indyfabz

You would. Most people who tour would. In 2011 I planned a tour in Montana. I broke what would have been one long day with lots of climbing into two, partly because of my partner and partly because we wanted to stop at a hot springs resort for a soak. Turned out that we could have done it all in one day and ended up having a lot of time to kill after both day's rides. The equivalent of a short day for someone reasonably fit is fine every once in a while, especially when there are opportunities like hiking or cultural sites to visit, or when you need to recharge the body and take care of things like laundry. But multiple days like that can leave you bored.

In his case, however, he is struggling so much that it sounds like he really enjoys not riding more than he enjoys riding. As for what he does with his time, his journal suggests that he plays with his electronics a lot since he repeatedly writes about recharging his gadgets, sometimes more than once a day. And with all the hotel stays, I'll bet he has watched a lot of TV.