My brain tends to be really good at figuring out worst-case scenarios. Some people seem to be good at the opposite. That is a gift.

A few weeks ago, Natalie sent me an article that included a quote by Isabelle Buroker.

I wanted to share an affirmation that a friend started and has become contagious among our friend group. It goes: “Everything always works out for me always all the time.” When she first started saying it, I was a bit shocked; it felt hyperbolic and a bit too much. However, we quickly discovered it’s contagion.

We use it when little things throughout the day go right — when we get the last Lyft bike, or the rain waits until after we’ve practiced, or when we run for the bus and make it. Or for larger things like a boy liking us back, or my getting into just one medical school — and one of my top choices. What it really does is help us to notice all the things that really do go right for us each and every day!

I love that approach. I’m trying to adopt it on this trip. A few times on the trail, I would call out to Natalie, “Everything works out for us,” to which she’d respond, “always all the time.”

Yesterday was the first time on a trip like this when we didn’t put our bike together in an airport terminal and ride it out. We had been shuttled with our bike boxes to our hotel and would be putting it together there. Our hotel allowed us to use an entire conference room to assemble our bike. We got dinner first, hit REI, then went back to the hotel to put the bike together in peace. In the past we would put it together in a crowded terminal with people watching us and sometimes asking questions. When we’re done, we’re changing our clothes in airport bathrooms and, in at least one case, filling our water bottles there. Not the best experience.

All the parts made it to Pittsburgh with us. It only took about an hour and a half to put the bike together. We were done and getting to bed before 10 o’clock. Magic.

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We woke up this morning at about seven. After eating a hotel breakfast, we rode into downtown Pittsburgh to Point State Park, which is the official start of the Great Allegheny Passageway. The route was entirely on a bike path and felt super safe. We rode back to the hotel, loaded our panniers onto our bike, and headed out.

We had only ridden about half an hour when we came to the major trail closure we were expecting. We had decided a few days ago to use the shuttle that the trail maintainers recommend. It looked like we were going to have to wait about an hour for another tandem to arrive to be loaded into the trailer with ours, but when the driver realized how big and awkward our bike was, he decided to go with just us. We didn’t have to wait. Everything works out, always all the time.

The rain came early in our ride. At first it rained hard, and we sheltered under a tree, but after 10 or so minutes, it let up enough for us to start riding again. We rode in the rain for about an hour. It was a drizzle and actually pleasant. It wasn’t great for the bike, but it was so much better than a too hot sunny day.

Because it was supposed to rain tonight, we decided to reserve a bed-and-breakfast. Luckily, the one in the town where we wanted to stop had a room available. We reserved it and rode the rest of the day, knowing we would get to take a shower and sleep in a bed. We arrived around 5 PM. The host had a hose for us to wash off our bike and panniers, which were quite muddy. Then she led us to a garage filled with bikes. It turns out that about eight other people are staying at the bed-and-breakfast, and most of them are on bicycles. We picked the right place. Everything works out always all the time.

For dinner, we went to a nice little restaurant named the Kickstand. It was right off the trail and about a block from our bed-and-breakfast. It was delicious.

We are now resting comfortably and not a bit worried about rain. We really hope that next week the weather is such that we can ride on the C&O Canal trail. Crushed gravel sheds water pretty well, which makes the GAP fine in the rain. The C&O is dirt, and in the rain it will be mud. But we’re not worried, because everything works out always all the time.

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