Rolling On

August 2, 2023

2,266 days ago I pedaled up to a nondescript motel in rural Kentucky and leaned my loaded bicycle against a bench outside the front door to the lobby. In that moment I closed the most significant chapter of my life so far and opened the most significant chapter ever to follow.

2,266 days later, with a life measured less in miles and tan lines and ripped quads, and more in mortgage payments and bedtimes and ballads from the movie Frozen — with a five-and-a-half-year-old daughter soon to enter kindergarten — I'm heading back to the road.

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Andrea BrownHow exciting! But not as exciting as that day in Kentucky.
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1 year ago

Jonathan HechtHow is it possible that your daughter is 5 1/2 and the rest of us haven’t aged at all?

In the meantime, does back on the road, mean three of you?
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1 year ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesWe are eager to read future and past Jeff entries! But help, clicking on The Great Unwind produces this:

Warning: DateTime::diff() expects parameter 1 to be DateTimeInterface, bool given in /home/public/users/journal.php on line 185

Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to a member function format() on bool in /home/public/users/journal.php:185 Stack trace: #0 {main} thrown in /home/public/users/journal.php on line 185
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1 year ago

Bruce LellmanYes, I'll have to reread your past journals and try to remember who you are....or were.

I'm very much looking forward to your next adventure. I wonder where you are going.
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1 year ago

John PescatoreI've never done any multi-day touring with my now 34 year old daughter Lauren, but back when she was 18 months old, putting her on a baby seat on the back of my old Schwinn and doing 22 miles out and back between Confluence and Ohiopyle PA on what eventually became the Great Allegheny Passage trail reignited my love of biking and touring.

We moved on to a kiddie trailer and then a trail-a-bike third wheel kinda deal when Lauren reached the age of your daughter. Many family rides ensued over the years - until the dreaded teenage girl years!

I won't try to scare you with those horror stories, the real Lauren eventually came back and asked me to buy her a bike for her birthday and now has a 3 year old and a 1 year old and I gave them a kiddie trailer - the circle keeps turning!

Have a blast on your trip, look forward to following along. If it involves coming through the Baltimore/DC area, we'd be glad to be a warm showers kind of host.
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1 year ago

Jeff ArnimTo Jonathan HechtIt's just me this time around! We've done some day trips near home, and regularly travel around town on an e-assist cargo bike, but the little one will be in school once September gets here.
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1 year ago

Jeff ArnimTo Steve Miller/GrampiesThanks for the bug report. It's been fixed!
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1 year ago

Jeff ArnimTo Bruce LellmanDuring those early trips, I remember people telling me how much I'd appreciate having a record of what I was doing, so that I'd be able to relive the adventures in future years and decades. They were right!
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1 year ago

Jeff ArnimTo John PescatoreI'll be flying solo on this trip, and cycling close to home. I'm leaving from my driveway, in fact! But we're working hard to set the stage for future family cycling trips: running errands around town on the cargo bike, graduating Juniper from balance bike to pedal bike, multi-night camp-outs, and preaching the importance of regular ice cream breaks. The GAP trail is central to these touring plans!
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1 year ago

Bruce LellmanTo Jeff ArnimAnd you have provided a great place for us to record our adventures. Thank you. I'm sure we will cherish having them as we age. In fact, we already do. The bonus is being able to share our stories with others.
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1 year ago

Jacquie GaudetTo Bruce LellmanWell put, Bruce! We are all very thankful to Jeff for the site.
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1 year ago