Many people have asked me, what’s a typical day on the Big Ride like? Well, after 23 days, I think I can provide you with some of the details.
Most of the time, when we are NOT biking, we are camping – either at a camp ground, a school, or in the case of Newcastle, WY, at a Senior Center. On our days off (Spokane, WA, Missoula, MT, Billings, MT, Rapid City, WY) we stay at institutions of higher education, where we have a room (sometimes with a view), a bed with a mattess, sometimes a sheet or towel and an outlet. On rest days we usually share a room with another Big Rider, and I must say that sharing a room has not been a problem – I have been blessed with good roommates.
On the days when we are bicycling, we need to pack up camp, load the gear truck, eat breakfast, fill our water bottles, pump our tires, perform last minute bike maintenance (as needed) and get our cue sheets for the day. Recently we implemented a new policy (yes, this is a working democracy) that goes like this…
Cue sheets will be handed out ONLY WHEN the truck is loaded and closed. That means everyone needs to get up, get packed and load their gear on the truck before we can leave camp. The other part of the policy states that we will be leaving camp as early as possible when we are riding 90 miles or more.
What is a cue sheet? It’s a piece of paper with the directions from the origin to the destination. This is what we use to navigate our way from town to town. So far the cue sheets have been mostly accurate. YES!
What other support do we receive? Glad you asked. We have a support crew of 4 GREAT people, that follow us each day to move our gear, provide water and food support on the road and also bike repair assistance as needed. Daniel is our ride leader. He drives the gear truck, provides water support at the first rest stop and makes the logistical arrangements for us at our destination. He has ridden across America 2x, once solo. Daniel has also provided “Chef” support for our dinner on two occasions and apparently more to come. Yum.
Mark is the other lead support person. His first experience was as a bicyclist on Big Ride 2000. Since then, he has been a member of the support staff in 2003 through 2006 and lucky for us, in 2008. Mark is especially mindful of responsible cycling, and has been know to remind riders to “stay to the right” when he sees them veering too often into oncoming traffic. Since we traveled mostly on busy roads, I am grateful that Mark is always looking out for our safety. Mark’s only flaw – doesn’t like to have his picture taken. I’m working on that one.
Nick is our ride mechanic and a first time support person. He is 19, from Maryland, a student of cartography, an all around exceptional cyclist and mechanic and one heck-of-a-nice-guy. Nick provides support whenever asked, provides tutoring so each cyclist can be as self-sufficient as possible, and has been my personal guardian angel on more than one occasion, when the gods of flat tires choose me as a sacrificial lamb (or is it vestile virgin? – I can NEVER remember that one)!
Amy Chun, the mother of Sam Chun, and mother to all of the rest of us, volunteered her services this year on the Big Ride. She can be found at most water stops, where she checks us in, records our times, and makes sure everyone is accounted for, before moving on to the next rest stop. Amy is always smiling, which is why I take her photo every day. I like to call it “The Amy Chun Photo of the Day”. I think she is starting to Hate me, so sometimes I take it when she is not looking, just to keep the peace. At the end of the ride I intend to create an AMY calendar for 2009, with her top 12 photos. Check back later, they’ll be on sale for the holidays!
Back to the daily grind. Our second or third water stop is our Lunch stop. This is where we make our peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches for lunch. Sometimes we eat one and take one with us on the road. There are a variety of peanut butters, jellys and breads to choose from… so we DO have variety! Anyone that knows me knows that I can eat the SAME thing for YEARS, so variety like this is more than I bargained for!
We usually have a rest or water stop every 20 miles or so, unless the temps are in the 100’s, and that’s when our support crew throws it into OVERDRIVE and sets up stops every 10 miles. It’s particularly important when we are in the middle of No Man’s Land – when there are no services for water or snacks.
How long does it take? Well, that’s another good question – so let me try and answer as generically as possible. On average, they say, you should plan for 10 miles/hour. That time will include your stops, for water, food, rest and photos. So, on a 100 mile day, if you start at 7AM you will most likely complete BY 5PM. That’s the worst case scenario for most bicyclists. NOW, let’s talk contingency. What if you get a flat? What if there are a lot of hills? What if it rains? What if there is a lot of OPPOSING WIND? Then, it will take more time than normal, because that 10 mph rule is usually based on riding in the Midwest, where it’s flat, flat, flat and flat.
When we reach camp, there are a lot of different options. Let’s explore each of them. Everyone SHOULD shower, even if they are too tired, because it’s just the RIGHT thing to do. Most of the time, unless you plan to stay at a hotel or in a school, you need to pitch your tent (do they say pitch anymore?). And, let’s NOT forget, you need to eat. So, if you are eating with others, you should probably shower first! Most of the time, we eat as a group. Dinner is usually hosted by someone, either a restaurant, a local caterer or a school. The food has been GREAT! Lots of it, almost an unlimited supply… You can stuff yourself until you cannot stuff yourself anymore. Nice!
May a take a turn here, to answer a frequently asked question about weight loss. Here’s the question. Will you lose weight on this ride? The answer is simple. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. We are eating machines. We eat morning, noon and night. We eat for no good reason. We eat JUNK, ice cream, chips, cookies, bread, pasta, meat and just about anything that has not been nailed down. We live to eat. We THINK we need to eat to maintain our strength and our speed, but the truth is, we bike because we like to eat. Simple as that.
After dinner it’s time for blogging. Yes, that’s right. We are in the middle of nowhere, but we have ways to connect to the Internet and blog, blog, blog – that is if you have taken the time to CHARGE ALL OF YOUR BLOGGING PARAPHANALIA… It’s been a bit of a problem for me, ask my fellow riders. Either I am taking WAY too much time to put up my tent, take a shower and eat OR I am WAY too tired to care about blogging. Right now I’d give about anything to have an audio blog. I could simply tell you about the day, upload the audio and that would be that. You could hear the wind whistling through the trees, the birds chirping, the cars whizzing by and the trains, but mostly you would hear the clicking of the keys from the computers where the other Big Riders are updating their websites with true stories about the ride, the weather, the food and the fun. You can find most of the other riders blogs by going to http://www.cleanairadventures.org/big_ride_across_america and looking on the left side of the page under 2008 Rider’s Blogs.
Finally, sleeping, yes sleeping, to ready the body for the next day’s ride. So far, so good. The weather while roasting in the daytime and quite honestly until well into the evening, has been mostly tolerable for sleeping. Me? I have a 3-man tent that holds my (ahem) 70 lbs of gear, which includes a sleeping bag good for weather down to 20 degrees, a thermarest pad, a wonderful down camping pillow and a fan that is powered by 2 AA batteries. Small problem with the fan – it’s small. You would literally have to hold it up to your face to get any cooling at all, and that would prohibit sleeping – I think. So, for me, sweating until I fall to sleep has been the way to go. There are SOME Big Riders that actually purchased FANS that could blow the doors off the tent, for lots of money, because they need to be SUPER cooled in order to fall to sleep. Most of these people are not originally from the Midwest. I will not even START talking about the folks that hauled their mattresses to the ride, because I simply do not want to embarrass them. Let’s leave it at that.
So, usually no later than 10 PM you could hear hear a PIN drop at our campsite because most everyone is FAST asleep. That’s how this job affects you. It wears you out. Some people think it’s because of the bicycling. Me? I think it’s the effect of too much chicken, or turkey, or cinnamon buns, or gatorade, or pretzels – basically, we have eaten ourselves to sleep.
Tune in tomorrow to hear more about the mosquitos in the Midwest (YIKES).
) I thought I’d share this information with you, the loyal reader..
