A bicycling dream
Blue Lake resident looks forward to the day she can get back on the road
Fourteen months into an around the world bicycling adventure, Hollie Ernest of Blue Lake had to abruptly return to Humboldt County as the coronavirus pandemic spread.
“When the Argentina border closed around March 16/17, I knew I couldn’t continue my trip and, after a few more days of pedaling and hesitation, I booked a flight home,” said Ernest in an email interview with the Times-Standard, noting she has mixed feelings about having to cut her trip short.
“I am sad about it, but in light of the global situation, there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’m trying to make the best of it. If I can’t be traveling, I’m happy to be here. I love Humboldt in the summer,” Ernest said.
She added: “In a way, it’s a nice respite, though not one I planned on having. I think it would be harder if it was something that only affected me — for example, if I had broken an arm or something and had to come home. I would be so frustrated. But, since it’s a shift for the entire world, the problems of others are so much bigger than my own inconvenience. I mourn the lost lives and worry about those really struggling with isolating, like in big cities in apartments.”
The trip
A forester/botanist by trade, Ernest, 33, had longed to go on worldwide cycling trip since she was in her 20s.
“To experience places from a bike is an intimate and wonderful experience like nothing else. I did a few other things — work on a farm, get my master’s degree — then worked hard and saved my money the best I could. I made decisions based on planning my trip for years,” said Ernest, who put her career on hold to fulfill her goal.
“I can come back to my career with some setbacks, sure, but I can work until I’m 65 or later,” she said. “I can’t pedal up the rocky roads in the Andes in the same way when I’m 65. I also got a lot of encouragement from friends, family and even my boss when I quit, so it didn’t seem like I was making a huge mistake.”
More difficult was having to say goodbye to her husband, Tom, and her 18-yearold stepdaughter, Riley.
“Tom isn’t able to join me due to career and family responsibilities, but is incredibly supportive,” Ernest said. “I told him about this trip literally on our first date, so he knew it was part of my long-term plan. … It was extremely hard leaving them, and I cried hard on three separate occasions — once full of doubt before I left, once the day I left and once during my first week in Baja after talking to them on the phone for the first time in weeks. I doubted whether I was making the right decision, missing Riley’s … last high school semester and spending so much time away from Tom, the person I love most in the world. I think I made the right decision though. They tell me I inspire them, which is the best compliment they could give me.”
Ernest left Blue Lake on Feb. 5, 2019, with plans to spend several years on the road with her bicycle, a few packs of supplies and a tent for sleeping.
“It was sunny and frosty and 20 friends rode with me out of town, which was incredible,” Ernest said. “People joined and peeled off as work beckoned, but many rode with me all the way to Fortuna. My mom and dad and sister called and mailed me letters of encouragement. … I’ve never felt so loved and supported and encouraged. It was like my birthday, graduation and farewell all in one.”
From Blue Lake, Ernest ventured down the California coast to the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. From there, she went through mainland Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. She had to take one bus (from El Salvador to Nicaragua) because she mistimed meeting friends. Then, she took a short flight from Panama to Colombia, before heading via bike to Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, back to Chile, into Argentina, then back to Chile, before having to stop in Patagonia in mid-March.
“I thought I could get to Ushuaia — the tip of South America, where the road ends — around December or January (2019/2020), which was delusional. I planned to be gone 2.5 years total, but that stretched to at least 3.5 years. Bike touring is slow, and I need to take more time to absorb the places I go through, plus time to rest and recover.”
Now and again, Ernest says her husband was able to join her along the route, but many times, she was alone, using WhatsApp or Instagram to stay in touch when she could with family and friends. She also created a blog, hollieandherbike.home.blog, to chronicle her journey.
Home
Once back in Humboldt County, Ernest isolated for two weeks, and since, has been spending time with her “little family,” enjoying things she missed on the road — and resting.
“I was utterly exhausted when I arrived home,” she said. “I had ridden myself into a hole of fatigue and did not give my body and mind enough time to recover for many months, so the first week I just slept. My husband made me cheeseburgers and I loved it. It took days to unpack and clean my house and get my life put back together.
“Since then,” Ernest said, “I’ve been writing a lot — catching up on my blog, a few essays I’ve submitted to be published and now starting on writing my book, which I always planned to write. I’ve also been swimming in the lagoons, reading voraciously, cooking tons of new recipes, spending a lot of quality time with my husband and stepdaughter, going for walks and gardening.”
And, she’s still riding her bike.
“I’ve been on a lot of short and long rides since returning,” Ernest said. “I love my bike. I’m scheming on all the local adventures possible.”
The future
She hopes to get on the road again in January if traveling is permissible. Ernest will pick up her bike adventure in Chile and, from there, wants to go “everywhere.”
“I plan to go to South Africa and head north towards Egypt. I am hoping that my husband can join me for a longer section on the African continent,” she said. “After Africa, it’s Europe, the northern Middle East, Asia, Southeast Asia. I’d like to go to Alaska and ride home from there, but it depends on what season it is when I get to that point.
“You can only plan so much in advance for bike touring, because political and economic — and global pandemic — changes happen and can disrupt everything, so you have to be flexible,” she said. “I try not to plan in too much detail, because it’s likely going to change anyway.”
While Ernest awaits the OK to continue her bicycling dream, she has many memories of her journey so far.
“Highlights? There’s too many to even begin,” she said. “The stunning, peaceful solitude of the Baja desert, the wildflowers and cacti there, the agave blossoms. The people I met, those who took me in during a storm or let me use their stove when mine was broken. The folks who took selfies with me like I was a celebrity — that happened a lot. The fresh flour and corn tortillas, the grandmothers who patted my arm, smiled toothless grins and told me I was brave. The wide eyes of men when I told them I was married, but still cycling solo.
“The little boys who raced me on their bikes, barefoot — and won. The border agents who stared at my spandex, but filled up my water bottles for me. The stars in the Atacama Desert. The truck drivers who gave me water and the two who made me breakfast. … Riding along the coast in the desert. Long gravel descents and many glaciers. An all-night party in Colombia. An ecoreserve with tons of bird watching. … The tropical storms in Costa Rica, the emerald rain storms in Ecuador, the snowstorms in Peru. The salt flats in Bolivia. The folks I met and cycled with, and the times my husband came and rode with me.”
“To experience places from a bike is an intimate and wonderful experience like nothing else. I did a few other things — work on a farm, get my master’s degree — then worked hard and saved my money the best I could. I made decisions based on planning my trip for years.”
— Hollie Ernest, of Blue Lake