Rolling over the odometer

I’m rolling over the odometer in a few ways today. First, I turn 32, in the beautiful town of Banff Alberta, Second – I crossed over the 10,000 km mark today in one year of touring. I’m doing a little site reorganization and joining the previous tours all into one from here on in – a Fraser Valley run, a jaunt around the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island, down to the Tijuana, Mexico border, and the present shangri-la journey around the world, while still only making it one time zone ahead in also the 3 months that I’ve been on the road solid. I’ve collected a few thoughts along the way, and would like to share some of these nuggets of gold.

1) Bicycles were made for pavement, not the air

On September 28th, 2009 – While on tour on the Pacific Coast, I got a chance to see what would happen if you took a bike up in the air. Luckily I wasn’t on it when it went up, the unlucky part – is I was underneath it. Chain ring traveling through my face, I went on a high-speed trip on an ambulance, eventually receiving 16 stitches, and still 9 months later unable to feel certain parts of my mouth. You can read the post and see the video here if you feel like having a good laugh, as I’m surely chuckling about it now. The moral of the story is that you will have a much more satisfying experience with your wheels on the ground rather in the air. Unless of course you merge the two with a week-long cocktail of painkillers combining flying while doing the actual riding, but that’s a whole other story altogether.

2) Music helps me move

Traveling through countryside’s listening to the birds, wildlife, and hearing the odd tractor soothes the soul. It also can get a bit monotonous. I did some research a few months back and looked into a set of speakers to give a small amount of sound while riding. I can certainly hear the traffic approaching, and I can use the power of music to change my riding style, synchronizing my cadence to a usually high beats-per-minute (BPM) count to aid in making the distance per day seem much more attainable. It also gets a few funny looks from people as I zip by with an onboard boombox. Headphones block important sounds and are a danger to both you and the other people on the road so it’s generally a good idea to stay away from that. Check the speakers out here

3) People are awesome – its just as much as an experience to them as it is me

Before leaving on the trip, I had a dark cloud following me. City life causing unnecessary stress, not being able to have detailed conversations with passer-by’s due to their own imposed deadlines, and the incredible amount of waste being created for matter of convenience disgusted me. I set off on the journey hoping to restore the thought of good of all people, hoping that in a few years I’d come out of it with a different viewpoint. It didn’t take longer than 2 months for those thoughts to dissipate entirely from my stream of thought. Farmers, Passer-by’s, store owners, other travellers all have rolled out a sort of red carpet to make sure that I am comfortable, offering me food, stories, refreshments, and sometimes donations out of care, respect and thoughtfulness. Each person has a story, and are very interested to hear about my quest. Keeping a good attitude along the way will attract people to you, and the experience will become that much better. Humans are awesome, and I won’t associate with persons who are interested in clouding those thoughts.

4) Rest is important

I split my day into 3 phases – Rest, Sleep, and Riding. A typical day will be up to 10 hours of riding if the conditions are right, so it’s a must to take care of my body outside of those times. Stopping every 2 hours to snap a few photos, or going for a little hike around a pristine lake makes the muscles stop screaming for a short bit and prepares me for the next step of the day. Knowing when to stop, and forcing it if essential, as touring solo can have a part in playing funny tricks on you. Just 20km and I can stop, first runs through, and once you’ve hit your waypoint a trigger fires and tells you to push forward another 20 equating into a non stop day cycle, eventually burning you out. I’ve noticed little ways my mind tries to fool me along the way can be very detrimental – for example, knowing its hot out and I should apply sunscreen at first was dropped until it was far too late in the day for it to be applied turning into a frustrating evening nursing burns, not to mention cutting into one of the thirds – sleep. Resting allows for interaction with locals if you are in a town environment, giving one the opportunity to give inspiration, story telling and practicing forming sentences to someone else other than your head. A day off isn’t the end of the world, stopping when you notice the slightest issue will prevent injuries from pushing too hard. That being said, see the next one:

5) Deviate from the plan.

I set fairly rigid timelines through this tour and earlier tours, having to be in one spot at one stage of the trip, not giving adequate time for rest as noted above. This is physically, mentally and emotionally draining. If you’ve got the ability to deviate from your plan the experience becomes that much more profound. Being able to stop, and say yes to things that come at you from left field simply adds to the journey and removes the focus from the destination. I’m not saying throw away the planning part altogether, but utilize the rest part as mentioned above to stop, take in your surroundings, and create memories that you’d typically not have prepared for. A bit of chaos in the salad typically creates a flavourful result. It’s not the end of the world if you miss a ferry, don’t meet up with a contact that day, or skip a destination. The world is a vast expanse, you can’t take all of it in, so find the subtle nuances that are away from the originally scheduled goal and use memories to fill the previously allocated space for the original route. Expect the unexpected.

6) Animals won’t bother you, if you don’t bother them

Before I left for this phase of the trip, I was deathly afraid of wildlife. Within the first few days I lied awake wondering about the racket outside of my tent while in the woods, only to find out it was a small rodent. Encounters with Bear, Bison, Moose, Cougar have all been very positive, while scary in the moment, have been nothing short of positive. It makes for great photo opportunities, and there’s no need to be afraid when one stumbles across your path. Heck, talking to the bear have been some of my most memorable moments so far, being able to watch from a far how they make it through their day. I’ve since given up carrying deterrent partly due to weight, and from not putting myself in situations where it is necessary and keep an awareness of my surroundings to ensure safety. An animal is just as spooked to see you, and taking an offensive stance will be read to them as a threat, equating into a negative experience for you. Keep your food out of the area, make a pee-perimeter around your tent, and keep out of their path when cycling and it’ll be a positive memory. Besides, sweaty, stinky cyclists make for terrible meals.

7) Rough Roads lead to great rewards

I can think of three instances in touring that have been difficult to endure. Riding the last 40km over shards of rocks, sinking in to the mud toppling one over rewarded me with an end to a tour on a pristine beach, with a couple thousand like-minded people  dancing well into the morning at a music festival in Ucluelet, BC. Climbing a day long steep switchback filled mountain pass in Northern California brought a 30km descent with hairpin turns, wind rushing into your face and a near panoramic view of the land below before welcoming you to the mighty Pacific Ocean’s wonders. Finally, being pestered by thousands of bugs, a bumpy gravel road and no services led me into a mecca in the north meeting a wonderful group of people, experiencing the warm hospitality of the north. Each of these three moments were trying, draining of energy and brought out emotions where one had to fight to stay positive. At the end, the rewards were worth it, and it seemed like a cake walk to get to the destination. Being ready for what life may throw at you can only go so far, and the end result gives a great sense of accomplishment for the torturous conditions you signed up for. Plus, it makes for good story telling.