One Step at a Time
When a goal or dream feels daunting, people say “one step at a time.” As a cyclist, I say, “one pedal revolution at a time.”
My dream first sparked at age nine. At fifteen my brother Tom rode his bike across the country. The next year my sister Sandi, at eighteen, did the same. Their grit planted a seed in me.
After our mother died, the seed sprouted. In 2009, I pedaled across lower Michigan with Mom’s seventy-eight-year-old brother, Wil. The next year I trained and finally rode coast to coast–not at fifteen, or eighteen, or even twenty-five, but at age forty-six—thirty-five years after the dream began.
Toward the end of that 2010 ride, a new dream formed. As my feet and knees (and backside) screamed in pain, I realized I didn’t need to ride across the states again, but in all 50 states. The plan was to ride in the lower 48 states first. But Tuesday I rode in Ketchikan, yesterday in Juneau, and today, Skagway, making Alaska state forty-six.
The irony is not lost on me. I’m here in Alaska with my sister Sandi. When Princess Discovery docks in Seattle, my brother’s son will ride with me in Washington. From there, he’ll escort me to his home in Portland so I can check off Oregon, the place where his dad and Aunt Sandi first began their trek. By this time next week I will have ridden in 48 states, leaving Utah and Hawaii for the finale.
This dream has been unfolding for fifty years. Barring injury or death, I will reach my goal by age sixty-five. So, if you have a dream, or know a young person who does, please listen. Stay the course. If you get sidetracked, get back on the road. Don’t give up. Take it one step at a time. Or if you are a cyclist, take it one pedal revolution at a time. If I can do it, you can too.
Thanks for being a part of this journey!
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Joy M. Walker
