At least today’s ride didn’t feature an adventure off Bainbridge island. Unfortunately, there are no videos or pictorial records of today’s ride as the a piece of the mount for my GoPro camera snapped sending the encased video machine bouncing down the road. Even though there are no photos to share, it was an awesome ride just the same.

The famous route around Bainbridge Island is a 32 mile loop known as ChillyHilly. With over 2600 feet of climbs along the route, this ride completely kicked my ass on both days. Fortunately getting lost on Sunday saved me the pain of all those hills on both days. My lost route was longer, but much less hilly. This time, there was no escaping the hills — I pretty much stayed on course.

I never really thought of my Phoenix/Scottsdale rides as flat. I usually find myself working up a steep or challenging grade. The 9-mile hill out of Rio Verde is an example of an extreme hill. The climbs up Happy Valley road east of Pima is another grade that always gets my attention. It is hard to think that little two and three-tenth of a mile climbs of 200 feet can hurt so much. Yet, they do.

When I get back home, I am upping my game. I need to get improve my hill climbing and speed skills. It also means I may have to unload some of my irresponsible and unnecessary extra baggage, too. I have learned a great deal about my cycling prowess by taking these different routes, in unique terrains, and in varied climates. Now that I have learned where my shortcomings are, it is a great opportunity to start preparing myself to overcome them or improve upon them.

Life offers us many opportunities to change and grow, too. We get little reminders about our mental and physical health, our relationship building and communications skills, or our nasty habits and behaviors. Many times they are easily and often dismissed as, “that’s just me.” While it may be you, that is merely a stated excuse to ignore or skip an opportunity to challenge those personality or behavior quirks.

Just because you have developed a nice little routine around being who you are — riding at your safe, comfortable pace along the flat roads with a few challenging grades — does not mean you cannot do a little more to improve yourself.

I have been stubbornly avoiding riding with other people. I like the solitude, the peace and quiet, and the individual freedom that goes with riding alone. I do not need or want to ride with someone every day. However, this does not mean I cannot benefit from a little break in my routine. I have already discovered on this trip that I can gain a great deal of value riding with a group or other individuals.

The same goes with our little quirky habits. Changing it up cannot hurt, you don’t have to do it every day; but, it would probably be a really productive outcome if you challenged yourself to break the routine. Next time you are aware of an opportunity to do something a little differently, embrace it and try it on. I am confident you will discover something in the process.

Yes, you can leave the island!

I am not normally directionally challenged. My family will attest at my remarkable ability to find my way without a map, leveraging only my instinctive skills to safely arrive at the defined destination. Even my youngest son, Brandon, once exclaimed, “Dad do you have a map in your head?”

With my navigational prowess as background, it becomes a funnier story when, in the middle of my first bike ride on Bainbridge Island (Seattle), I had to admit I was ridiculously lost. I had completely lost my sense of direction. Worse, I drove off the island without giving this act a second thought.

Now I know how Gilligan must have felt. What started out as a 32 mile bike ride — a simple loop around the island — turned into a 42 mile adventure.

Now for the rest of the story and my tips to help others avoid losing their way:

Always trust your instincts. When I got to a point where I wasn’t certain where to go, I decided against my first instincts and took the other path. It took at least an hour for me to realize the enormity of the mistake; but, I overrode my gut and took the wrong road.

Never lose your sense of direction. Going around an island can be a wonderful experience until one confuses north with south. When that occurs, all kinds of trouble ensues. I thought I was headed south, when in fact, I had started heading north. Nothing better than heading full force in the opposite direction.

Remember what an island is! Taking a bridge over a very large body of water is likely a clear indicator that you may be leaving the island you are on. It is even more likely that this is an indicator that you are leaving the island if crossing a bridge was not on the original route. Despite this obvious flag, I proceeded on my journey as if everything would work out. After all, I am the master of direction with a map in my head.

When you feel like you are going in circles — ask for help! Unfortunately, it took me an hour to decide I was lost. Fortunately, I was willing to ask for help when it was obvious I was in trouble. When I asked a couple of fellow cyclists the best way back to the ferry — an sensible, popular island landmark — they looked at me with a very puzzled look. With that, I knew I was in trouble. When I called my nephew and asked him for help, the enormity of my problem was clear — “Uncle Dave you have left the island!” With that news, my phone died. As if it couldn’t get any worse.

It was official. I was lost. I was not on the island. And, I needed to find someone who could guide me home.

Fortunately, I found a fellow cyclist who, when asked “Do you know the way to Bainbridge?” he exclaimed “Yes, I do” and proceeded to guide me back to the infamous bridge that returned me to the island. Whew!

I signed up for adventure on this trip. Little did I expect so much on a simple bike ride. Despite all the excitement, it was a great workout, a scenic ride, and a fun story. Tomorrow I will tackle the island again - this time paying closer attention to my instincts, bridges, and any other warning signs that may derail or detour me.

Simply put, Portland was, and is, incredible! I was in Portland for 48 hours and enjoyed every single minute of it. I almost considered adjusting my schedule simply so I could spend another day there.

Amazing bike ride: My bike ride was a 43 mile out and back tour along the east side of the river toward Mt. Hood. When I wasn’t completely confident where I was headed, I asked a fellow cyclist I caught up to at a traffic light. He told me that I was on a forty mile path and proceeded to pick up his pace and join me for some great conversation for most of the rest of the ride. Another example of life’s little, pleasant surprises when reaching out to someone for an assist.

Peace and harmony on the road: The other pleasant part of the cycling experience was how peacefully bikes and cars shared the road. When driving in the downtown area, bikes actively shared/owned the lanes they were in. Cyclists obeyed the laws just as any other vehicle. And, cars treated cyclists with the respect they would treat any other vehicle on the road. Loved the harmonious relationship on the road.

Speaking and presentations: I had the pleasure of sharing a 100Pedals: Four Wheels of Personal Leadership talk at the Sherwood YMCA. With a comfortably small crowd of a dozen people, I loved the informal, close, and interactive conversation. It is amazing how many people have a story of their own and how they readily they engage in looking for answers and share their passions, challenges, and commitments. These talks are wonderful gifts. I welcome the opportunity to celebrate the energy and community building moments associated with every single one of them.

Making connections: Finally, I had the opportunity to meet-up with a good friend of an acquaintance of mine from Scottsdale. They had been in Portland for a little less than one year and had was excited to share what they learned about Portland. From the food trucks, to Powell’s Book Store, to the Pearl District, to Voodoo donuts, I participated in an engaging walking tour. And, I made another friend!

There in a clear and repeating theme with this year’s adventure — meet interesting people, make new friends, engage old acquaintances, and celebrate life. Every single day I have made at least one new connection. I have also celebrated at least four great rides and delivered two great presentations. I am enjoying every opportunity to celebrate this adventure and share my stories, pictures, and lessons with you. Now it is on to Seattle for the last leg of the Pacific coast swing.

Love, live, and embrace your life — this receptive and positive mindset will take you to incredible and unpredictable places.

What a long drive it was up the California coast on highway 1. It is 230 miles from Lompoc, CA to Santa Cruz, CA — my final destination for the day. I could have taken highway 101 and arrived in less than three hours. Instead, I drove up the coast through Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo, Big Sur, Carmel and Pebble Beach.

How often does a person get an opportunity to take a leisurely drive up a very scenic coast like this in their lifetime. It was a first for me. Not that I planned to be on the road for over eight hours, but I was. Obviously, I wasn’t the only person taking advantage of the opportunity to buzz this famous and beautiful part of the country. There is a great deal of beauty all over our great country, this region has always been my favorite. I was thrilled that I was able to explore the area south of Carmel, CA for the first time.

No bike ride today, although I did witness a large number of cyclists taking their personal challenge to travel the road that cars so willingly share with them. I know I could be in better shape when it comes to my cycling conditioning. I have an ever bigger appreciation for the commitment of many of the people I watched battle some very, very steep climbs and bravely take on some very, very treacherous descents.

One of the things that struck me most about many of the cyclists I watched battle the peaks and valleys of the California coast was few of them were wearing the fancy cycling clothes or traveling lightly on their ultra cool bikes. Most of these riders were grinders — people living the passion of a dream and a challenge.

It presented me an entirely new perspective on the difference between living a life of safe, fancy and convenient and making life the adventure it is meant to be and taking on the challenges life offers. I know I have a tendency to work hard at doing the easy things well, convincing myself that doing them well is difficult. That is until I discover what taking on something truly difficult is. It is then that I realize I need to continue to challenge myself to learn how to do the difficult things, period.

Life is a choice — we can go up a hill and call it work; or we can climb a mountain declare victory.

Today was another special opportunity in many ways. I had the pleasure to reconnect with an old friend I had not seen in over ten years, meet her family, speak at the church where her children go to pre-school, and go for a very scenic group ride along the beach. It cannot get any better than that.

There are not many times that I have had the opportunity to freely and openly share every aspect of my life experiences over the past few years. Most of my audiences are neither ready or prepared for me to share the faith and spiritual component of my experiences. I concentrate on keeping this aspect from my talks because it may not be appropriate or I don’t want anyone to tune me out when I share. When I have the opportunity to talk completely out in the open about my complete perspective of the entire 100Pedals lessons, I relish the moment.

My talk at the church was one of those amazingly free moments. It was gratifying, exhilarating, and exciting. I am grateful to have been given the ability to share my message, to have been given the words to share, and to have been blessed with the voice to deliver it. As the question and answer session was nearing its end, nothing was more powerful than the young man who attentively sat in the back of the room honestly and openly shared with the entire audience, “Thank you for what you said today. I am the addict in my family and I know what I have put my family through. Everything you have shared today was right on.”

Tears filled my eyes then as they do now as I share this story. This is the reason I have embraced the lessons and experiences of my transition through my personal adversities. We all struggle. We all battle. We all focus on being the best we can be and do the best that we can. Sometimes it seems like no matter what we do, something goes sour anyway. That is the story of life. There is no failure or fault in the adversity. There is no shame in the struggle.

Every one of us has the opportunity to embrace the challenge as a time to learn, grow, lead and educate. The struggle does not define us, how we use it to transform and mold us does.

Never underestimate the power of making a great connection. I had the pleasure to be hosted in San Diego by someone I had never before met or spoken to. How I came to be introduced to them requires a story.

Years ago I taught a class in Scottsdale and had stayed connected to most of the participants. One of them had moved back to their hometown of Seattle. Even though they had moved, we stayed loosely connected. When I went on last year’s Drive N Bike, we talked a great deal more about our respective adventures.

In March, we reconnected when they were visiting in Scottsdale. Two days later I get a note from this person’s father telling me that they found my personal journey inspirational and they had a friend who had made several cross country bike trips. An introduction was made, we exchanged some emails, and here I am in San Diego visiting a fellow adventurer.

The people that come into our lives all enter for a reason. The reason is not always obvious at the time. They are in our lives anyway. Every one of these interactions represent an opportunity to share the love, make a connection, and find out something special about someone. I value every one of these opportunities. Each of them is a gift.

This particular San Diego gift invited me into their home, shared a great meal with him and his wife, celebrated a very special bike ride around the entire harbor area of San Diego which included a ferry ride from Coronado Island, and ended with an entertaining lunch with a bunch of old, retired buddies. What a great day.

We never know where life’s gifts come from. However, if we are constantly looking for the one’s that are obviously wrapped with our name on it, chances are we are missing the one that simply is out in the open for us to enjoy. Look for the opportunities to be a gift to another and you will discover that there is very likely a gift there for you, as well.