Welcome

Wheelingdervish and my bicycle journey are works-in-progress. My desire to create a blog was bolstered by Joshus Becker's 15 Reasons I Think You Should Blog, a popular post that speaks to deeper purposes for creating and utilizing your own blog.   
From and early age, in one way or another, I've kept a pen-and-paper journal.  Sure, there have been many journal-less stretches, that's part of the territory.  Yet, I am more grounded when my notebook is close at hand.  Wheelingdervish is a grounding rod, a tool for me to selectively record and share digitally what I already do manually.

Why "Wheeling", why "Dervish" ?  I am a big fan of the writings attributed to Rumi.  Many years ago I was swept away by a small collection of Rumi's prolific works translated by Coleman Barks entitled The Glance, 2005.  I've been carrying some version or another of Rumi's interpreted offerings with me ever since.  Reading Rumi is spiritually invigorating and having his ecstatic verse around reminds me to own my volition, go deeper, and stay uplifted.  Whirling dervishes personify this mystic philosophy with their devotion, discipline, and dancing – especially when they participate in the Sema, a stunning rythmic ceremony in which they hypnotically turn and turn, spinning themselves into an ecstatic state, one hand pointing to the earth and the other to the heavens – "in the world but not of it."  Pedaling afar between earth and sky is my version. 

My first journey began from Eugene in Autumn 2017.   It ended in Jackson Hole, Wyoming Summer 2018. 10 months and 4000 miles.

I'm a work-in-progress.  Here I'll share my observations and experiences, connecting and discovering with others as I go. 
Again, welcome!