indyfabz

I have to wonder whether some people who have never spent a significant (or any) amount of time on the road living out of bags attached to their bikes have romanticized notion of what it can be like. Any given day can be absolutely wonderful. Any given day can also be absolutely not wonderful. Having little money and no plan can exacerbate the not wonderful days.

I ask people to think about a day ride from the house gone bad. For example, you get caught in a storm and have to change a flat in a cold rain. By the end of the ride, you are wet, dirty and tired. At least when the ride is over, you have your house to warm you, your shower to clean up in, and your fridge to raid for food. Now imagine that instead of the creature comforts of your familiar surroundings, you instead pull into town to find the only place to get food is closed because it's a Sunday or it has limited hours, and the only place to bed down for the night is a mosquito-infested city park with scuzzy (or no) bathroom. You haven't had access to a place to wash clothes for a couple of days so tomorrow you will have to choose between the smelly kit from yesterday and the damp kit from today because conditions are such that it's not likely to dry overnight. And maybe that city park is used for drug sales.

And I'm not making that last part up. When I rode across the country with a small group we camped in a city park in tiny Ione, WA. On several occasions, the same vehicle pulled into the park and idled. A few minutes later, a different vehicle would pull along side the first, facing in the opposite direction. The exchange was made and both would drive off, with the customer leaving first. When I passed through there the following year I camped at a location outside of town that had been constructed by some water authority. I was all alone and pretty isolated as there were no residences around. At some point at night some drunk local decided to hang out. Fortunately, they left me alone, but I could hear them talking about my presence. Made me a bit nervous.

Even when I rode the GAP--a very popular trail--during a week long tour across PA there was an issue. One of the Adirondack shelters had a used condom in it. That evening a "Trail Angle" rode by a stopped to talk to me. I mentioned the condom in the other shelter.. He told me the local kids like to use them for sex, even during the day.