the adventure doesnt need to stop

029. gravel bike paying dividends

Aug 19, 2024

"Even if you don't have all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don't have that you don't want."
- Bob Dylan’s father

I thought life was going to stop. After being on the road for so long and life being so transactional, each day was a wild adventure. Even normal tasks like finding where to park for the day or where we would rest our heads for the night became adventures of their own. There was always the risk of getting a knock on the door, telling us to move on. My brain wasn’t wired to know that a ‘normal’ life could still be filled with adventure, or maybe it was my ego, because I was in denial that my life could ever be ‘normal.’ How dare I live in a house, grow a community, and push forward a small business that I love…

This weekend reminded me that adventure still plays a big role in who I am and what I value. My soul was screaming for it, and I listened. Zack, Tom, and I bike-packed our way down to Byron Bay, taking the long way around and covering 106kms on day one. We started in Currumbin Waters, making our way inland and climbing through the valleys of the Gold Coast hinterland before entering the Northern Rivers. We passed through small country towns deep in the slow, off-grid way of living—chicken coops, veggie gardens, caravans as homes on land so many of us dream of owning, and town halls that looked like cute wooden cabins. From palm trees to bamboo groves surrounding us, and from sealed to gravel roads, it all surprised me. Like with most things I tackle, I didn’t do much research into where I was heading. I guess that’s where the adventure comes in. It was unbelievable. As Tom led the way, he would often pause at the top of hills with viewpoints “Fuck yeah, boys! How good is this shit?” Zack and I, exhausted from the last climb, would look around us in awe.

“More of this, boys.

I was scared of moving into a house. Even though starting a business excited and scared me like nothing else ever had, I worried that I wouldn’t go on adventures anymore. Why, I asked myself? Is it because I saw friends and family who seemed to just go to work, go home, work on the weekend, go home—living for those four weeks of holiday? Who knows. That’s never been me, but I don’t know who the ‘me’ is that lives in a house and runs a fun, busy, and exciting small business. I’ve enjoyed the routine this season of my life has given me, and getting back on the road right now doesn’t excite me. I just knew that my soul needed a weekend with the boys, sitting in the saddle, collecting 190 kilometers over two days, riding along beaches on the east coast where not a soul was in sight.