Welcome to Teach.Wander. Learn. This is a story about an English teacher going on a cycling journey this summer, hoping to gain a little something along the way. The Adventure Cycling Association‘s road route along the Sierra Cascades crosses some awe inspiring terrain and will push me to my limits. But I’m going. This is my commitment. And this is also the story of my experiences teaching, the classes I plan, the students that drive me and drive me up the wall. Welcome.

I woke up early this morning. On a weekend. Something Mr. Bike will tell you doesn’t happen ever. My mind was all over the place. I was thinking about what to say to the “world” regarding my upcoming cycling adventure. This post could tell you about the agony over naming my blog (there were various escapades into alliteration and a brief flash of disappointment that another teacher already named their bike blog “Pedalgogy”), or about how I’ve put off really committing, or about how I’ll miss Montana in the summertime, miss adventuring with my hubs and dogs and friends.

I could also tell you that I’m excited to do something big. I’m excited that I’ll be able to say “I remember when I biked from Mexico to Canada and home. It was awesome.”

Grit is my goal. Foster some real grit and be able to share it with other people. Over the next six months leading up to and through my trip, I would like to create the building blocks of a community for teachers who want to be refreshed in their ideas and their spirits. Long-term, I would love to see a program for teachers to create courses of self-study paired with adventures that challenge them, where they can get professional and educational credit for pushing their own boundaries.

On a related note, let me extend an invitation to you, teacher or not, wherever you are at in life, come with me if you can for all or part of my journey. I’ll be biking 3400 mi from San Diego, CA to Bozeman, MT over the course of ten weeks: June 13th to August 22nd, 2016. Along the way, in addition to planning my fall courses, I’ll be studying EcoLit, Photography, and Place-Based Writing to make me a better English teacher. I’d love to have some company.