The Greater San Fransisco Area

Continuing my quest to travel the world.

It has been my quest to cycle around the world for a very long time, although I have ticked off 16 countries to date, I still haven't achieved the ultimate goal of cycling the world. I cannot wait any longer for the conditions to be perfect, age is catching up with me, so it is now or never.

picture drawn by Jim my Step - Father on our trip across Australia

picture drawn by Jim my Step - Father on our trip across Australia
After our trip to Vietnam in 2012.

Friday 19 June 2015

Life after the TransAm

I've been trying to work out in my head what my cycling niche is now. This trip has sorted some things out for me and I realize that what I really enjoyed before, isn't what I enjoy now. Maybe it's a progression of aging, maybe it's that nothing in life ever stays the same. Maybe I am sick of hardship and hurting, or maybe I've changed. What ever it is I still love riding my bike.

What don't I like? Pain, going to bed dirty, being away from creature comforts for too long, repeating the same roads instead of seeing new stuff. And getting up at 2/3am every morning.
What do I like? Feeling free, fit and being part of the environment around me. I enjoy long rides - I find them physically satisfying. I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment from the comfort of a motel room or your own comfy archair after a hot shower.
I'm starting to wonder if I've got soft.

Niel ' s Idea of Creature Comforts

Option 1) cycle touring long distance but over the short time of a week staying in motels.
Option 2) vehicle assisted touring with a bit of comfort, no load and the versatility that gives you.
Option 3) do Randonneur events from home or a motel.
Option 5) doing organized tours where you don't have to carry anything and everything is done for you - although you may have to put up with annoying people.
There is no reason to carry on doing things the way you always have in the past. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it, and I need to do things a bit differently now.

1 comment:

  1. Heh. Been asking myself what my cycling niche is since I almost finished Trans Iowa two years, one month and three weeks ago. Still don't have a good answer.

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