Relative Something

Long distance touring on bicycle is not as hard as it may seem. It’s all in the rhythm. You pace yourself for a long duration. The journey becomes as valuable as the destination. We generally ride at a fairly casual pace. Each person, or group of people, seem to have a certain speed that suits them best. We fan out into groups that ride their pace.

We don’t ride the whole day’s distance in one block. We ride a couple of hours and take a break, usually to ingest more food. Some people have taken to exclaiming that we are an eating group with a biking disorder. Food at each stop keeps us fueled for the day-long exercise. By the end of the day, we feel tired, but it is a good tired. I have no problem falling asleep as soon as I turn out my night-light and lay down in my tent.

Our trip also provides the luxury of hauling our gear from town to town, so we don’t need to carry anything on our bikes, except what we feel we might need during each day’s ride. There are a stalwart few who do still carry their own tent and gear, like everyone had to do in the early years of this annual ride, but the majority accept the benefit offered, and that makes the long distance even more achievable for the average rider.

For this adventure, however, the cycling seems to fall to a secondary level of importance, behind the friendships that have evolved and the companionship of a wonderful group of people who return, year after year, to share each others’ company.

We do a special kind of bike touring.