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Zachary Davis (on A Bike)

@cyclingwithsquatch

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Follow my bike ride from Oregon to Wisconsin.
I’m going to have really long captions, you don’t have to read them.

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“Spiritual Stories of Spiritual Journeys (And Everyday Life)” I’m giving a talk at Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church tomorrow night in which I will be telling some stories about my trip and exploring ways that we can use stories to glorify God.

The talk will be a part of a weekly non-traditional worship community called @justimaginesoth. There is food at 5:30 and worship and 6:30 which will include musical worship and my talk.
Let me know if you have any questions or if I might see you there! by @cyclingwithsquatch

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7 years ago

Three days into this journey I took what I knew then was going to be one of the biggest risks of my journey, social-mediaizing my trip. I started off with a declaration of my intent to ride across the country, but now as I just made it back to Wisconsin I have decided that this is going to be the end of my trip (for now). I hadn’t been peddling for very many days when I realized that my primary goal was not to bike across the country. Instead, I realized that my goal was to process the craziness and the changes that had occurred within me and in my life over my time at college. I needed to reconnect with God and with what I wish to accomplish with my life. Now as I have been on the road for a month and a half, I have done those things, not fully and not perfectly, but up to a point that I believe I will be more able to continue the life-long process with a return to a community. I am going to end my trip tomorrow at Luther Park Bible Camp, the place that first taught me it’s ok to call multiple places “home.” There is soooo much of me that wants to keep going and complete the stated goal, and I know that I could, but I miss people, I decided about a week ago that I had accomplished my goals for the trip and that I was ready to go home for a bit. So for now, I will be getting off the bike. It has been an incredible journey. Time for the next adventure, after some rest.
Thanks for following my journey, there’ll be some more bike related posts as I finish up the ride and the processing, but I have really appreciated all the support I’ve gotten through this account.

#biketouring #knowingwhentoquit #wisconsin #nextadventure taken in Wisconsin by @cyclingwithsquatch

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7 years ago

Ok. It’s been forever since I’ve given an update. Sorry. I haven’t taken a cool picture in weeks, but lots has happened. I rode out of Colorado in an insane heat wave. 100 degrees all the time and 90 by 8:00am. It was miserable, and let me tell ya, Eastern Colorado and Nebraska are not fun places to be dying of heat. On top of it all, I’ve run out of things to think about. So, instead of continuing the suffering. I decided to hop on a bus and just completely skip Nebraska. I got off in Iowa and rode North. I crossed into Minnesota a few minutes ago. It’s still hot, but at least it’s not Nebraska.
#Nahbraska #bus #heat #iowahighpoint #minnesota #headedhome taken in Minnesota/Iowa State Line by @cyclingwithsquatch

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7 years ago

A break from homelessness.
While one of the highlights of this trip is experiencing new places in new ways, this comes with an only slightly surprising side effect- everything is new. While this is incredible and beautiful, it is this fact far more than the nomadic nature of the journey that has allowed me to feel the uncertainty and occasional discomfort of what I have come to fondly joke about as homelessness. The past few days I got a break from that. When I entered Colorado I felt a sense of comfort and being at home that I had not in a while, this only intensified as I got closer and was able to see my friend @samhardy37,the first familiar face since Idaho. After that I finally made it back to Denver and stayed for a few days. It was such a blessing to have comfort and safety as I stayed with @bcolby1997 for a night and @nmleach_7 for a few more. Far more than simply a place to sleep, I was able to have an incredible break from unfamiliarity. I got to see a lot of friends and while there were so many more I wish I could have seen, it was incredible to be reunited with some of the people that have become home for the last four years. Now as I make my way away from the mountains, I am aware that I am making my way from one home to another as I head back northwards towards Wisconsin, but it is very hard to leave this place. until next time Denver.

#homeless #home #Denver #breaktimeisover taken in Denver, Colorado by @cyclingwithsquatch

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7 years ago

While the last Wyoming post shared some stories of the most challenging days of my trip (so far), I thought that as I spend my second to last day here before returning to my beloved Colorado, I should share some of the highlights. First, this truly is a beautiful state. It seems to have almost constant surprises of rock springing up out of the impressively expansive plains. The rolling mountains of my last two days have been great, and even the desert has its own beauty. Second, the thing that surprised me most was that Wyoming LOVES bikers. When I started the trip I guessed which states would be friendly and which would be hostile, but Wyoming has blown me away with how friendly and helpful the people I meet are. If I stop to make a repair or just take a break, it won’t be more than 5 minutes before someone stops to ask if I need anything. Multiple people have pulled off the road ahead of me and had granola bars and water in hand by the time I got there. Part of me hates accepting little gifts like this, but it’s also been a great lesson in learning to accept genuine kindness and love. Next time I explore Wyoming I hope to be in car and/or on foot, but it really is cool to see how many people share this love of seeing the country by bike.

#biketouring #bikewyoming #thankswyoming taken in Wyoming by @cyclingwithsquatch

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7 years ago

Wyoming has been tough.
What started with a triumphant entry into a beautiful new state filled with mountains and new landscapes quickly turned into the most challenging days of my ride so far. There have been some truly incredible people along the way, but also some very frustrating moments. The pictures are from yesterday when I made a navigational error that when paired with a sunk cost fallacy resulted in my crossing 15 miles of often unridable desert in 5 hours. This is painfully slow. I was able to ride for some of it (very slowly) but usually the sand was so deep that I had to push or even carry my 100 pounds of bike and gear. I was so low on water that I ended up eating a can of chicken for dinner just so I could get some salt/water from drinking the contents. When I finally reached pavement I had to go over another pass and was too tired to take a picture to celebrate the crossing of the continental divide. Today after church I started to ride, but was quickly hit with that lovely sort of rain/wind combination that turns every raindrop (of which there were many) into a miniature bullet. So I took another down day to hide in my tent and listen to the rain.
Like I said it’s been tough, but I’m still feeling good.

An interesting result of riding east (and usually still riding late in the day) is that I am often riding away from the sunset. I know that I’ve had a lot of pictures of sunsets already, but I’ve found them to be really important on my journey. It’s so easy to be so caught up in forward motion that the sunset behind is ignored. Personal reflection is a difficult and often tedious endeavor, but just like the sunset, it has been so beneficial to use the time to slow down, look back, and explore. I recommend it (sunsets and personal reflection). #desert #wyoming #hardestdays #biketouring #biketouringstruggles #reflect taken in Wyoming by @cyclingwithsquatch

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7 years ago

“You know, I once drove a truck that struggled to make it up that pass.”
“You could go around it...”
“Ohh goodness!”
“Well, good luck.”
-various people who asked about my route and learned that I was going over Teton Pass. Indeed it was a very very difficult day, and I’m sad to say that any pictures I took were from the top or the other side as I did not have the energy to take pictures on the way up, although I was stopping frequently enough that if my hands hadn’t been shaking so much I could have had many. There was a much flatter route that I could have taken and saved lots of time and energy, but by the time I learned of the alternate route I had hyped myself up so much for the climb that I couldn’t make myself take another route. For CCU theology people, it was pretty much the physical equivalent of writing that first exegetical paper. It was hard. It took all of my strength to make it up, but it feels truly incredible to have made it over two large passes in the same day. My body still hurts, but the physical detriment is nothing compared to the mental boost of having finished such a difficult (and optional) portion of the journey.
#mountains #tetonpass #biketouring #wyoming #jacksonhole taken in Jackson, Wyoming by @cyclingwithsquatch

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7 years ago

Alright folks. It’s been wild. Idaho is sweet. 10/10. The last four days have taken me from desert plains up some mountains. Through massive beautiful tail winds at the base of said mountains. Through lava (craters of the moon is unlike anything I’ve ever seen), and then of course 100 miles in a truck in the wrong direction back to farm land... It’s been a great week of riding, and yesterday provided a great attitude check (praise the lord, Amen, amiright @lpbc_chetek). I met up with Scott for lunch and when we were discussing where I was headed he semi-jokingly offered me a ride to his family’s house so I could stay the night there. Whether the opportunity to not ride 30 more miles that day impacted the decision or not, I accepted. It’s a really good feeling to affirm my belief that I am not riding for a destination but to experience the journey to the fullest. Scott is a great friend and someone I look up to a lot, to get to spend some time with him and experience such hospitality from his family was really fun for the night! Not only did I sleep in a bed for the first time in over a month, but I also got a warm breakfast, laundry, a shower, and great conversations and laughs. Thanks Montgomery family! taken in Idaho by @cyclingwithsquatch

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7 years ago

“You need to post again. We need to see more pictures.” -my mother
You can blame this one on her.
I just made four separate attempts to write really deep and reflective captions on the inability of the camera (and photographer) to truly capture the reality of a setting sun, but none of them struck my fancy (and I’m not sure if this one will yet either...). I took a break day today because my back was in great pain and I was able to take the opportunity to see a chiropractor and heal and even marathon some Netflix. These were taken at the end of a long hot day biking through very rough gravel roads. I was very thankful for the setting sun for not only the break it provided, but that the very same break that rejuvenated my legs also renewed my ability to appreciate the beauty of that sun and the rest of the Idahoan flatlands that had been draining my spirits all day. It’s tough to appreciate beauty when you’re worn down, but when that little break comes and allows for a new eye to approach a landscape, a situation, or a life it can be a truly incredible thing. Break days are hard in their own way (hard to admit the need, to accept it, and enjoy not making progress), but tomorrow I should be peddling again. Up mountains again. Ones my chiropractor warned me about. Good night.
#breakday #sunset #idaho #chiropractorsrock taken in Mountain Home, Idaho by @cyclingwithsquatch

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7 years ago

Hello! I am now 1 week and 1 day into my trip with about 450 miles peddled! I’m currently camping about 15 miles from the Idaho boarder, which in some sense will begin a new chapter of this journey. This first chapter has been one of adjustment and learning, one of difficulty and beauty, and one of mountains and deserts. I’ve experienced the vastness of the coast, the lush beautiful green of the Cascades, the burning heat of the desert, the sting of hail 60 miles from shelter, and the smell of a desert after a rain storm (which quickly skyrocketed to the top of my list of favorite smells). I tried my best to enter into this journey without any expectations. Many people asked me things like “How do you think you’ll grow?” Or made statements like “ohh man, you are going to learn so much about yourself/God!” And I would always agree or affirm that their question was a good one, but I didn’t want my preconceptions about ways I might grow on this trip to impact the reality of what I experience and how I communicate it. Nevertheless, unconscious or unrealized expectations were present and impact how I go about my days. The realization of these expectations (met and unmet) has played a big role in my adjustment this last week and a day. Expectations can drive and motivate, but I think they can also limit. On this trip I am striving to pursue those things that will open the door and best allow me to grow in ways that I have not desired or expected. Some parts of that have included being way more open about my thoughts (sorry, if you’re still reading, you’re on the receiving end of that one), increasing contemplative prayer practices, and reading more! Anyway, those are some ramblings about the relationship between biking and expectations. Bye.

#oregon #expectations #biketouring #hail #easternoregon taken in Oregon by @cyclingwithsquatch

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7 years ago

Smart people will tell you that if you go over a mountain range, the environment is about to change drastically, and oddly enough, you should listen to them. I’m in the desert now. I know the pictures aren’t great, but honestly there’s not a lot to look at out here. Last night I biked through the night because the road was pretty much deserted, the stars and moon were bright, and I really wanted to bike when it wasn’t hot. Well, another funny thing about the desert is that there’s not a lot of water here! While my information ahead of time left me under the impression that there were at least two refill sites in this 90 mile stretch, reality proved otherwise. I found myself again reliant upon extremely kind people who offered me bottled water because they’re just those cool prepared people. Another lady gave me three tangerines and three cheese sticks and she’s my hero for the day. Finally after a 110 mile stretch yesterday and an extremely difficult and hot shorter ride today, my ride was cut short by some beautiful desert storms- which have cooled it off nicely.
#biketouring #desert #cheese #heat #hydrateordiedrate taken in Oregon by @cyclingwithsquatch

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7 years ago

I biked over a mountain range today. The Cascades proved to be quite the challenge, and I am so stoked to have overcome them. I am not the fastest biker, nor the strongest, and certainly not the most prepared (I hadn’t biked more than 5 miles in over three years before 5 days ago), but I managed to bike over a mountain range. If I am to continue on with the story of the unlikely hero in a long and often boring quest (see my Facebook post), and I am going to because for some reason I’ve been really into stories lately, then today was the first chance to prove to myself that I am indeed capable of enduring the journey. Over the past few days there have been a few short moments where I would wonder what I’ve gotten myself into and weigh the pros and cons of turning around, but today I finally thought “yeah, I think I can do this.” Which is actually pretty impressive considering I was on my 18th consecutive uphill mile peddling very very slowly. Anyway, I have seen incredible things thus far and I’m starting to adjust to what my summer will look and feel like. Today was my steepest day by a lot, and the fact that it was my longest day so far (70 miles) just added to that struggle, but I am feeling incredible and stoked for another big (but flatter) day tomorrow. taken in Cascade Mountains by @cyclingwithsquatch

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7 years ago