“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

I set off on my bicycle roughly three months ago, for the main reason of getting into a music career.  I had always ,since I can remember, always had a fascination with traveling, exploring, always embraced the true meaning of wanderlust.  Through my life, I’ve constantly changed my mind about what I want to do, what I want to be, what I want to learn.  It’s almost a plague, but a welcoming one.  That’s how I operate, that’s just who and how I am and I don’t see a damn thing wrong with it.  I get something in my mind that i want to do or want to learn and I take action and I do it.  I don’t ever want to feel regret about not doing something that I wanted to do. 

I really got back into bicycles around April 2014.  I started to ride my bike to and from work.  I began riding everywhere I went, the store, the bars, to the Frisbee golf course, wherever it was, I wanted to ride there.  I absolutely fell in love with it.  Sure, it’s not as easy as driving to the store  and loading up on all the groceries I wanted, but it helped me  learn to change my lifestyle. Whenever I wanted to go to the store, I only got the essentials.  So for starters it made grocery days cheaper.  Less groceries, less waste, healthier living. 

I learned that I could easily live without all of the things I thought I needed.  I slowly began to realize that I only really need a few things to live and live happily.  My bike, my dog, a few pairs of clothes, obviously, all of my friends and family, food, and a place to rest my head.

At the same time of beginning to realize this, I was reading stories and watching videos about men and women and even children, riding their bicycles and Traveling.  At first it was just something to read about and enjoy the stories, but it very abruptly changed to, I want to do that. I want to roam the land on my bike. Every minute of everyday, it’s all I could think of. It haunted me through sleepless nights and anxious days. I wouldn’t be satisfied until I did it, just like George Mallory absolutely had to be first man to conquer the summit of Mt. Everest in the 1920’s.

I began planning the trip the way I wanted to. I didn’t need an exact course, an exact itinerary, I like to live on the edge. I knew, roughly, the path I was going take but every single day on my trip, the plans changed, the route changed, my mind changed.

I began to see the world as being even more beautiful than I did before the ride. Many times, with my headphones in and the scenery slowly changing before me, I was brought to tears of love. I experienced so many heartwarming views, but just like life itself, with all the good, there are bad experiences, harder times than others. The yin and the yang. Hard uphill climbs in the shadows of mountains where the chill made my eyes water so much that the lines of the road blurred together like an abstract painting, to the conquering of that climb to poke out of the dungeon of the ascent into breathtaking blue skies and the warmest of sun rays that more than once left sweat stains all over my sunglasses and to coast down into a gold and green valley that more than once brought me to a stop. Stops that made me step off of the bike and fall to my knees, shed the sunglasses, let the tears water the ground below me, and catch up with my thoughts.

Not only has the scenery blown me away from Nebraska, but the people I have encountered. Love, friendship, and solidarity has given me even more hope that we can, together make this world so much better.

For instance, on this last leg of this journey, I stumbled right into the warm embrace of some of the kindest people I’ve met. I pulled into Fairfax not really knowing where I was heading. I made the ascent of one of the trails leading up mount Tam. came out of the woods on the hunt for fresh drinking water. At this time my two water bottles were empty and the camelback close to dry. The four people sitting by the white Toyota , and I just so happen to cross paths in this giant world and I wouldn’t trade that moment for anything. They welcomed me in to their hearts, and their families and I couldn’t thank you guys enough for the love and friendships that flourished in the shadows of Mount Tam.

In these past two months of living life in the Fairfax area it seems as though time doesn’t mean what I once thought it did. It feels like I’ve known my friends here for much longer. It is that feeling of close connectivity that is so important to the lives of us all. People can try to imitate it but the connection that we have shared between one another here, in its truest, most pure form brings my heart and mind to a race.

I have shed my tears, I have drenched my path with sweat, I have loved, I have had lust, I have bled, I have endured. I set out roughly three months ago on a journey that changed my life forever. Now I am coming home on the 17th of December to reunite with my dog, my friends, and my ever loving family. Tate’s wild ride will never end, this life of mine will always be a wild ride.

Special thanks to my family and friends that have and always will support me, no matter the amount of crazy my dreams are. Thank you to my new friends, here in California. You guys are special and I can’t wait to see you all again.
To Marcy, we’ve cried, laughed, and loved, I will absolutely cherish how much you cared for me. How much you showed me about life. You are a special soul.
To bud, in Yuma, thank you for the shelter.
To Liz, thank you for letting me sleep in your garage for 3 weeks. No matter how funny some might find it, or how uncomfortable some might see it. It meant so much to me and I loved it.
To the Sticks of Death Steve, Ian, Sandy, Philly, I love you guys and kick some ass for me.
Launa, thank you for the ride and your forgiveness.
To California, stay the way you are
To the many people that I didn’t catch your names but showed me that people do care for strangers in need, don’t ever lose that.
To Salida, I’ll see you soon.
To my body, thank you for holding up.

Sunshine in Fairfax

Salida,CO

Sunset from the Golden Gate bridge

Yosemite National Park

Turkey day ride

A good 30th it was

The view everyday at the job site

Liz’s garage/my garage fort