What’s An Adventure Memory Shelf All About?

By Frosty Wooldridge

When I was a young man beginning my adventures around the world, I picked up small tokens from my travels around the planet. It’s a big, creative chunk of real estate out there in the Milky Way Galaxy. It offers endless trinkets. I decided to see as much of it as possible during my life-span. Curiosity called on me. True grit drove me from the deserts of South America to 16,000-foot passes in the Andes. A certain style of tenacity carried me around Australia. A sense of history carried me from Nord Kapp, Norway to Athens, Greece. Iron determination carried me over six continents with endless mountain passes, scorching deserts, the Amazon rainforests and freezing mountains of the Himalayas.

(Standing next to a mountain man before pedaling up Berthoud Pass, Colorado on the Continental Divide)

Many have asked me why I dared such dangerous adventures in the scorching furnace of this world. It can take you out in a heartbeat. You can find yourself in deadly situations in any country. You can face death at the drop of a hat. On a bicycle, you may be vulnerable to any number of disastrous situations such as drunks, texters, landslides, falling rocks, bugs or drivers falling asleep. God help us all to live through mosquitoes!

Many have asked what a long-distance cyclist does during the boring hours and miles of deserts like the Atacama of Peru. Others asked why would you test the daily rainfall and bugs of the Amazon. What possesses a man or woman to dare life and death on a daily basis?

Answer: creative living offsets the “mediocre life” of comfort, constancy and security. You can either choose to live the “C, C, S” life or you can live the wild, crazy, fun and thrilling life. One brings few “memorable moments” while the other offers unmatched opportunities to test yourself as you wander around the planet. You can live it in small doses, or you can grab big chunks. One of my lifelong friends, Doug Armstrong has cycled across 7 continents. He’s visited 140 countries. He’s lived large, huge and BIG! Memories! Wow, he’s got a treasure trove of them. I met him in a youth hostel in Wellington, New Zealand in 1985. We hooked up to ride the South Island of that magical island. We’ve ridden much since that first tour. All of by a chance meeting in a youth hostel!

Another man I met, Frank Cauthorn, well, we met in an abandoned Church Hostel in the ghost town of Jeffrey, Montana. It once supported 6,000 uranium miners, but today, maybe 50 people live there with abandoned buildings everywhere. From that chance meeting, Frank and I have bicycled across America. We have bicycled the West Coast. He’s an extraordinary Hawaii Ironman Triathlon competitor. He’s one of those men with “true grit” and in fact, he defines “true grit.” His pictures grace my books, my life and my heart.

Many others have impacted my life like Don Lindahl who has ridden with me coast to coast and highlights the cover of one of my books. He’s also ridden to Alaska with me and the entire West Coast of America. Another man, David Christie, I met in a Natural Grocers’ market place. We’ve backpacked, bicycled the Continental Divide and mountaineer skied in the Mt. Holy Cross region of Colorado in the dead of winter and through hellacious snow storms. Another man, Tim Davis, I met through David and we’ve skied and celebrated life together. Each man has been a blessing to my life.

Along the way, with each journey, I’ve brought something home to put on my “memory shelf.” It’s not big, but it carries perhaps 50 items from moments on my backpacking, bicycling and mountaineering ski adventures. Each memento puts a smile on my face.

I’m going to review many of them on FB bicycle sites not only to share the story, but to encourage you to create your own memory shelf or other methods to remember your fantastic life-journey.

While traveling on a bicycle, it’s difficult to carry too many extras that fill your panniers and add weight to your journey. I learned to buy small trinkets or find items like rocks from Antarctica that I could slip into my bags.

As you can see, my memory shelf features a lot of wild trinkets. In this first rendition, let’s look at the bottles of ocean water from the Pacific and the Atlantic that show my seven crossings of America from coast to coast. Three on the Southern Tier, three on the Middle Tiers and one on the Northern Tier. That’s seven coast to coast, but I didn’t think to gather a vial of water on my first coast to coast in 1975. On my eight Canada to Mexico rides of the West Coast and the Continental Divide, I’ve got arrow heads, rocks and Redwood needles in plastic packets. I even carried home a vial of water from the Missouri River on the Lewis & Clark Trail from Astoria, Oregon to St. Louis. Now, that’s a story in itself to travel and camp where they hiked, canoed and camped!

In all, each item brings a memory, a smile and a connection to this grand journey. Each brings a story to melt my heart. I’m going to tell them in the coming weeks. My hope: you make your own memory shelf that gives you great pleasure and brings a smile to your face when you walk past your own memory shelf each day.

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Latest book published in 2020: Zen Between Two Bicycle Wheels: Eat, Pedal, Sleep by Frosty Wooldridge, amazon.com and ph 1 888 519 5121

Newest book: Old Men Bicycling Across America: A Journey Beyond Old Age, available on Amazon or ph. 1 888 519 5121

Living Your Spectacular Life by Frosty Wooldridge, Amazon or ph. 1 888 519 5121