“Large is a better deal.” said the friendly face behind the counter at Papa John’s 30 minutes before midnight. Of course it is. “Okay, a large and some garlic knots.” Only a bike trip would drive me to a situation like this. Isaac, Dakota, and I are stopped for refueling most of the way into an after dark trial run from Dakota’s house to Isaac’s to give Dakota, a potential 2015 Tour de Dance participant, a taste of what bike touring is about.
A lot has been said about approaches to training for specific bike events and activities, but it all boils down to : go ride your bike. As purely recreational tourers, this is our core preparation philosophy. For Dakota this is a milestone 80+ mile weekend round trip with 4000′ of climbing through hilly Conneticut terrain on a bike he’s never ridden before. If he makes it through this, it’s solid evidence that the week long trip is achievable for him. On the other hand, there’s that “if.” It’s a big part of what makes any of this worth doing. You never can be sure what the outcome will be. Bike touring is not that weekly sitcom where you never doubt the conclusion, it’s real life mini adventure that can exist in a modern sanitized world. Training for a trip like the Tour de Dance might make it a bit less taxing physically, but at this point you already know if you’re physically capable. None of us knows for sure if this weekend’s trip will succeed. The essence of this training is building the faith to do it anyway.
“The tavern, the ice cream place, or keep going?” we ask Dakota. It’s Sunday afternoon now and having passed most of the climbing on the return route it’s time for lunch. “It’s real life choose your own adventure.” I point out, not knowing if that reference has any meaning to today’s grade school generation. It is though, really, and that’s the fun. An hour later we are rolling into Dakota’s neighborhood, all in good spirits, a preparatory milestone compete. About 10 weeks left until the main event, who’s next?
