To Doc's point these days I am just happy to have the time to get on the bike -period. Looking at my data I rode exactly once in all of November. No wonder my shape has gone all pilsbury on me ;-O
Today I had the good fortune to ride the 8 clicks from my house to downtown Seattle to do some Xmas shopping for my better half, then I rode to a nice little stretch of beach front (Alki) for a coffee to warm up and admire the view and then finally home. A measly 28 Km/17 mi. hardly a "tour" but it was nice to get out on a clear cool winter day, enjoy the view of the Olympic range with fresh snow, the fresh air off Elliot bay, the Seattle skyline etc. Beats the heck out of driving downtown, fighting for parking, being cut off from the sensory input you get from riding etc. Don't get me wrong I have high hopes of doing some S24O's in 2010 but for now I am just grateful to get a ride in, pedal and :-) Best wishes fellow velo's RR On Dec 23, 8:10 am, JoelMatthews <joelmatth...@mac.com> wrote: > > Recently I scored a few "Cycing" weeklies from the late 30s and early > > 40s and a lot of the touring they talk about are rides of 2-3 days at > > most, with a few things in a saddlebag and staying in hostels and > > B&Bs. The kind of touring I would find appealing, actually, rather > > than riding a two wheeled Winnebago around the world. Modest scope in > > terms of mileage, large scope in terms of experience. > > Both types of trips are fun. Long tours with at least some time spent > sleeping under the stars is a wonderful experience. If you can find > the time to plan and go I cannot think of a better way to spend it. > > Short B&B or hostel trips are much easier on time demands. A > lifestyle that incorporates at least one or two such trips annually > has many benefits both physical and mental. > > On Dec 22, 11:16 pm, Tim McNamara <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote: > > > > > On Dec 22, 2009, at 8:36 PM, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > > > > I've long thought that bike touring should be a broader, more > > > inclusive term, not limited to multi-month expeditions with 100 lbs of > > > extreme survival gear on the bike. I'd go a step further and include > > > my usual non-competitive day rides with no overnight component in the > > > "touring" category. > > > I agree that the definition of "touring" in the US tends to be > > extremified and implies round the world, across the country, etc. > > type rides. A touring ride is any ride where your goal is to go > > somewhere and see the place (versus riding to work where the intent > > is to get to work, or racing where the intent is to win, or brevets > > where the intent is to complete a specified ride within a time frame, > > etc.). It doesn't even have to be a ride in unfamiliar territory. > > My personal definition of a "tour" would be a ride that includes > > sleeping away from home with the intent of exploring some place and > > learning something about it. Grant's notion of an S24O certainly > > falls into that category IMHO. I've done a grand total of two tours > > by that definition and had a *wonderful* time on both. Definitely > > want to do more. > > >http://www2.bitstream.net/~timmcn/tour2000.html > > >http://www2.bitstream.net/~timmcn/alps2002-1.html > > > Recently I scored a few "Cycing" weeklies from the late 30s and early > > 40s and a lot of the touring they talk about are rides of 2-3 days at > > most, with a few things in a saddlebag and staying in hostels and > > B&Bs. The kind of touring I would find appealing, actually, rather > > than riding a two wheeled Winnebago around the world. Modest scope in > > terms of mileage, large scope in terms of experience. > > > > Anyway, I imagine that Grant figured the "touring > > > bike" market was limited by the narrow connotations of touring, so he > > > advocated a more accessible thing (S24O) people can do with the > > > touring bikes and gear he is trying to sell. ACA also stands to gain > > > from expanding the definition of bike touring, and it's good that they > > > publish stuff like this. > > > I'm sure that's true, too. The market of people who want to ride > > 3,000 miles in a month is probably fairly small. The people who'd > > ride 40 miles to another town, stay overnight, and come home is > > probably larger.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
