Thanks, Greg. I,too, still get embarrassed to have to push the bike if it's my fitness or lack of strength that results in the pushing! I'd only recommend the 'pushing cause you have to' steep, gravel roads if you really enjoy self-punishment, and gritting it out is something that makes you happy. For me, I just decided where I wanted to go... and went. And that sometimes involved grades too steep and/or surfaces too rocky or slippery to ride. If I had looked at percent grades or route profiles before many of those days, I would have probably psyched myself out and not done it. So I never looked at anything more than the squishiness of topo lines, and that was just to give me an idea of what might be hard and require walking. I definitely did get really good at knowing the best way to get me and the bike up really steep stuff by the end of this trip though.

Yes, I fell in love with Abbey's writing in high school - along with Wallace Stegner and a few others. I loved his attitude toward authority, and I still totally plan on being an activist granny between ages 70 and 76 (since I'm done at 76) and doing some monkey wrenching of my own. These days I do feel a bit conflicted about Abbey, though, as he was pretty terrible toward women, so it takes away some of my respect. His writing, however, got me hooked on nature writing and western landscapes for sure, though. I could always see a bit of me in some of his writing.

I did meet plenty of old blokes that were lovely. And I had lots of good conversations with guys my age about bike stuff. I only met one bikepacker on my whole trip, and we did not stop to chat. He had momentum on a steep uphill and I was bombing that downhill - so we just waved high as we passed. So there really wasn't anyone doing what I was doing to compare notes. So it was a bit irksome to be told how to do stuff over and over by old white guys who hadn't done a backcountry ride in a very long time, if ever. I don't actually care about gear all that much - I do the research, buy the best quality I can afford, and then just use it. I'm not a gear junkie, though it seems like a lot of old guys are! Just get out there and ride! I'm sure you could have even done the whole thing on a touring bike (Syd Winer probably has done all those routes on his over the years), it would have just been much slower, harder and much less comfortable. But you could do it any way you chose, really.

The guy I rode away from had insisted I should get a bivy sack to save on weight and use a self-inflating pad (haha! - I know you are with me on closed cell). Then he told me I needed a larger powerbank so I could get some sort of taillight with a radar (? - who needs that on the kind of roads I ride!!?) and charge that and then I could get rid of the solar panel. What? Reduce tent weight and get rid of the solar panel, so I could carry a bigger powerbank (that would require me to go into town to charge - when I don't need mains power at all with the solar panel)? I finally rode away when he started in on using a bikepacking set-up so I could move faster between towns - duh, I'm trying to stay out of them, why would I want to get to them quicker!!? He'd also told me about various adventures like he'd just done them yesterday... and none of it had been done this century! What middle-aged chick cyclist wouldn't roll her eyes after ten minutes of that!

But I wouldn't worry about you and advice... you don't have the ego that any of those guys did. You're just a humble, down-to-earth MN guy. And, by the way, I'm happy to be told what to do when it comes to Microsoft Word, anything to do with cars, anything that involves heavy lifting and anything that involves internal combustion, power tools or building stuff :-)

Thank you, Kathleen. Yes, there was never a moment that I didn't feel grateful to have my life back again. I never ever took it for granted that I felt well and healthy. There was a teeny bit of restraint in that I paid careful attention to how I was feeling, followed up big days with rest days, never felt guilty for taking a rest day, and tried to keep total climbing each day to 1000 metres or less (which some days came in just 20 kays; other days it might be 50 or 70). But I'm fine with that level of restraint if it means I stay healthy and full of energy :-)

Hi Greg - picnic tables are not common here - even in official sites. Sometimes they are scattered about a camping area, but not for every site. Even the RV parks don't usually have them. So I guess you just get used to it?
I think I tend to write my journal sitting cross-legged on the ground with the notebook in my lap. (Which is why it really, really sucked when I had all that hip pain and couldn't sit cross-legged for 18 months until I got the bartonella infection treated). I will also sometimes lay on my side in my sleeping bag, prop my head up with my left arm and write with my right hand. I've never thought about it much - I'll have to report back! It's funny that you can do headstands no problems, and have all that agility and flexibility, but journal writing without a table poses problems. Perhaps your handwriting is much better than mine and it requires a firm surface to execute properly....

Great conclusion, Emily. There is so much to admire about your tour, which, as you know, I've read about before. But now I have something else to strive for: Improving my bike-pushing skills. I've got the bike-handling skills down (thanks to my "excellent kinesthetic sense"), but I haven't ridden enough in areas where bike-pushing is required. Sure, I've done it, but always with a certain degree of embarrassment. It's time for me to ride in some areas where I can take pride in walking my bike up a ridiculously steep, gravelly, nobody-there-to-save-me mountain road.

One more thing. As an old white guy myself, I assure you that I've never tried to tell any cyclist what to do or how to do it--not even if he or she is pedaling wildly in the easiest gear on flat terrain, or struggling uphill with severely overloaded panniers, or crying because they're riding in a thunderstorm without rain gear. (Who knows, maybe I would have gotten an eye roll from them.) I can't imagine anyone trying to tell YOU what to do.

Edward Abbey is one of my favorite authors. I had a feeling that "Ramble Out Yonder" came from your admiration as well.

Oh Em, so so good. After the hard road you had, it’s great to see you bucketing about unrestrained.

I've gotten soft since my backpacking days. Now, as a bike tourist, I rarely camp where there isn't a picnic table. I seem to need it more for writing a journal. I can cook and eat standing up or sitting on a rock, but I can't seem to write in my notebook that way. I can't handle writing with my back arched up to write in my notebook on the tent floor either. Nor can I lie on my back, pull up my feet, and write in the notebook that's leaning on my thighs. At least, not for more than a few minutes. How do you do it?

Thanks, Greg. I don't really want all my text and photos on someone else's site so won't copy my journal here. I don't have time anyway! But I did think that a bunch of maps and notes/resources about what's available would be useful to others, since there isn't much out there about this area, and it's nice to have confirmation that certain pubs, general stores etc did or did not survive COVID. There are not many places to restock food, fuel etc in this area, so you don't want to rely on pre-covid info for basics.

Thanks, Rachel. At this point in life, I love the difficult gravel roads most! No traffic, no people, good views. Many of our 2WD gravel roads are as good as the minor chipseal roads in condition. The 4WD tracks can be hard, going up AND down, but my bike handling and general cycling skills have increased exponentially after all the roads/tracks I tackled on this tour.

Hi Emily, I'm glad you posted this here on Cycleblaze--not because I have any illusions of replicating your tour, but because I just like to read what you write about it.

Thank you, Mike. Yes, I am very grateful to finally feel healthy again. I still have to be really careful with energy levels and what I eat, but I'm certainly back to full strength. I hope you and Mary are getting the chance to get out and explore with the warmer weather and longer days.

Looks like a great tour but definitely too much unpaved road for me!

Welcome to CycleBlaze!

Hi Emily
Welcome to Cycle Blaze.
It is great that you have finally got on top of that pesky mosquito borne virus. It has been a long road for you.