Originally Posted by
spokenword
if riding on my own, it's mostly curiosity. I'll look at a map and wonder what the roads and scenery look like over there, or there, or in that place. They all just happen to be about 30 to 50 miles from my apartment
Or it's hearing about an interesting little farm in a town about 30 miles away and that there's an ice cream shop about 20 miles beyond that and that a friend of mine just moved to a suburb another 20 miles in another direction. And, well, hey, look at that, shortest way to get home from here is 40 miles. I guess I'm doing 110 miles today.
It's kind of like bike touring, except I sleep in my own bed at night
I did an Easter tour in 2005 like that (although I probably wouldn't call it a tour on the touring forum). I had just moved to this area 3 months earlier, and the end of March had the first decent weather for getting out and doing some real exploring. So I mapped out three routes in three different directions to see three different "attractions", and on Good Friday I rode 84 kms, on the Saturday I rode 168 kms (104 miles) and on Easter Sunday I rode 79 kms ... like I would do on a tour, but returning to my home each night. It was a great way to explore the area around my new home.
And speaking of ice cream ... a few weekends later I set out to find a historical creamery which I had heard a little bit about. I found the town it was in on a map, and set off to find the creamery ... I did, and it's lovely. I go there once or twice a year now.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1430288...7606286079580/ Depending on which direction I go, it's about 80 kms round trip (approx. 50 miles) and sometimes that's all I do ... but if I continue on down to a dam, lake, and recreational area a little further south, I could easily make a century of it.
The thing is ... I've told my non-cycling friends about this creamery and the area around, and they all talk about going to see it, but they never do because it's out of the way, and especially when the gas prices were high people were limiting their recreational driving a bit. It's the same with numerous other fascinating little out of the way spots I've discovered while cycling ... I tell people about them, they make comments like, "Oh I should take my family there this weekend." and then they never do. But finding spots like that is one of the reasons I love cycling.