Bikin' through all those road cuts yesterday

I kept thinkin'
The Earth is older than 7,000 years
And
We are in a short, geologically speaking, period of time here, as human animals
A short, stable period
There will certainly be more tectonic changes, sedimentary rock laid down, then uplifted out of the ocean, and, of course, super volcanoes erupting, spewing millions of tons of lava, etc., blocking out the daylight for years at a time, lowering plant growth, causing mass extinctions and certainly internecine wars among humans.

So, my take away is
Enjoy this short life
Be kind to each other
Leave your campsite cleaner than you found it, even though there are much bigger forces at play
And be humble about who we are, how powerful (or not) we are
Try not to destroy the gifts we have been left by previous generations of Earth's inhabitants
Don't take yourself too seriously

And be grateful to all the kind people out there, willin' to feed you, or give you water on a hot day, or take you in during the storm. We have met all kinds of great people on this trip; and, I know it'll be shocking and awing, but many of them are not cyclists, yet still kind to us traveling cyclists.
And for that I am truly grateful.
Thanks.