Hi my name is Lewis, and I’m John’s son. He asked me to give a guest post with my thoughts on this tour, and I’m a little camera shy so I’m going to write this one out. 

Watching him start this tour has been a really interesting experience for me, and I imagine living it has been an equally interesting experience for him.

I think that a large part of his experience so far has been an interpersonal one with the partners he is with. This was a facet of his trip I knew would come up eventually, but I did not think it would rear it’s head so quickly.

It’s been a mixture of emotions watching him go through this experience. Apprehension at hearing that he is struggling on a personal level, jealousy that he is out there on the road and I am not there with him, and joy that he is attempting to knock off a bucket list item.

I think more than anything I have just been surprised at how all this has played out. I’m not used to seeing my Dad cry much (except when he’s drunk) so it was surprising to hear that he spent a day on the bike in tears.

It was surprising to hear that he was riding in the back of the pack. It was surprising to hear he was experiencing so much struggle with his riding partner.

My Dad and I did a bike tour a number of years ago across Colorado, and all those things were absent on that ride. Our days were filled with bliss. The weather was perfect. There was little to no interpersonal conflict between anyone that was on the ride. Everyone just kind of rode at their own pace and met up at logical stopping points, pretty views, gas stations and what not. His current experience has been quite a contrast to that ride, and it has been a bit heart wrenching to watch him suffer in a way that I am not used to seeing.

For me it is especially hard to watch that from the perspective of being his son. I think most parents at least make an effort to shield their children from the hard things they are dealing with in their lives (I know I do), and I think my parents have done a pretty good job at that for my sister and I. When I heard that my Dad was having a tough time on this ride I immediately found myself trying to figure out how I was going to go out there and get on the bike with him so I could at least try and help. I wasn’t used to feeling that way. And while it has been tough to get used to watching him try to work through these new experiences in his own time and way, it has been a huge deal to have him share all of this with all of us.

My Dad has always been a rock to me. He’s solid, un-moveable (thick headed at times), always in control. I’ve had enough experience now on the parent side of things to realize that this wasn’t always the case even if it seemed that way from my perspective. But now he’s letting us see it all, and it has been wonderful to watch him document this experience and see behind the curtain a bit.

I know that in addition to all the struggles he’s had on this ride so far, he’s also had an enormously good time. It has been so fun for me to get to share in his stories about the tour, and talk bikes with him. I’m a bit of a nerd for bike stuff so I love talking to him about how his bar end shifters are holding up, how the rain gear is treating him (he’s been using it plenty), how his legs are feeling after the long days and the short ones.

At various points in my life when I’ve been getting to live some really cool and unique experiences like back country skiing or flying airplanes, my Dad has always expressed that he loves getting to live vicariously through me while I lived those adventures. It’s cool to now get to live vicariously through him on this adventure.

I’m extremely happy for my Dad. He is on a personal journey and I hope he is learning a lot about himself, how he interacts with the people around him, and how the world around him wants to interact with him. I know he is having fun riding his bike, and at the end of the day that is the most important thing about this ride.

It is the long ride, and there’s a huge swath of experiences both good and bad that you sign up for when you begin an endeavor like that. I hope he comes out the other side feeling fulfilled, and I hope I can be there with him for the next one.