mtbdarby
06-28-2006, 09:58 AM
Hi All,
I'm back from GRABAAWR already, but what an experience! Your sunny thoughts must have helped because it rained bad the day before but let up around 8am the day of the tour. I met up with Sue (SJCzar) Saturday night. She'd already made 3 male friends so the 4 of us headed to dinner. Apparently Sue had tent issues the night before and lost her temper...you'll have to ask her about that, lol.
I made it through 3 hilly days and my hand & wrist couldn't take it anymore. I'm home with a swollen hand today. My total miles ridden were 169 out of 445 so almost half way. The scenery was absolutley beautiful! The weather was in the 70's during the day with a slight headwind, and the hills were steep. Sue told me she rode about 15-16 mph but me thinks she was sandbaggin;) I averaged 14.8 and couldn't hang with the girl - especially on hills! She can fly up the hills! She was nice enough to ride most of it with me so now she can open 'er up today and ride away.
We met some fantasic people. By far the most fun and interesting were the Canadians! Not only can they ride, but by God, they can drink! I was completely amazed at how many people drink and bike. And they start drinking in the morning - heck, I couldn't do that in my 20's and most of these people are in thier 50-60's. The average age of the rider was 49, the oldest was 81 and I think the youngest was 8. The other neat person we met was recombent Chris from Kansas, founder of Team Duck. We got "in-Duck-ed" into the team early on and proudly wore Team Duck badges, along with our Canada pins and tatoos. Everyone was so darn friendly.
Each day riding was a personal record for me. Day 1 was 52 miles, day 2 59 and day 3 62. My legs were so tight at the end I could barely walk. So today I treated myself to a full body massage. Hmmmm, wonderful.... I also slept 11 1/2 hours last night and I could easily take a nap - is that normal? I had a hard time eating breakfast the last two days because I woke up nautious. Not sure where that came from but I felt better today.
All-in-all it was a fantastic experience. Met one nice single guy from the state so the scenery was nice on and off the bikes. I'd recommend it to anyone but next time I need to be in better shape. I started developing a top ten list of things you need to know when on a tour that I thought I'd share:
10. Have fun - doesn't matter what time you start, finish or how fast you go, just have fun.
9. Bring lots of money. I only brought $60 to get me through 2 1/2 days (cuz I knew we were stopping in my hometown) and it didn't last long when you have to buy 3 meals a day.
8. When taking down your tent in the morning, remove your air mattress first. Sue and Chris just stood there and watched me do it - goobers! At least I provided early morning entertainment:p
7. These words of wisdom were kindly provided to us by Ed and Terry - two old time touring guys: Don't put your tent near a light (too bright at night), the porta potties (you'll hear slamming doors all night), or the Canadians (because they party all night). Well said.
6. Bring ear plugs to sleep with because of the advise in #7.
5. Did I mention bring extra money? And don't forget your credit card!
4. When packing up your luggage in the moring, put your cycling clothes ON first. I managed to pack up my cycling shorts and brought my luggage to the semi to get trucked to the next town and realized I didn't have any shorts. Luckily, I was at home that night and had one thin pair of shorts with a suede chamois which chafed the heck out of me for 62 miles.
3. Unless your family is extremely supportive, don't meet up with anyone (boyfriends included) during the ride. Lets just say I had issues with this one big time....they just don't understand cycling and the cycling community.
2. Do not rely on the SAG vehicles on this tour to help you out in a timely manner if you have a flat or an accident. The first day was so wet we saw at least 15 flats. We were baffled by the number of people who carried nothing - no pumps, co2, patch kits, tubes, nothing! And one poor guy endo'd on the century loop, splitting his helmet and had to ride 30 miles before finding the SAG vehicle.
1. Of course, HAVE FUN!!! Even a bad day cycling is better than a day at work:D
I'm hoping Sue can add to this when she's done. We didn't remember to actually take our cameras out of our luggage until the 3rd day. So I got a couple of pictures that I will post in a couple of days. Thanks for all your support and well wishes - it was worth it even if I didn't finish it all.
I'm back from GRABAAWR already, but what an experience! Your sunny thoughts must have helped because it rained bad the day before but let up around 8am the day of the tour. I met up with Sue (SJCzar) Saturday night. She'd already made 3 male friends so the 4 of us headed to dinner. Apparently Sue had tent issues the night before and lost her temper...you'll have to ask her about that, lol.
I made it through 3 hilly days and my hand & wrist couldn't take it anymore. I'm home with a swollen hand today. My total miles ridden were 169 out of 445 so almost half way. The scenery was absolutley beautiful! The weather was in the 70's during the day with a slight headwind, and the hills were steep. Sue told me she rode about 15-16 mph but me thinks she was sandbaggin;) I averaged 14.8 and couldn't hang with the girl - especially on hills! She can fly up the hills! She was nice enough to ride most of it with me so now she can open 'er up today and ride away.
We met some fantasic people. By far the most fun and interesting were the Canadians! Not only can they ride, but by God, they can drink! I was completely amazed at how many people drink and bike. And they start drinking in the morning - heck, I couldn't do that in my 20's and most of these people are in thier 50-60's. The average age of the rider was 49, the oldest was 81 and I think the youngest was 8. The other neat person we met was recombent Chris from Kansas, founder of Team Duck. We got "in-Duck-ed" into the team early on and proudly wore Team Duck badges, along with our Canada pins and tatoos. Everyone was so darn friendly.
Each day riding was a personal record for me. Day 1 was 52 miles, day 2 59 and day 3 62. My legs were so tight at the end I could barely walk. So today I treated myself to a full body massage. Hmmmm, wonderful.... I also slept 11 1/2 hours last night and I could easily take a nap - is that normal? I had a hard time eating breakfast the last two days because I woke up nautious. Not sure where that came from but I felt better today.
All-in-all it was a fantastic experience. Met one nice single guy from the state so the scenery was nice on and off the bikes. I'd recommend it to anyone but next time I need to be in better shape. I started developing a top ten list of things you need to know when on a tour that I thought I'd share:
10. Have fun - doesn't matter what time you start, finish or how fast you go, just have fun.
9. Bring lots of money. I only brought $60 to get me through 2 1/2 days (cuz I knew we were stopping in my hometown) and it didn't last long when you have to buy 3 meals a day.
8. When taking down your tent in the morning, remove your air mattress first. Sue and Chris just stood there and watched me do it - goobers! At least I provided early morning entertainment:p
7. These words of wisdom were kindly provided to us by Ed and Terry - two old time touring guys: Don't put your tent near a light (too bright at night), the porta potties (you'll hear slamming doors all night), or the Canadians (because they party all night). Well said.
6. Bring ear plugs to sleep with because of the advise in #7.
5. Did I mention bring extra money? And don't forget your credit card!
4. When packing up your luggage in the moring, put your cycling clothes ON first. I managed to pack up my cycling shorts and brought my luggage to the semi to get trucked to the next town and realized I didn't have any shorts. Luckily, I was at home that night and had one thin pair of shorts with a suede chamois which chafed the heck out of me for 62 miles.
3. Unless your family is extremely supportive, don't meet up with anyone (boyfriends included) during the ride. Lets just say I had issues with this one big time....they just don't understand cycling and the cycling community.
2. Do not rely on the SAG vehicles on this tour to help you out in a timely manner if you have a flat or an accident. The first day was so wet we saw at least 15 flats. We were baffled by the number of people who carried nothing - no pumps, co2, patch kits, tubes, nothing! And one poor guy endo'd on the century loop, splitting his helmet and had to ride 30 miles before finding the SAG vehicle.
1. Of course, HAVE FUN!!! Even a bad day cycling is better than a day at work:D
I'm hoping Sue can add to this when she's done. We didn't remember to actually take our cameras out of our luggage until the 3rd day. So I got a couple of pictures that I will post in a couple of days. Thanks for all your support and well wishes - it was worth it even if I didn't finish it all.