The Travel Chica

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Stubborn and crazy

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When I told people about the bike ride, they told me I was crazy.

I didn’t even get that response when I told people I was quitting my job, getting rid of most of my possessions, and traveling solo in Latin America for over a year.

Sure, people were surprised about my travel sabbatical, but they didn’t look at me like I was a complete lunatic.

So what exactly is so crazy?

 

I’m riding my bike 210 miles over two consecutive days.

 

It didn’t sound so crazy to me at first.

I ride my bike nearly every day because I have chosen a car-free lifestyle.  I try to go on a long bike ride every weekend.  I thought this would be a fun athletic challenge.

So I started training.

The organization that puts on this ride says that you should ride a total of 400 miles in the two months leading up to the event, including a 75-mile ride.

My definition of a long ride prior to training was 26 miles.

A few weeks ago, I started pushing myself up towards the 75-mile goal.

Forty-two miles was not so bad.

 

 

The hardest part was the cold and the wind.  My feet started going numb, and I swear that the wind was against me when riding in both directions.

The next day, I went on a 49-mile ride.

I was better prepared for the cold.  The wind was not as strong.

But I was exhausted by the end of the ride, both physically and mentally.

The loneliness and boredom got to me.

I wanted to throw in the towel, quit the ride.

 

But here’s the thing… I’m stubborn, and I don’t want to be a quitter.

I tell people all the time to quit things they don’t enjoy or don’t want to do.  But for some reason, I don’t always allow myself the same freedom to change my mind after I’ve committed to something.

Plus, I already paid for a jersey.  How lame would it be to quit, right?

So I rode my bike 75 miles.

The weather was perfect.  The wind cooperated.

I still had the boredom issue, but I was able to push through it.  I rode for 6 hours and 10 minutes.  This was the big milestone  for my training.

It was not the best day of my life nor the worst.

 

But 30 MORE miles?  And then wake up and do it AGAIN the next morning?

 

Yep, everyone is right.  I am crazy.

 

But I know there are people out there who are crazier than me.

 

While I was traveling in Latin America, I met Cass in Nicaragua.  He was riding his bike through Central America and continuing on to South America.  I didn’t realize people did stuff like that.

I thought (and still do think) that traveling by bicycle would be an incredible experience, especially for someone who loves slow travel and dramatic landscapes.

 

(Cass writes about his travels, gets geeky about bike gear, and shares beautiful photography at While Out Riding.  Check him out.)

I recently shared on Facebook that I’m training for this ride and asked for some advice.  A lot of people responded with great tips from padded bike shorts to gummy bears as emergency fuel between food stops. Obviously, there are even more crazy people out there than I realized.

The truth is 49% of me does not want to do this anymore.

 

51% of me does not want to quit.

 

There is still a sliver of hope that doing this ride with hundreds of other cyclists will actually be an extraordinary experience.  Maybe my stubbornness will turn out to be a good thing for me this time.

Can I really do this?

I’m about to find out.

 

 

I wrote this post before the ride and scheduled it for the day after the ride.  So I’ve already found out. 

Comments

  1. I met a guy who was biking through South America, and he was in spectacularly good shape. I kind of envy this kind of adventure, since endless bus rides are boring, expensive, and often uncomfortably hot anyway. You don’t have to do it forever, right? I think it would be a nice change of pace, and you probably won’t regret. Your pain will fade. Your crazy adventure will only gain in luster.
    OCDemon recently posted..Getting drunk and naked in Estonia

  2. I think projects like this are great for self-discipline. I would keep going too, just to prove to myself I could do it!

  6. I’m glad you decided to do the bike ride. It reminds me of my trip to Angkor temples in Cambodia where I rode a bicycle to explore the entire temple complex. It was exciting at first, but then I got really bored. But I’m glad I didn’t quite because it turned out to be one of the best cycling experiences for me.
    Bama recently posted..The Uneasy History of the Tao

  7. Good for you! We should all take a little dose of crazy and wake up to smell the roses. You are such an inspiration. I wish we had the bike riding spirit. As a family of 4 with only 3 liking to ride bikes, it is tough. Maybe I should let my 8 year old daughter read about you and that may get her into gear. :-) thanks for sharing.
    Heidi Wagoner recently posted..Top 5 Reasons to Take a Sabbatical

  14. You are quite the adventurer. That’s a long way to go in a short amount of time. But I can’t imagine it’s not without rewards. Should be good for the soul and the body, too, no? Hope you make it out in one piece :)

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