adventure daily.
It began to rain before we'd even left the house. It's not going to last, I said. The forecast called for a high chance later in the day, but only a minimal chance until 3 pm. We were heading north to park at Hyner Run State Park and ride up to Wellsboro, stay in a …
Continue reading "Rain can’t spoil the fun: A leaf-peeping overnighter to Wellsboro."
Cover photo by Ben Carpenter. Nestled against the North Carolina and Tennessee borders just east of Damascus, Grayson County, Virginia is flanked by Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area and George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, Grayson Highlands State Park, the Virginia Creeper Trail, and the New River Trail State Park. The terrain is rugged, there …
This story was getting long, so I broke it into multiple posts. The first part discusses my impetus for this ride as well as my bike and gear. The second details Day 1 of my ride. I needed coffee. I had made the decision to go light and forego bringing a stove or coffee setup, …
Continue reading "The Trans-Allegheny Traverse — Day 2 (Dilltown to Home)"
This story was getting long, so I broke it into multiple parts. Part 1 discusses my impetus for this ride as well as my bike and gear. Read it here if you missed it, and here's my route. The sun had come out just in time for me to start riding. Surely this was a …
Continue reading "The Trans-Allegheny Traverse — Day 1 (Pittsburgh to Dilltown)"
I can't remember exactly when the idea to ride home from Pittsburgh took hold, but it seems like it's been marinating in my brain for the better part of 4 years. I'd done the ride from home to Philly a couple times, and I wanted to check off the other half of the state. Then …
Continue reading "The Trans-Allegheny Traverse — The Route & The Bike"
At some point last summer, probably on one of our early morning pre-chemo rides, I asked Whitney if she would have any interest in taking a bike trip with me in the spring. It was a hopeful thought, optimism that I'd be in remission and have regained enough fitness by then to be able to …
It was a little over a year ago that I discovered a lump in my armpit. They'd been really itchy -- my armpits, that is. I wasn't itchy anywhere else, so I thought I had developed a sensitivity to my deodorant. I switched brands, then quit wearing deodorant altogether for a while, but the itching …
October is one of my favorite months, and one in particular was extra special. We've had the most amazing weather the past couple of weeks, with plenty of 60-70 degree days and abundant sunshine. The leaves have been especially colorful and it's seemed like the foliage has lingered for a while. And I've continued on …
It's been almost two months since my last chemo treatment. The time has flown, and it's been an incredibly busy couple months -- selling two houses, buying a new house, moving, running an event, hiring and onboarding someone new at work and becoming a supervisor for the first time, and trying to soak in as …
I've fallen way behind on my original goal of writing a blog post for every round of chemo, but it's been a pretty busy past month and a half. Some of it has been an exhausted busy -- the 5th and 6th rounds of chemo were tougher than the rest both mentally and physically. But …
helena kotala 