I've read that it takes 3 weeks for a new behavior to become a habit. That seems about right. The first couple of weeks out here felt like summer vacation. After six weeks on tour it just seems perfectly natural to ride for 6-8 hours a day. I get up each day and ride my bike for several hours. It's what I do. It seems like this is what I've always done.
I know that we reach Boston in about a week. I've heard that "re-entry" into the real world can be difficult. I completely believe it. I enjoy my shrinking gut and increasing fitness. Each turn in the road every day out here brings sights I've never seen before and likely will never see again. Giving that up is going to be painful.
I've had several people ask me to write about what an "average" day is like on tour. Here's a sample.
5:40 – Cell phone alarm goes up. I’ve been awake for 20 minutes already so I get out of bed.
5:42 – Check nether-regions for tender spots. Liberally apply A+D ointment.
5:50 – Apply Sunscreen everywhere I can think of. Forget “glove spot” on hands
6:00 – Join the horde of locusts around the breakfast buffet. For the 30th consecutive day make a waffle and have a plateful of a scrambled-egg like substance. Eat more than I would have thought humanly possible before starting a bike ride.
6:30 – Back to the room. Slather on Chamois Butter to tender bits. Can’t be too careful.
6:40 – Make first attempt to close zippers on my 2 duffel bags. Re-arrange items. Put knee on bag and force zipper to close. Wonder in amazement that the zipper still holds.
6:50 – Bring bags to hotel lobby. Stand in line waiting for one of 2 yellow bike pumps. 4 grey pumps go unused.
7:00 –
7:05 – Yayyy! I’m going for a bike ride!
7:05:30 – Remember to turn on Garmin bike computer.
7:10 – Paceline takes off at ungodly speed. Hold on for dear life.
7:50 – Stop to take a picture of a cactus. Watch peleton speed off into the distance.
7:52 – Begin solo riding.
10:00 – Reach the first SAG stop. Grab 3 energy gels. Eat none of them during the day.
11:30 – Stop for lunch when I see orange flags outside a restaurant. My feet, hands, and shoulders instantly stop hurting.
12:00 – Violate the “don’t eat a heavy lunch” rule.
12:30 – Reach the 2nd Sag stop. I’m still full from lunch but I force myself to eat two energy bars. Just because.
2:00 – Get to the hotel. Check in.
2:01 – Carry bike upstairs and open my door. Feel the rush of air-conditioned coolness and see my bags on the bed. Silently thank Zack.
2:02 – Take off the Spandex Petri dish I’ve been wearing for the last 7 hours and lay down on the bed. My favorite moment of the day. Strange that my favorite moment of the day is when I get to stop doing what I came here to do.
2:05 – Fight the urge to take a nap
2:10 – try to decide which of the 4 things I’m supposed to do in the first ½ hour after a ride will actually get accomplished. Brush teeth, shower, eat, stretch… Hmmm.
2:12 – Put on grubby clothes and walk to Dairy Queen. Get burger, fries, and coke as post-ride recovery meal. Re-fill the coke. Wash that all down with a Blizzard.
2:40 – Hit the shower. Shave my face and my head. ( Hi Laurie, I forgot to mention that little detail…)
2:50 – Fill up the tub with the hottest water I can stand. Stay in until nicely pruned.
3:10 – Start thinking about tomorrow’s ride and today’s blog entry. Use my finely honed organizational skills to maximize efficiency.
4:00 Get finished with pictures and Google Earth stuff. Check the blog and my email for comments. Make a stab at an idea for blog post. Delete it and wait until later.
5:00 Start milling around in the lobby, sharing war stories from the day and hopefully bumming a beer from someone.
5:45 Route Rap.
6:00 Head next door for buffet at local restaurant. Notice the stares from the locals. Most of them have bowel movements bigger than me. Large folks in corn country.
7:30 – Organize stuff for tomorrow. Sniff the dirty clothes trying to decide what is wearable for tomorrow.
8:00 – OK, now I really have to finish this blog entry…After reading some dopey article on MSN.com
8:45 – Hit the “post” button, check for spelling errors.
9:15 – Goodnight now!
So there you have it. A fairly typical day in the fairly typical life of a fairly typical cross-country cyclist.
1 comment:
Okay, now you've done it. You made me cry.
I have watched with pride your little league try, your golfing expertise, how well you did in school, your college years, your first tri and Ironman competitions, and enjoyed every one.
This competition is somehow different. I think it is a real growing experience. Somehow your ability to dig down and find the stamina to face another day of pain, bad weather, bad roads, fatigue and still enjoy yourself shows how much grit you have.
I'm very proud of you Joe Joe. You have continued to pump with feet---
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