Ready To Roll

After spending too much time preparing, I leave tomorrow.   I've tested my equipment and my legs on a trip to Cape Cod and several rides around CT.  A few important lessons I've learned on my test rides:

• Headwind, hills, and weight mean strenuous and slow riding.  CT is quite hilly when traveling east to west or west to east as there are numerous river valleys running north-south.  I can't imagine what it is like riding around real mountains with a fully loaded bike, but hopefully I will find out.  Riding into Cape Cod I had a 15-20 mph tail wind, which was badly needed for my first 100+ mile day.  Riding back that wind was in my face and could be felt on every turn of my pedals.

•  I will need to start out doing shorter days.  I thought I was in good shape and would be able to do 50-100 mile days to start.  Not so.  After a 75 mile day, 100 mile day, a few days in Cape Cod of rest, and then 65, 85, and 45 mile days, my legs were shot, my  right IT band inflamed and painful.  I also found riding 8+ hours a day takes up 8+ hours of the day, and made me fill rushed.  After all that riding stopping to enjoy the scenery and have a conversation is all the more enjoyable.   I plan to shoot for 30-60 miles per day to start, with some rest days in between.   

• Campgrounds aren't that great.  First off, at $25/night they aren't cheap.  They are mostly designed for RVs and seem to be temporary settlements rather than nice natural areas.  Also, with that many people in a small area they aren't always quiet.  I stayed at a campground in Westport MA on labor day weekend  on my return trip and my neighbors were a group of 20 and 30 year olds from Boston.  All of them were incredibly nice people.  They provided me with food, beer, whiskey, great company, and roughly 4 hours of sleep for my 85 mile hilly ride to Mansfield.

• Staying with friends and family is the best way to go.  I had a great pizza and beer dinner with Kat Karolina, Bill, and Diego in Storrs followed by a decent nights sleep on the couch.  A random run in with an incoming Yale student (Dave) in New Haven who had done a west coast bike ride led to the discovery of warmshowers.org.  I registered an account yesterday and there seem to be an incredible number of cycling enthusiasts willing to open their homes to cyclist strangers.

Kat, Karolina, Bill, Me, & Diego at Willinton Pizza