10 years of living car-free!

Hi, as you know this site has not been very active over the years. I am curious to know if you all are still following or have your eyes and hearts on the carfree life style. Send me a note if you are out there!

bill@poindexterrecruiting.com

I am working on multiple projects to promote carfree living with the primary focus being to promote a healthier world-people, environment and community.

Over the last two years I have traveled by bicycle to Mexico, Canada, and on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route which spans from Banff Alberta south to Mexico. I have had some extraordinary adventures.

Feel free to connect with me on Facebook to learn more!

Here is a tale from the road:

Tip : How to find a place to sleep while traveling on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. What “they” don’t tell you in the Guide books.

(Non racing)

Jack, Anna, Bahne, and myself had come off a long climb from Pinedale, WY heading north and were a day away from Grand Teton National Park. At the bottom of the mountain we stopped at a lodge for the usual GDMBR fare: burgers, fries, beer. I noticed a couple and a older woman, the mother in law staring at our disheveled group, but being a vagabond and wanderer I was used to the stares, as we were a live story.

After we ate I walked outside to gather water bottles for refills. The couple and old woman followed me out.

They smiled. “Where are you traveling from?” The man asked with kind eyes.

“New Mexico.” I said and explained the route to them, that we were self contained, the four of us met on the road, and were traveling together for a few days.

“Where do you sleep” the woman asked as though somehow searching for her past. 

“Any place.” I say simply. “On the side of the road, in a shelter, bathroom, campground, back of a restaurant, lawns, people invite us into their home, but really, when the sun starts to set any place will do.” 

Their eyes widened , they looked at each other and nodded in complete understanding. 

“Where will you sleep tonight?” The woman asked.

“Dunno?” I said smiling. “There is a campground a few miles up the road, or we may just keep moving till we find something and head into the woods, something will present itself, it always does.”

The couple thanked me for telling them about our travels.

I walked back in the restaurant and told my companions what happened. Seconds later the man came back in, and said, “My wife says you all can stay in our cabin tonight.”

We graciously agreed, and half hour later we were at the cabin. Jerry and  Anna, and Anna’s mother hosted us for the night. Unconditional. 

Full-blooded Arapaho, Jerry later that night confided in me -he longed for the “old ways” of his people. 

He said, “The way you are traveling on your bicycles, with your gear, free on the land, was the way my ancestors traveled on horseback or foot. I am envious.” He gave me a serious look, “You will always be welcomed here.”

That night I slept deeply. Embraced by kindness, present and past. That’s the Wild West, that is the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. 

The next morning we rose to coffee, off the balcony, good food, took pictures of our new friends and us, then we rode.

Side note: While on the Divide three Native Tribes showed me incredible hospitality- Pueblo, Apache, and Arapaho. I came to the West to see how the past and present meshed with smells of sage and pine.