Epilogue: August 28, 2008

The actual route showing night stays.

Well, here it is late August and finally I am attempting a fitting discussion of what was for me the most physically challenging bicycle tour I have ridden. I started the ride with a knee that I twisted a week or so before the ride while making a turn on a hill walking behind a lawn mower. I had to modify my pedal stroke to take some pressure off the knee. That was probably a good thing, as before that I tended to pedal with my knees pointing out slightly instead of being in line with the pedals. The knee was fine riding but walking at the end of each day and at breaks was painful, until the last week when the knee healed. The cold and dampness the first week caused some uncomfortable nights as I brought a lighter sleeping bag that didn’t provide the warmth I am used to. I got two much sun, mostly on my arms, mid ride which caused some discomfort and required wearing arm warmers to keep off the sun in 80 to 90 degree weather. I sucked a bug into my lungs on one air gasping climb that caused a light infection. And lastly, the three H’s on Skyline Drive and The Blue Ridge Parkway, hills, heat, and humidity, were the challenges to overcome while riding a fully loaded (approximately 70 pound) bike up and down the 48,600 feet of climbing on that section of the ride. I have been asked numerous times if touring by bicycle is fun. It might seem illogical, but the answer is a resounding yes.

This week I am vacationing on the southern Maine coast which is on the northern end of Adventure Cycling Association’s Atlantic Coast Route. Yesterday while out riding I came across a man who is on his second day of a ride from Portland, ME to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. He was riding a low end bike, medal baskets instead of panniers, and no high end clothing or equipment. He had a tent, ground pad, and blanket: a gallon plastic jug to carry water, and was wearing jeans, a tee shirt and sneakers and was carrying a radio “for entertainment”. He told me he mostly stealth camps when traveling. He is originally from Seattle and travels to different parts of the country to stay where the weather is comfortable during the different seasons. Last winter was spent in the Phoenix area and this summer was spent in Portland, ME. Now it’s on to Fort Lauderdale for the winter. We talked for about a half hour and I gave him the most direct route to around Dover, NH where he was planning on spending the night. Again, it might seem like a very difficult and uncomfortable way to travel, but I admire the pressure free freedom that has become a simple lifestyle for this man.

We carried a little more than one could fit in a metal basket.

Despite the physical challenge, the Skyline Drive and The Blue Ridge Parkway portion of the ride was just spectacular. The twelve days on these roads was a reunion with nature. There was some traffic, more on the weekends, but at this time of year there were few cars, and hardly any campers or motorhomes. There were however lots of motorcycles. The Harleys were noisy and some of the older ones were air polluters, but, even with that we mostly had the road to ourselves. As Denny said one day, “It’s like riding on a bike trail.” Wildlife and the smell of the outdoors were prevalent. There were only two short rain showers and except for maybe two or three days the air was mostly dry and crisp. All of this combined to make me come to the conclusion that two or three of my top ten days of riding were on this trip.

Wildlife and the smell of the outdoors.

The beginning of the ride had some big mileage days as Denny and I pushed to meet up with Gary near Delta, PA. and then the three of us pushed to get to Front Royal, VA. After that because of campground spacing things slowed down somewhat. Personally, I found that the slower pace and more moderate average daily mileage gave me more time to actually enjoy the trip than on previous tours. The lower mileage was due to the spacing of campgrounds and the number of big climbs on Skyline Drive and The Blue Ridge Parkway. In retrospect we could have taken another real low mileage day or day off and we still would have completed the ride within our time frame. Once we started smelling the roses, the tour became really enjoyable. I learned from Gary that it’s actually fun to enjoy the journey instead of marathoning to the destination. It was somewhat disappointing for me that Denny went on ahead alone the last three days instead of us all finishing together, but I understand that each of us, while riding together was riding his own ride.