One thing I've learned in the thousands of miles I've ridden is that when you start getting tired, it's not time to grab another 50 miles and then stop. It's time to get off the road. I also know that when the sun goes down, my alertness starts to go with it; and so was the situation I found myself in at around the 800 mile mark. The sun had dropped down about an hour before and I was on I-95 in southern VA with images of deer running out from the roadside clouding my brain. It's at moments like these that you realize that all the technology that goes into those adaptive headlights really don't mean squat when you're running at 75 mph and have on coming traffic. What; Sleep Inn, Denny's and gas all in one stop a mile ahead? Game over. I stopped south of Richmond VA for the evening and decided to get a late start in the morning to avoid Richmond and DC's cager parties.
I tried a different approach to riding yesterday. The adage is that you need to rest to ride and that you should not combine gas stops with meal stops and you should take frequent breaks. I've largely ignored all of that. Yesterday, it worked out that I had to take 2 phone calls for work; one at 10 and one at 5. I thought this would be a perfect time to give it a whirl. I took off about 6:45 and by about 8, I was getting hungry and cold. Tampa was hanging around the 50 degree mark and I wasn't wearing my heated gear. I thought the temp would be rising rapidly. I was wrong. That was break number 1. I was getting low on gas at around 9:30, so I pulled off to get gas and stop for the phone call. The gas station didn't have a place to take a call, so I went up the road a bit and found a Dunkin' Donuts. So far, I'm still in alignment with these adages, somewhat. I got back on the bike and rode out that tank, ending up at a Cracker Barrel and got gas all in the same stop. So, I'm a little outside the margins on that one. My next meal stop was at 5pm and I also got gas at that time. While I didn't get an extra couple hours of riding out of all this stopping, and I actually traveled less distance, I definitely felt more comfortable. Usually, after a few hundred miles, I start to notice the seams in my riding pants. A few hundred miles after that, they usually bother me. This ride wasn't so bad. Of course, it helps that I stand up for 5 or 10 minutes every hundred miles or so as well. So, on the whole, I'm not convinced that there's a right way and a wrong way to do distance riding. I think the suggestion is worth considering; but, everyone will benefit more from riding in a way that is most comfortable to them.
Just another note about my GoPro. I can be riding down the interstate, standing up, no hands and people would be pointing to my GoPro. It's crazy how popular these things are. So many conversations on this trip have started with "Hey, is that a GoPro?"
It's 10am. I'm outta here in an hour to finish this ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment