The Standing Rock Bike Tour - Day 6 - Massive Strides (A Steemit Exclusive)

October 15, Day 6

I didn’t waste too much time getting ready the following morning. The bike paniers I had ordered weeks ago had finally arrived, so I loaded them up with snacks and headed back out west.

Ember was off doing her thing, but my bike still sat quietly under her apartment building’s staircase, readily awaiting my return.

I unlocked the beast and rolled it out into the light. Then, reaching deep into the belly of my bags, I pulled out a set of Allen wrenches and started tinkering away.

After twisting screws, resetting tires, and making minor, greasy fingered adjustments, I finished up the repairs. Then, as I whipped the grim off of my hands, onto the bottom of my pant legs, Silky pulled up.

We said our, "hello's", then I propped my bike upright and inspected it.

“Let’s see… That should do the trick!” I said, as I hopped on my bike and started pedaling a loop around the parking lot.

“Alright, alright!” I remarked as I returned. “Not too shabby! Wanna try?”

Now, normally Silky’s a real confident guy, but I could see he was a little nervous.

“Come on, it’s not like it’s a wild buffalo ride!”

“Alright” he apprehensively replied. “I just don’t wanna mess up your ride.”

He threw his leg over the seat, and straddled the massive bundle of bike and bags. Putting a little extra umph into every push, I watched him sway from side to side as he climbed up the slope of the parking lot. He turned the buffalo around, then rode it back down to me.

With a smile on his face he replied, “That’s something else right there. But, uh, I’m just gonna get this back to you before I break anything.”

“Ha, yea, that extra weight will throw you around quit a bit until you get used to it. God knows I struggled with it the first couple days. But it’s getting easier. And with these new bike bags, I should be coasting along smoother than ever now.”

“You’re crazy." he replied. "How many miles are you planning on pushing today?”

“I’d love to make it a hundred miles. After all, I’ve done it before.

Last year, when I was cruising around Rocky Mountain National Park, I rode over a hundred miles, from Grand Lake to Denver, in single a day. Then two or three years ago, I pedaled from Grand Junction to Moab in a single stride, and that’s about one hundred and eleven miles.

I’m not sure the elevation is going to help me out today, as much as it did on those other occasions, but God knows I’m stronger now.

After all, you know me...”

I then started to sing,” ‘I’m a man on a mission, with ample ambition, to practice precision, to manifest my vision...’”

“Yea, yea, yea…” He playfully cut me off, “Just be careful out there alright? All those muscle of yours are bound to make Dapl’s guard dogs hungry.”

“That’s where my guitar comes into play! Just gimme a beat, and I’ll have those hounds howling! I'll satisfy their appetite with some wholesome music, and have them wiggiling for a belly rub.”

“Ha, sure- whatever you say. Just avoid the pepper spray- I hear that’s how they season the Water Protectors.”

It would have been funnier if wasn't true, but nonetheless, we joked around a while longer before my wheels got to spinning. Before I knew it, I had traced 40 miles on the map.

A wide bike path paralleled the Platte River, and as I swam downstream, the miles rushed past.

The sun was zapping my strength though, and after hours without shade, I finally found somewhere to sit. I tossed back a handful of berries and started demolishing a sandwich. Then continued on my way.

No more than a mile later, I pulled out my phone to record another video. This video was all about potential, and in it I wanted to hit on a couple key points.

“First off, it’s totally possible to ride a mountain bike 100 miles in a day. I had done it before, and was more than willing to do it again. Secondly, challenges are awesome. We live in a world that has been stocked with a nearly endless supply of critical challenges to overcome. At the same time, we also have an enormous arsenal of resources, the likes of which the world has never seen before.

With the internet and social media, an idea can travel around the world within a couple clicks, and information can be shared with massive audiences. All we need to do is harness its power, and channel it towards benefical ends.

Take for instance gardening. Collectively, we have the resources to outgrow hunger. Yet, hunger still exists. We have home owners who want gardens, but have no time. Other people want to garden but have no space. Some people have scrap lumber that they want to get rid of, while others could use some lumber for grow boxes. So the idea is to connect the dots.

I call the project “Garden Parties”. Garden Parties are community events that turn backyards into gardens, and strangers into friends. Once we’ve identified who wants to grow a garden in their yard and who wants to help, we plan a little shindig. We throw in some live music, and potentially a group meditation and educational workshop, then bada-boom-bada-bing, you’ve got yourself a great thing!

I’ve built an online resource at GardenParties.org that organizes who has what, and who needs what, and now, I’m beginning to gather a team of gardening activists to plan and coordinate these events.

The idea blossoms into various nuances, which you can check out at GardenParties.org or RighteousEndeavors.com. What’s important is that we talk about ideas like this, put them to use, and then refine them, until we outgrow our problems.

So, while I’m pedaling these next 60 miles, I encourage you to check it out. Or better yet, get involved! Get your hands in the dirt.”

I wrapped up the video entry and started pedaling again.

Over the next couple hours, the bike trail whipped past the suburbs, alongside golf courses and cornfields, and emptied out into a rural road. Long expanses of golden ranch land stretched out along the eastern horizon, while a series of golden cottonwoods colored the hillside to the west.

In their branches, ancestral trees caught the glow of the sun’s setting rays, and held them in sublime reverence. Maybe I was just excited, but I felt overjoyed to be in their presence.

Rows of corn split apart the soft pink sky that had settled over the land, and as I floated through the dusk, I slipped into the darkness of the night.

The traffic slowed, the temperature dropped, but luckily my music was still blasting. Soon streetlights sprung up, and a city emerged. I had made it to Greeley.

Yet, Greeley was nothing more than a mile marker to me. I had made it seventy miles already, and by the looks of it, I only had thirty more miles to go. I clearly needed a boost, so I scored an energy shot on my way out of town.

I made it another fifteen miles before I saw the Sandman hitchhiking along the road. Without hesitation, he jumped on my back as I blew past, and began to wrestle with me.

Much stronger than the caffeine I just sent to my blood stream, he started swinging drowsy left and right hooks. Armed with resolve, I fought to stay awake.

Now, I only had ten miles to go.

Relentless, the Sandman sat on my shoulders, and I collapsed onto my handlebars.

“Just breathe. Remember, more oxygen, more energy. Your second wind is just around the corner.” I did my best to encourage myself, but I was clearly running out of steam.

I passed Briggsdale with two tires in the dream world. Luckily enough for me, I had just enough extra umph to carry me down the hill to the green patch of National Forest I saw on the map.

When the turn off to the Pawnee National Forest appeared, I sailed left, and dove down the road like I were leaping under blankets. Within minutes, I had found two trees about ten feet apart. I tied a couple knots to secure my hammock, grabbed my sleeping bag, and then jumped in.

By this time, the Sandman landed his final blow, and knocked me out!

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Just now tuning in? The Standing Rock Bike Tour is getting released exclusively on Steemit, day by day, for the next two months.

Previous Chapters Include-
Introduction- Igniting the Fire at Unify
Day 1- Indigenous People's Day
Day 2 - Musical Mantras
Day 3 - Bottling My Prayers
Day 4 - Glorious Heights
Day 5 - Inner TurmOil

Continue to the next day-
Day 7 - Sunset Stallions

Learn more, and access all available chapters at-
http://www.righteousendeavors.com