The full impact of having just ridden across the country on my bicycle and the shock of no longer riding my bike 7-8 hours a day will not likely sink in for a while, but several people have asked some questions about what helped me complete the ride, so I thought I’d share what I can remember. I think many of my daily updates were more of a travelogue that made it seem like the actual riding was easy or not challenging, but I can assure you that every day had challenges. It was always a relief to have every day’s ride done, whether it was 75 miles, 100 miles, or 150 miles. So here are some thoughts.
Preparation
Having done two previous transcontinental PAC Tours, I was confident that I would be able to do the proper training that would enable me to do the 30-day tour without feeling completely depleted at the end if each day. My goal was to ride every day at a steady and comfortable pace that got me to the hotel on the earlier end of the recommended time window. For training, I didn’t ride as many miles ahead of time as on previous tours, but I was still averaging 300-400 miles per week in the final two months before the start. I usually did longer back-to-back rides on Saturday/Sunday, but let’s just say that I never put my bike clothes on for anything less than 60 miles. At the same time I only did one 200-miler and only a handful of full 100 mike century rides. Earlier in the year, I did some fine tuning with my bike fit guy and got some new handlebars that turned out to be just right. I felt good on the bike and was pretty sure that I wouldn’t suffer any unusual aches or pains, which proved to be true.
Daily Routine
The main thing I like to do for an extended tour is to get in a repetitive routine and plan each day the night before as much as possible. This means setting out my clothing, checking the weather forecast, setting out my various vitamins and supplements, checking over the bike, setting the alarm, familiarizing myself with the next day’s route, and
going to sleep early.
While Riding
On the bike, I always had two water bottles, one with water and one with a mixture of Sustained Energy and HEED, both made by Hammer Nutrition. I regularly used the same stuff when training and I knew that PAC Tour would be supplying these powdered products at every rest stop. I also used Endurolyte tablets for electrolyte replacement and Anti-Fatigue Caps because I always use them, both also from Hammer Nutrition. I took two tablets of each per hour, alternating at the top and bottom of the hour to make sure I didn’t forget. That’s also when I took big swallows of the energy drink, alternating with plain water at 0:15 and 0:45 past the hour. Of course, much of the joy of long distance riding is eating a lot to maintain sufficient calories. So in addition to the rather clinical energy drinks, I ate lots of solid food at the rest stops and carried more with me for in between. PAC Tour supplies the usual power bars, granola bars and bananas, but they always had fruit such as cantaloupe, grapes, cherries, watermelon, and peaches. I also indulged in huge quantities of fig newtons, Oreos in all colors, chocolate chip and dozens of other cookie varieties and the occasional Twinkie. I always sat down for a full lunch every day, which PAC Tour is known for, and it might include four or five different salads, sandwich fixings, burgers, hot dogs, pasta, burritos or any number of other yummy things, plus chips and all the condiments. I always had dessert, which was usually cake or pie, plus canned fruit and pudding, sometimes all on one plate! After lunch, it was important to ride at “digestion speed” for 5-10 miles to avoid discomfort. At the end of the day, I made sure to immediately drink a full bottle of Recoverite (another Hammer product!) and a couple of anti-oxidant tablets and the rest of my daily vitamins. It’s hard to know if all of these things worked, but I can certainly tell that they didn’t hurt.
Mental Tricks
While all the physical aspects are very important, in the end all the long miles require mental focus to get through. When faced with a long day over hilly or windy terrain and perhaps roads that extend endlessly into the horizon, it’s sometimes hard to imagine that it will ever end and the miles seem to take forever. I usually just think about the distance to the next rest stop, which was never more than 30 miles, or I’d note some milestones during the day, some more helpful than others. For example, I would always take note when there was “only” 100 miles to go, which sometimes occurred a few miles into the ride and other times 40 or 50 miles down the road. I’d almost always mentally mark the halfway point or the two thirds point or the point at which we had only 20 miles, or better, just 10 miles to go. I can always talk myself into believing that I can complete a 10 or 20 mile ride if that’s all that remains, but there were days that the final 10 miles were the hardest of the day, due to wind, extreme heat or maybe congested traffic. But somehow, we always made it to lunch at about two thirds and next thing we knew we had completed 80 or 90 miles and the end of the ride was within reach. Mind you, I’m usually enjoying every mile and I make it a point to look around and notice all the great and sometimes bizarre sights, which always help pass the time. It also helps to have other riders to ride with, when the conversation or occasional comments can make the miles go by in addition to the usual benefit of drafting in the other riders’ slipstream.
Future Rides
As for the question of whether or not I’d do another transcontinental PAC Tour, the answer is certainly yes, but if I have any hesitation, it would be due to the time away from home and the burden my absence places on my wife. I also don’t want to get in the habit of doing these things too often, having now done three since 2002. However, I’ll definitely do another PAC Tour event of some sort, such as their Ridge of the Rockies tour, the Grand Canyon tour or maybe the Route 66 tour. I also feel like I’d like to see more of Europe by bike, having done a 12-day Provence trip and the Paris-Brest-Paris 1200km event, but it all depends on finances and time. Another thing I’d like to do is ride my bike in some parts of Japan, where I spent 14 years of my life and rode as a junior high school student.
Thanks for reading.
Charles
