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Tips, Tricks and Lessons From A Novice Cycling Tourist
In the summer of 2016 I decided that I wanted to do something epic. I looked at all the things a middle aged man of 45 could do and what I actually enjoyed. After surviving a Widow Maker heart attack in 2013 followed by open heart surgery which led to a stroke during my surgery to kicking back a few bouts with cancer I knew it had to be realistic. Realistic to whom, I'm not sure.
Never being an athletic person prior to my illness's I did recently pick up competing in triathlons this past summer though. What I found is that I truly enjoyed the bike most of all. The swim was good and the run well the run was a necessary evil. So with the bike in mind, I decided that I wanted to take a cross country bicycle trip. Like I said realistic to whom is the optimum word.
Planning and prepping took over my entire summer. I spoke to tons of people and it seemed as if everyone wanted to give me their two cents worth. People who never toured told me what to do. People who were extremely experienced touring folk, told me what to do. Even hikers and non athletic people told me what to do. Finally I thinned the herd and decided to just get information from people who had done touring before.
What I found is even they had different information and opinions, so it was clear this was going to be a learn as you go experience. I was shocked actually at the lack of information for someone trying to take on a non SAG, solo journey across the united states. So in the rest of this article I am going to share the tips, tricks and lessons no one ever bothered to tell me about. Hopefully some of them will save you a headache or two or three.
First of all, let me tell you this. No matter how prepared you are things will happen and you are not prepared half as well as you think you are. It is an entirely different thing to be training for this and then each night going home to sleep in a bed. Taking long hot showers and all of the other comforts of home like pillows, refrigerated food, clean water out of the tap. toilets and well clean clothes. Even if you have done some extended tours of a week or two.....nope sorry your not there yet either. Sleeping on the ground and beating your body down one day just to do it all again the next is a lesson in well bad assery that few will ever understand. The first week is the hardest and well if you can get past that you will rock it.
Speaking of the first week lets talk about all that unnecessary equipment that so many of us bring along. We all know what we enjoy and yes our comfort levels are a little different. But for the most part what I did not use in the first week I shipped back home to lighten my load. Now much of what you pack is based on the conditions of where you will be traveling. But if your in the United States keep in mind there are towns, gas stations and rest areas pretty much anywhere except in my case Texas on west to California. But even then a 3 day supply usually would cover just about anything.
Clothing depending on the time of year, is paramount and in my case I was traveling in the fall across the southern tier so still rather warm. I found that just a few t-shirts, two good pair of light weight shorts, two/three pair of padded cycling shorts (2 of which were undershorts) sufficed, water wick underwear 4 pairs, about 4 pair of socks, a water resistant wind breaker suit, and a light long sleeve shirt did just fine. Another little trick and this will save you some money as well, instead of expensive chamois creme use spread on deodorant the white kind in conjunction with Butrose Butt Cream, works great and lasts a long time. On top of those things I brought 1 pair of tennis shoes and one pair of flip flops. Oh and by the way if your traveling down south, here is the reason people wear socks with flip flops. Ants, fire ants in particular they bite and are everywhere.
All that ant talk brings me to the topic of bugs, bugs are everywhere. Most insect repellents are useless when cycling because you sweat it off. When you stop for a break you will swear the same 1000 nats have been following you from the start. Just get used to them, accept them as part of the ride and really just be OK with them. You can either spend the break swatting them away or just accept them and enjoy the break and sites. Earlier I mentioned ants and well like nat's they are everywhere and when you break and sit down they will be there too. Here is a simple suggestion that will make your breaks better. Feed them, take a cracker or a cookie and sprinkle some crumbs leading away from you to about an arms length away where you drop the cookie. Heck sometimes it makes good entertainment to watch them devour a cookie in just a few minuets. Bites are going to happen bring Benadryl.
Now somethings that were near death lessons. Salt tablets, Magnesium and Potassium pills are a must. Cramps can be caused by a deficit in any of these three and not to mention water. I made it a point to take in extra of these three even over and above electrolytes. Some say pickles but really pickles don't keep the packets of relish work well and a bag of chips can save your life. Water is a must, camel packs spare the weight down low on the bike but really I would make room to carry extra water. It is the one thing you can not live without.
Speaking of living, an ever present danger for any touring cyclist or cyclist in general are life threatening situations. Traffic is and will be the single most dangerous part of any journey. I know cyclist like to think they own the road and yes traffic laws are on our side in most situations. Be aware of your surroundings. Have a rear view mirror put on your bike, learn the difference between a rumble strip sound in the middle and the rumble strip sound on a shoulder. To give you an idea my trip ended after 1426 straight miles by being run off the road by a driver that drifted over into the shoulder on a downhill and I ditched it and ended up unconscious on the side of a rural road for hours before being found. By the way I am restarting my trip in the spring of 2017 because I loved it that much.
There are things you can do to lessen the possibilities of these situations. Wear bright clothes, give traffic time to see you, learn how to take command of a lane and give cars a chance to clear you if need be in very dangerous situations just because we have the right of way doesn't mean you should take it. I also learned that when riding through cities, Sunday mornings before church was the best time, least amount of traffic in downtown areas.
Other life threatening things can consist of animals. Many take this for granted but it is very true. Know what wild animals are in your area and know how to avoid them. On my journey I had to contend with alligators, snakes, wild boar and the not so wild domestic dog. Dogs are a concern for all riders and I found the best thing to keep them at bay and it is cheap. Wasp spray, unlike mace it has a steady amiable reach of about 30 feet unlike the 12 foot burst shots of mace. Keep it in one of your water bottle cages on the ready it will not fail you plus it is legal in every state.
So there there you go, just a few words of wisdom from a once novice touring cyclist. With 1426 miles under me and another 3200 on the way this spring I think its good advice. Keep in mind it is the adventure of a lifetime and it is not meant to be easy. There is always more I can share like keep your equipment light and cheap...not to mention the best foods to take. Please remember if it was easy everyone would do it. My favorite part of my journey was waking to the sunrise in an area I had never been to and knowing I made it there by the power of my own two legs and just around the corner was something new.....god speed and have a blast it will not disappoint. Oh and one last thing....you will experience what hikers call trail depression when its over because you will miss it I guarantee that, just be ready for it.
