two wheels to adventure

Let me set the scene: 

It’s 1946 in Australia.

And you are 21 and want to travel the world. 

But the world is currently emerging from WWII, so instead you bike around Australia. 

With your best friend.

You are two young women, biking around Australia. 

An ice cream brand named Peters gives you a written letter, so that you have free ice cream wherever their product is sold. Without limits.

You cause a press frenzy. It’s hot. There’s more ice cream. 

You decide to adopt a dog and name it Peter, after the ice cream. 

And every town you enter, it was like they had gotten one of those iPhone alerts, telling folks you were headed for Main Street. So, people descend to greet you.

And people open their homes to feed you, to let you sleep in their beds, to take you on local excursions and on helicopter and boat rides. 

One of the incredible things about reading a book is you can time travel into another reality and world through the author’s words. 

People send me biking related tidbits all the time, including the obituary on Shirley Duncan, who just shy of her 100th birthday, died in February. Everything I just shared above isn’t some fantasy fiction piece. As I read Shirley’s obituary, I learned that she wrote the book, “Two Wheels to Adventure,” in the 1950s reflecting on that two year journey around Australia by bike with her best friend, Wendy. It sounded kind of wild!

Shirley’s financial advisor, Steve Ross, was quoted in the obituary, and I actually know Steve and asked if he had a copy of the book that he could lend me. He happily obliged and I recently finished the book.

There were many elements of the book, particularly in how she wrote about the aboriginal communities of Australia, that truly made my face crunch up in disgust. And I could also hold that this book was written decades ago, when her perspective would have mirrored how the dominant culture exotified and looked down upon first peoples and indigenous communities. 

Underneath it all, the overall message I got from the book is a feeling that I’ve experienced in my own life– when you choose to go on a big journey and open your heart with courage, life tends to extend an abundance of support, serendipity and generosity.  You’ll probably sweat a ton and stink up a room, but life will rise to meet you. And people will not mind your sweat too much. 

Her book title Two wheels to adventure, could perhaps be the title to a chapter or book you write for yourself. 

There are millions of adventures you can say yes to– a ride to discover a new ice cream shop, a ramble down a street you’ve never been before, a stroll along the rainbow road mural in downtown DC (proud to share I was one of the many volunteers part of painting this !), saying yes to getting that next professional credential. 

It doesn’t have to be a two year journey around a continent!

But what might be unlocked, if you choose to go on an adventure, and intuitively knew that life with an abundance of support, serendipity and generosity would rise to meet you? 

Wheels up, 

Ellen

PS: Are you on the fence to join for Circle and Spoke’s upcoming adventure? Join me July 18-20th for Pedal, Paddle and Pause in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania.

You’ll have spacious time to connect with a rad community of women, breathe in the abundance of fresh air in the shade of tall trees, ride along the picturesque Great Allegheny Passage and go joyously smile as we rafting along the Yough River.