An overnight tour all by myself

[Tri Girl]

Sorry this is so long.
OK, so you all were very kind and encouraging when I bailed on my first supported tour. I decided not to give up on what I had in my mind as a dream, so I tried it again this week. I rode my bike up to Stillwater, OK for a bike tour on July 4th. I left on Thursday and rode the 65 miles to Stillwater, camped out at a local lake, then had my DH join me for the ride on Friday, the 4th. After our 85 mile tour on Friday, I loaded up the bike and drove with DH back home (my posterior and my brain just weren't up to another 65 mile ride back home).

It was a lot of fun. I loaded up my Trek with my panniers and headed out at 8:30 a.m. I rode mostly back country roads for the first 30 miles. I ran into some unexpected road construction that I didn't want to backtrack out of because it would've meant adding another 15 miles to my ride, so I walked through big, chunky gravel for about 2 miles . Oh well- at least my shoes were comfortable. I had lunch midway in the shade of an elementary school playground where I rested against a big rock wall.
I got to ride on a nice highway with gigantic shoulders for about 25 miles, and even tho traffic was going 70, it didn't bother me at all as long as everybody stayed on their side of the pretty white line. Since I had a slight tailwind and the sun was scorching, I actually enjoyed the wind generated from big trucks- cooled me off a little, and I reveled in the fact that we weren't experiencing our usual 20-30 mph headwinds in every direction.
I found $.75 in loose change lying on the road in various places (yes, I pick it up because I believe it's bad karma to pass up free money on the ground), saw lots of animals (some dead- most alive), and didn't get any trouble from people with the exception of one "backwoods" house. I passed by some punk kids who taunted me and were yelling "why can't you go faster, lady- pedal harder" to which I muttered something about my bike weighing more than they do and I've been riding for 7 hours and maybe they'd like to join me...I didn't say it loud enough for them to hear, but it made me feel better.
I added a couple pictures. One of the highway that I rode on, one of my campsite at the lake, and one of the Cimarron River that I crossed a few times, and then one of me at lunch.

I like the touring pace. It was slow, but that wasn't as bad as I'd thought. Since I train for triathlons, all my rides are always time/distance based with a focus on HR and avg. speed and such. It was kinda nice to just pedal one foot after another and look around and stop and smell the roses. My avg. was a whopping 9mph, but who cares? I stopped when I wanted, saw some neat countryside, and enjoyed myself (until the last 5 miles when I just really wanted to be done).
And on my last tour I was really lonely (and I was surrounded by hundreds of people all doing the same thing). This time I wasn't lonely at all. I really enjoyed the silence and solitude for some reason. I think being with lots of people and not knowing a soul bothered me, but being alone was OK. Does that make sense? Maybe solo touring is my gig instead of big supported tours.

Anyway, thanks for reading and for all of your encouragement. I love to read your touring stories, and had a really great time trying it on my own.

[Blueberry]

How cool! What kind of Trek do you have? Thanks for sharing Any plans for a next adventure??

[Tri Girl]

Thanks! It's an old Trek 720 Multitrack. Found it at a garage sale for $40, and all I had to do was put a rack on and change out the handlebars to trekking bars. I think the lady said she bought it in the early 90's. The rims squeak (despite moving brake pads a million times to toe in correctly), it's covered in stickers so nobody would want to steal it, and it's really heavy, but it's sturdy and gets the job done. I love my garage sale find. It's been a great bike.

No other plans as of yet, but I'm thinking about it. It worries DH that I go alone, but I told him it's no different than me going out for a 50 mile training ride. I think he knows I'm having serious wanderlust issues right now. I grew up moving every 2-3 years, and I've been here for 15- longer than I've ever lived anywhere by a long shot- and the urge to pick up and leave is really strong. He's rooted here and will never leave (despite being open to moving when we married 11 years ago- I've discovered I'll never get him to leave here ). Hopefully touring will cure my wandering soul.

[Tuckervill]

Hey! You're in OK? I'm almost there (in Siloam Springs, AR). I would LOVE to head out on a weekend to meet you and do a ride like that (I can do weekdays, too.)

Pm me if it sounds like you'd like some company.

Karen

[Blueberry]

Cool - my DH has a 730 from 1997-ish. We've re-built it with Bike Friday H Bars and bar end shifters, but it's a great bike and he LOVES it!! I don't like the new hybrids anywhere near as well

CA

[twin]

how fun!!!!!