OR: learn by doing and succeedingOriginally Posted by Bacciagalupe
He probably won't.Some things you just have to learn by doing and failing.
OR: by failing then succeeding
OR: by not trying anything
OR: learn by doing and succeedingHe probably won't.
OR: by failing then succeeding
OR: by not trying anything
I'm going to try 100 miles back to back this weekend. We'll see how it goes.
Carrying your touring gear?
"If you are someone who is scared, nervous or worried about what you look like on a bike.... I would strongly suggest setting up a time and place to ride with Neil. He is awesome to ride with, great conversation, and a great down to earth person. Neil made me realize that, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter when you look like cause you are there for you.... your health... and to have fun." - Chefisaac, July 11, 2011.
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No. Just a backpack and a lot of water.
Need to get your bike loaded and get some real world test riding in. I have used sacks of flour or rice in the past to simulate a touring load. If I want to test out a touring rig I try to use more weight than what I really plan to haul. My typical touring load runs in the 40-60# range depending on the length of the tour, where I am going and the time of year. I have done test runs with 80# on the bike just for the workout and to make sure nothing was going to come loose.
Aaron
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Take some food along or be prepared to stop and buy something. And if you have some way to carry water and food other than on your back, ditch the backpack.
I'm reminded of a post I saw in BF a few months ago: A guy wrote about he and a friend riding their first century many years before when he was in his 20's. They went out the week before and did 20 miles wearing jeans and not carrying much, then they told themselves "It's easy, we just have to do that five times." When they started out on the century a lovely woman was riding along with them and asked how they had trained. They said they'd done 20 miles the week before. After a long silence she replied "Well, I guess we'll learn something about ourselves today, won't we?" Then she rode away. His friend looked at him and asked "What did she mean by that?" He replied "I have no idea." He concluded his story by writing: It turns out we were both right, meaning of course that they had no idea at that time what she meant, and they did indeed learn something about themselves!
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jimmuller
what's for fuel?
He died because he ate a poisonous plant that shut down his body's ability to absorb nutrients. With treatment, it wouldn't have been a huge deal, but isolated in the wilderness with no treatment, and it's a death sentence.
Yes, it was tragic.
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OK, that's 100 miles on Saturday ... and then 100 miles on Sunday.
Put a rack on your bicycle and use a trunk bag in the back and handlebar bag in front.
Put your tire changing equipment, tools, jacket, and leg warmers in the trunk bag; and fuel, money, camera, and ID in the handlebar bag.
Two 1-litre bottles of water in your cages should work ... refill the bottles when 1 starts to get empty.
Take lots of photos. If you still hope that someone is going to support you on your big ride, you'll need to start posting lots of photos.
Sounds like an excellent experiment. You'll learn a lot.
The saddle sore issue is real. It's worth resolving properly.
Weight on your back will accelerate or aggravate soreness and other problems at the saddle interface (by adding weight and pressure there). Better to put the weight on the bike, esp. over longer distances.
Last edited by Niles H.; 05-14-12 at 10:51 PM.
Yeah, unless you want to just overcome pain, the real issue is whether you can keep going in comfort and good health. Doing a hundred is no big deal, working out the system by which you can keep on trucking while remaining comfortable indefinitely is the trick. Also, I find when I go out on the road, I often have some pains early on that go away after a while. So your two day trial could be worse than your average day out there.
The posters who have been around here a bit longer will remember the disaster that was Flic. She was urged on by a core of posters who obviously saw her plan as "emancipating". She studiously ignored those of us who advised caution and pre-tour experiments. It almost cost her her life. Really.
Dream. Dare. Do.
I also have to agree with Indyfabz. There is something that just doesn't quite feel right about the OP.
Dream. Dare. Do.
I went and looked at that "bike for Africa" thread. The advice ranged from the sensible recommendations you and Machka offered to some Scot who wrote that touring in Africa with malaria and giardia "isn't that bad." Flic was a train-wreck, although she was an adult, unlike the OP.
Also coming to mind is the "Biking for Obama" rider, who ignored (for political reasons) a lot of the advice he was offered, and subsequently suffered while he rode from California to Phoenix Arizona. In Phoenix I arranged for a Bike Forums poster to meet him and help him get better set up with gear. Again, FlyinRyan was, chronologically at least, an adult, not a minor child like the OP.
"If you are someone who is scared, nervous or worried about what you look like on a bike.... I would strongly suggest setting up a time and place to ride with Neil. He is awesome to ride with, great conversation, and a great down to earth person. Neil made me realize that, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter when you look like cause you are there for you.... your health... and to have fun." - Chefisaac, July 11, 2011.
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Alex,
Whoever said that traffic was probably your greatest danger has a good point. Like the previous poster, I was also thinking about a young person named Flic who started a thread here. It's worth adding that the worst danger Flic encountered, as a novice on a long tour, was traffic. You might find that thread to be of interest.
High visibility is one approach, and it can help. A good rearview mirror system is also very helpful.
Taking the issue reasonably seriously, and responding intelligently to it, is also quite helpful and appropriate.
Most helpful of all, even for the shorter rides, is to choose routes that have minimal traffic. And to avoid peak traffic times and days.
(A local twenty-nine year old woman just a couple of days ago
lost control of her car while texting. She went off the road and died in the crash.
The write-up mentioned that texting while driving is a rising phenomenon, paralleling the steady rise in smartphone popularity and use.
Cyclists are vulnerable to these (and other distracted or impaired)
drivers. It's best to be intelligently proactive.)
I read it too. I think the Scot had a point - travelling in Africa is no longer quite what it was in Stanley and Livingstone's day. The issue wasn't just Africa, it was her state of almost complete unpreparedness. She'd have been at risk in virtually any reasonably remote and unfamiliar territory.
And that's what's relevant here. Africa or America, one needs to be in a position to deal with the likelier contingencies. Our OP, assuming he is genuine, doesn't sound as if he is.
"I'm not crazy; I've just been in a very bad mood for forty years."
Alex,
Don't let the naysayers discourage you. You can meet and solve these challenges, and you're well on your way to doing so. You strike me as more capable at sixteen than many are at any age.
There are highly experienced, adult riders who have fared *far* worse than Flic and Ryan, and far worse than the vast majority of young people and beginners.
Bike touring is not a particularly dangerous activity.
They have done, and continue to do, just fine with it, and so can you.
Last edited by Niles H.; 05-15-12 at 05:54 AM.
Niles!!! You aren't a puppeteer, are you???
Dream. Dare. Do.
What happened to the spirit of dream, dare, do?
Or is Alex excluded somehow?
What has struck me as odd were comments that he "didn't have time" to set up a charitable organization combined with didn't know how to set up a web site.
And Flic was a supertroll.
Yes ... at 16, he doesn't know how to set up a website, he doesn't blog, he didn't seem to know anything about facebook, and he had never twittered.
That struck me as really odd ... a 16 year old who doesn't do any of that?
And again, there's the additional complication that the OP, if he is genuine, is a minor child. For instance, he can't use services such as Couchsurfing or Warm Showers because he's younger than 18. He can't rent a car. He might not be able to rent a hotel room. And the whole matter of a minor child leaving home against his custodial parent's wishes because of third parties encouraging him.... I'm sure there's case law on it. If not, which Bike Forums posters want to spend years becoming part of it? Niles, wanna appear in court answering questions about your touring experience?
"If you are someone who is scared, nervous or worried about what you look like on a bike.... I would strongly suggest setting up a time and place to ride with Neil. He is awesome to ride with, great conversation, and a great down to earth person. Neil made me realize that, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter when you look like cause you are there for you.... your health... and to have fun." - Chefisaac, July 11, 2011.
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And let's not forget the completely pointless fixed gear thread vs mountain bike thread ... another "hot button topic". That was the thread that first had me thinking this character is a troll.
I wondered about the polish of his writing when I read his 'getting hotel rooms for free' thread. That one just did not sound like a 16 year old at all.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ing?p=14179096
Last edited by Machka; 05-15-12 at 06:34 AM.
Maybe his mother doesn't let him? That would explain why he wants to run away, err, bike tour.
"If you are someone who is scared, nervous or worried about what you look like on a bike.... I would strongly suggest setting up a time and place to ride with Neil. He is awesome to ride with, great conversation, and a great down to earth person. Neil made me realize that, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter when you look like cause you are there for you.... your health... and to have fun." - Chefisaac, July 11, 2011.
Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
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