the logistics of planning would be difficult on me.

At this point the effort involved would not benefit my well-being, and, in fact, would probably be detrimental.

I'm not that disappointed, for a few reasons which maybe I'll expound in another post. And maybe not.

So I'm back to the goal of biking what I can, when I can. I'm going to mainly stick with greenways and rail-trails in the western Piedmont and the Mountains. Occasionally I'll ride greenways farther east, and I am going to finish the Neuse River Trail which is in the Raleigh area.

Below is my blog post from April 29 announcing my big goal.

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April 29, 2018

On February 15, 2018, while biking the American Tobacco Trail from Herndon to Durham Bulls Stadium, I pedaled passed a sign on a pole. "East Coast Greenway" it read in large print; "Linking Cities ... Florida to Maine ... Greenway.org" in smaller print.

Really? Wow. Could it be? That's like the AT for bikes. I can't hike long distance anymore, but maybe, maybe, maybe I could bike this Greenway in sections. Oh. My. Gosh. Wow...

An image came to mind - Thaddeus Toad when he discovered the "motoh cah." That's exactly how I felt.

Where would I stay along the route?
With my current nerve damage, I can't haul extra weight on my bike. Maybe by the time I'd bike it, hostels would be along the route. That'd be a longtime coming.

How would I get my bike and myself to each starting point and home from the ending point?
Maybe eventually there will be bike rental pick up and drop off points or shuttles to take a body back to their starting point to catch their return flight on a round trip ticket. That's probably a hundred years away.

Since February 15, I've read about the ECG and peruse-studied the map. And, I've come up with a doable goal over the next five to eight years.

Map at greenway.org 

North Carolina contains a 372-mile long "spine route" plus a "complimentary" route. I haven't been able to find the distance of the complimentary route, but it looks longer than the spine route, and I guesstimate it is maybe 425 miles, making a total of 800 miles in NC. The two routes converge at Richmond, VA, in the north, and Wilmington, NC, in the south, making a giant loop.

My big goal?
To bike both North Carolina routes, both directions, which maybe comes to 1600 miles.
I'd like to bike the entire loop including the VA section, but I'll figure that out after I've biked the NC routes.

Since 2015, I've biked 1200 to 1500 miles per year. If I bike 200 of those miles on the ECG, it'd take me eight years to complete the NC routes. Perhaps I can do 400 miles per year, but the drive to and from the ECG is a factor. And the coastal regions would have to include overnight stays.

Another factor is that most of the ECG is on public roads, not on vehicle-free trails. So I need to bike those sections in my "better weeks" between my routine, every 12-week epidurals.

But the goal is doable and not outlandish. I plan to start after I finish the Neuse River Trail and some of its side trails, which I'm also biking in sections. The southern end of the Neuse is part of the ECG.

I shared my goal with Hubby and he's on board to support me along the way and maybe ride some sections with me.

When I shared my goal with him I said, "It seems like a selfish goal. It doesn't help anyone but me. But then, helping myself helps others."

Perhaps that last sentence is just rationalization. But I wouldn't think that of other people if they had such a goal. And thru-hiking the AT is a similar goal. And that's probably just my ego talking; that I think I need a goal to help other people. But I could share my journey with the ECG folks or some other platform; that I'm doing this with widespread nerve damage. And maybe that could inspire others with physical limitations. And that would be helping others.

Later I thought, People travel all the time to enrich their lives. That's all I'm doing - traveling, on my bike, in my own back yard, so to speak.

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Originally posted on 4/27/18 at my cycling blog.
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