But let's assume for the sake of argument that you're thinking about doing something like this in the future.... taking a cross country trek on your bicycle.
How do you get started?
How do you do it?
What knowledge, experience, equipment, planning and preparation is required?
I mean your mind might have a problem wrapping itself around the concept of taking off on your bicycle and just riding day after day and overnighting in State Parks and Motels and sometimes at the only places available... like a guy's front yard or the back of a convenience store.
Well, before you dive off into that ocean, let me make a suggestion.... TAKE IT ONE STEP AT A TIME!
First of all, let me qualify a few things....
- This is the first time I've done this.
- I am not an expert on this subject.... as it says in my profile, I'm a semi-retired chemical engineer.... I'm not a professional outdoor adventurer, cyclist, Survivor contestant or Superman.... I'm just a 47 year old guy with a passion for the outdoors who likes to ride his bicycle who decided to do this thing...
- What I've done and what I'm doing would be considered by most reasonable folks as inherently risky and dangerous.... and I don't totally disagree.... but so is driving a car.... and walking across a wet floor.... and walking down a flight of stairs.... the point is that much of Life is about Managing Risks and Making Good Decisions in whatever you're doing.... and there are ways to do that.... even when you're riding your bicycle across the country.... alone.... in the dead of winter.... Ok I'll stop there... I've almost talked myself out of Leg 3..... Nah... I'm just kidding... you get the point!
- None of what I'm about to say in the posts that follow is an endorsement or recommendation to DO WHAT I'VE DONE... it's just an explanation and description of WHAT I'VE DONE & HOW I DID IT.... so as I said on another post on a different subject.... Buyer Beware! Travel at your own Risk! Posted - No Trespassing! .....
- Past Experience - you gotta have some from a variety of different areas - Bicycle Riding, Hiking, Camping Out, Logistics of Trip Planning, Internet Access and Use.... and lots of other stuff. If you don't have some experience at doing something like this, you have to get it and that will take time....
- Plan - What? Geez you mean you have to have a plan to do something like this? I can't just throw some stuff on my bike and in my backpack and take off (I unintentionally made it sound like that's what I did in my Introduction Letter that I sent out to quite a few folks... but there was a lot more to it than that...) Yes, you need a Plan.... for everything.... and then you need a back up plan... or the flexibility and ability to change that 1st Plan when it doesn't work or something goes wrong.... so yes, you have to do your homework and you must have a documented plan...
- Prepare - Oh Boy... this guy is really getting boring now.... I've got to Plan and Prepare....Yes, you gotta make the list, check it twice, figure out who's..... sorry that's somebody else.... You gotta prepare and think about "What if" scenarios.... you gotta test your Plan, your Equipment, your Approach and Yourself.... that's part of the Preparation.... and there's much more....
- Pull the Trigger - Once you've done the preceding and taken out a 2nd life insurance policy and notified your next of kin....and checked everything out and got your wife's approval and your kids' sarcastic sneer and a lick from the dog and waved at the Postman... then you gotta go... you gotta leave... you gotta roll down the driveway and start.... your own adventure.
- Pay Attention to Details - "It would have been fine except for..... If I'd've only thought of ..... Man I wished I'd...." - Yeah Yeah Yeah.... coulda woulda shoulda .... once you get out on the road, you're gonna have to pay attention to what you're doing... to your surroundings .... whether you're on the road actually riding or getting off your bike or walking into a convenience store or setting up camp at a state park or hiking down a trail or talking to someone or any one of 1000 things you'll do, encounter or process on any given day. Get used to it... you don't pay attention to the details.... and you'll end up paying attention to the details ... in a way you don't want to! I keep a little 3x5 "Composition Book" and pen in my pocket all the time and I'm continuously jotting down notes throughout every day.... OK - you're probably thinking "Anal Retentive" about now.... Fine.... Whatever.... I told you I'm just telling you what I did .... what works for me.... you figure out what works for you.... there's more than one way to do things.... but in the end analysis.... you're gonna have to Pay Attention to the Details!
- Put Yourself into a Daily Routine - a Routine.... a Routine you say! Heck - that's what I was trying to get away from.... I'm out here on the Road baby! I'm Free! Routine! Routine! ... I don't need no Stinking Routine! Well, guess what? You do... let me explain.... It doesn't matter if you're waking up in a motel, at a State Park or wherever.... you gotta be somewhat organized about how you begin, progress through and end each day.... you know what I mean.... you can't just do stuff randomly... well I guess you can but you'll probably end up wasting a lot of time in pain and anguish looking for something or being cold or being lost or hungry or standing at some undisclosed place without something you need. I've already posted several times about my routine when I first get up at a state park in cold weather.... 1) I brush my teeth (I do this the first thing in the morning no matter where I'm at - just one of them things); 2) I get a fire going; 3) I put coffee water on to boil...... I do that same thing every morning I wake up at a state park... that's the beginning of a daily routine.... it starts my day right.... for me.... for you it may be something different and there's a lot of "routine" things that follow that... I'll tell you about it.
- Pedal....Pedal....Pedal.... don't quit Pedaling.... Persevere!..... don't get discouraged... don't listen to the Naysayers.... just Pedal! I'm not sure where this one fits in.... but the bottom line is that you're not in a car.... you're not on a motorcycle.... you're not floating through the air on a Southwest 737.... you're on a bicycle.... the bicycle don't move unless you put some effort into it .... unless you expend some energy.... unless you pedal.... for long periods of time.... like hours.... like all day long sometimes.... if you've got a plan, then you probably have a goal or a destination for each day you're on the road.... sometimes that goal is attainable and sometimes it's not.... sometimes the weather won't let you get there.... sometimes your body won't.... but you've got to Pedal...like 10's of thousands of times.... so get used to it!
- Pause... Hang on - you just got me jacked up to Pedal....Pedal....Pedal... now you say Pause! What's that about? Well it's part of the Pedaling and it's part of the Process.... you gotta Stop and Smell the Roses.... I didn't see any Roses in my 1250 miles between Lake Jackson Tx and Santa Fe NM.... probably cause it was in the dead of winter... but if I had.... I would've stopped.... to take a whiff.... and a picture! I probably paused too much.... but Geez - that's what it's all about.... I hadn't been to most of the places I was riding by and through .... it was all new and wonderful to me... and I was curious and amazed and delighted.... so I paused a bunch.... to go in and check it out.... to take a pic, to send a text message, to share, to absorb, to visit, to eat..... Oh My Goodness..... did I forget to talk about eating.... Heck if you don't eat.... you can't pedal.... and if you're pedaling a lot.... like several hours per day.... you're gonna have to get used to pausing to eat.... at least every hour to hour and a half.... I'll talk about this in a lot more detail.....
- Practice taking care of Yourself! Just cause you're out on the road or in a State Park doesn't mean you can't take care of yourself.... Do the Shower thing.... Do the Spit Bath thing in the restroom of the Convenience Store.... take your Vitamins.... take your medicine.... eat good nutrional food.... monitor yourself (how do you feel? how do you look?) .... get your sleep.... stay in contact with your family.... pray if that's what you're used to doing.... meditate if that's what you're used to doing.... wake up in the middle of the night and go stand out under the stars and Howl at the Moon!.... whatever.... this is supposed to be an experience that makes you better in every way.... it's not supposed to be something that turns you into something resembling a homeless person or worse!
There's actually a lot more flesh to the bones above and I'll spend the next few days filling in the details...
It's not just for you.... it's for me too.... I gotta start getting ready for Leg 3....
What better way to do it than document the Do's and Don'ts I learned from Leg 1 and 2?
See ya!
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