What's wrong with me? (Ridiculous ride aspiration content)

[Dan_K]

I seem to be finding myself more and more obsessed with wanting to do stupid rides. In the last week i've watched Ride the Divide twice and i'm reading a book about it at the same time. I thought about attempting the Cairngorms loop in May and a "warm up" event of the Grenztein Trophy next year. I'm determined to "one day" ride the Tour Divide.
The problem is, i'm not a good cyclist. I've done a few 100 mile days on the road bike and 300 miles in 3 days to Paris but nothing of any note on the mountain bike. There is no way i'd finish something like the Tour Divide (or the Grenztein Trophy for that matter) but I can't seem to stop thinking about it.

Am I alone with this? Please someone talk some sense into me and get me interested in something else. Endurance knitting perhaps....

[Blackhound]

Depends weather you are trying to do it in 16 days or say 28-30. Or just tour it in ~40 days.

It is more about not giving up. Having found the time and money do you really want to quit in Helena? (unless bike fails or you break a bone etc).

The route is not difficult technically although a couple of short singletrack stretches have been put in over the last few years in CO and NM.

Build up to it. When you are out there all you have to do is ride, eat and sleep so you can get in some big miles. A couple of riders have done it in a few months notice. If you started with bigger rides this year you could easily do it next year. Get yourself on SDW and over to Wales or Scotland. Maybe just ride for a week in Europe or ride from home to Fort WIlliam or something on the road. Bivvy once a month!

I think you said on Twitter you did ~2,000 miles last year (apologies if I have got you confused) which would get you from Banff to the NM border! In 2011 my vague plan was to do 2,750 miles between January 1st and June 10th. I achieved this, just, but had a lot of issues for 12 months before and in practice had 3 proper months riding before my attempt. I finished but it was not pretty by any means.

I saw this guy occcasionally until Helena but can't recall talking to him particularly:

http://nicksadventurepage.wordpress.com/

What else are you going to tell your grand-children when you are old?

[Mart]

Dan,
I dont think your alone in your thoughts. Somewhere the seed gets planted and you think why not me
Im currently going through this thought process when I read and see whats going on

I do however think you need to think positively for success
In one sentence you say "I'm determined to "one day" ride the Tour Divide" and then say " There is no way i'd finish something like the Tour Divide (or the Grenztein Trophy for that matter)"
Sure you probably couldnt go out and do that today but what about next year or the year after that

Huge challenges like this dont happen overnight. They come from Preperation and training to set you up for success. To do these takes a long build up of Body, Mind, and Equipment. Start now in little steps. have a plan with goals to get you there.

To me if your NOT feeling apprehensive about a massive challenge then you would have completely underestimated it.

Just to add something else, have you thought about the Colorado Trail (as a preperation ride maybe?)

[Blackhound]

Backing up what Mart says above I first read about the TD in 1999/2000 - it had been on my radar a LONG time.

The CRT is quite a technical challenge rather than the long steady miles of TD, different but much shorter. There are more events taking place in USA but the Highland Trail Race route in SCotland would be just as good, and cheaper to do. Or the Cairngorm's Loop. Main thing is just getting used to riding multi-days. In 2011 the 'Euro-train' slept indoors every night so you don't even have to bother with bag,tarp etc. However another rider, took nothing and was cold after only finding a hut to sleep in. He quit the next day.

[InspiredRamblings]

I don't think you're alone at all. I'm a pretty mediocre rider - have always been at the back of groups mountain biking... always. Even now I consider myself much fitter than I used to be, I'm still mediocre. I guess as has been said, it depends on whether you want to ride the Divide route, or whether you want to race it. I think that most riders with some determination who want to ride the route would be capable of doing it. Racing, I imagine, is different kettle of fish and requires a lot more prep. I don't want to race the route, but I'd love to ride it.

I rode (fully loaded) from London to Switzerland in the Autumn of 2011 as a little 'test' for doing some kind of longer trip, after having read about people like Al Humphreys and Tom Allen. I'd never come across 'adventure cycling' really before reading about these guys, despite having mountain biked in Scotland for a few years. My little ride to Switzerland didn't involve huge miles (75 was the biggest day) but I managed to do a lot of it offroad in southern Germany and through the Jura. I didn't do much prep apart from starting to commute to work by bike 22 miles a day and I started off slow with 40 mile days. The offroad stuff, as hard as it was on a fully loaded bike (panniers and everything) was amazing!



I'm now obsessed with working less and doing some epic rides. My obsessions switch between taking a few months and bikepacking (not racing) some routes like the Divide, to just renting out my flat long term, biking out of London and heading southeast out of Europe...potentially around the world (if only I could make up my mind over whether I enjoyed the offroad riding more than the ability to cover significant distances on a map - I'm not sure that trying to ride offroad round the world is the best idea!).

The nagging doubts at the back of my mind are my ability as a cyclist and my determination to keep going. However, after my little test ride, and after reading about many, many people who have done epic journeys without being athletes beforehand (some of whom essentially became athletes on the way, others who didnt!), I'm sure that its possible.



Again, I don't intend to race - I just want to ride some amazing journeys. This year I might try some of the stuff in the UK (Trans Cambrian, Cairngorm loop), maybe the Camino de Santiago in Spain... and in 2014 there is a marker in my diary for something bigger. The hardest thing is just starting.

[Bearbonesnorm]

For what it's worth (possibly not much) these are my thoughts:

• Firstly, you're not alone, I imagine a high percentage of people here dream about the TD, etc. Around the end of June you always notice a lot of threads on STW where people say they're going to 'do the TD' next year ... it's an aspirational route at the end of the day.

• As up there ^^ think small steps and develop some kind of longterm plan (possibly over years) that will help you reach the goal. Be realistic with your targets and don't beat yourself up if you miss one ... learn from it instead.

• I believe that developing the correct 'mindset' is crucial. I don't really know how to put this but 'a fondness for suffering' and a belief that no matter what happens, you WILL NOT bail out are at times far more important than physical fitness ... you need the motivation/stubborness to drive you through the dark times.

• Don't give yourself ANY bailout options. If you have to finish then you will finish ... you might not look/feel good at the end but you'll finish. Even the smallest thoughts of 'I could stop' at the wrong time can take over and before you know it, you've stopped/quit/bailed. I find that for me, the level of ridicule I'd face at home for stopping/quitting/turning back would be far greater than any pain or discomfort I'd face by staying out there ... I may put a winky icon here but it's actually true.

I'm rambling now.

[Ray Young]

There is nothing wrong in dreaming, we all do it and some of us even achieve our goals. In the 80's I did a solo cycle tour of Europe, up to that point my cycling experience as an adult was 3 months of commuting and riding 50 miles twice a week on an unloaded bike, cycle touring experience, nil. I had a great time and will never forget it. If you want it enough then you will do it, the hardest bit is making the decision to do it.

[FLV]

I think you may get the message that you're not alone in these thoughts.

I've spent quite a while dreaming about the 'one day' I'll do it rides / races. I've also spent a great deal of time (including right now) as a mediocre cyclist. I've also spent a while struggling to find the motivation though I'm doing ok at the moment.

With regard the TD, Perhaps start out with something that is hard to acheive but not insurmountable. Preferably quite close. That way you can focus on it and hopefully achieve it within a few months. Before you know it you'll be on the start line, well practiced and ready.
Make sure you're doing it for yourself that way if you quit you will have to answer to yourself. As said above, I think a huge part is the mental ability to cope. Fatigue, lonleyness etc.

[Dan_K]

Wow, thanks for the responses. I guess i'm not alone in my aspirations!

I'd definitely like to see myself do the TD one day but I think that "one day" is likely to be a few years away. I certainly wasn't considering anything in the next 2-3 years. The seed is definitely planted. As Kevin rightly pointed out my mileage last year was low. 2012 was around 2000 miles, 2011 was 3000 and 2010 was 4000 so I am progressively taking it easier....

I do think that i've got mileage in me when I need it but do tend to go for the easy option when i'm tired so that's something i'd need to work on. Maybe i'm trying to run before I can walk though.

This year, i've decided on the BB200 and hopefully the Cairngorms loop. I hadn't thought much about just setting out from home and riding around the country with no fixed plan. Maybe that's something to think about more as I guess all miles are good miles.

If that goes well, I could consider the Grenztein Trophy in 2014 or 2015. The more I ride mountain bikes, the less attracted I am to the "gnarly" side of it and so where some people aspire to jumps, tricks and ridiculous descents, I aspire to spending more time on my own - away from normal life!

[Chew]

normal life!

I try and see it the other way. Life's about adventures. All the other crap is just stuff that gets in the way. If you have a dream follow it.

Think we've all dreamed about the TD at some point. With all of these routes there's a difference between the route itself and the one time a year it becomes an event. You can ride the Cairngorms loop whenever you want, just one weekend it becomes a 'race'. Depends on if you're a racer or not? I'm not but still have fun plodding along, not in anyway fast, but what's the rush?

Kevin's Bivi a month challenge is something worth trying to complete. They can be as small or as big a trip as you want, but it's gets you out for an adventure, and then you can build up for something bigger.

[InspiredRamblings]

normal life!

I try and see it the other way. Life's about adventures. All the other crap is just stuff that gets in the way. If you have a dream follow it.

^ This. A thousand times this.

[gairym]

I haven't got anything above/beyond what everyone else's said about this but I just thought I'd own up to being the same!

I like to plan big and then see what happens as I use that particular goal as motivation and an excuse to 'get out there'.

Even if the TD never happens you'll still win.

If you aim for it than you'll have gotten out of the mundane routine of modern life (not that I'm saying your particular life is mundane) and into the hills/forest (anywhere else outside of the 'normal' comfort-zone) often enough whilst using the TD as a future incentive that you'll already be a different person to the one you'd have been without that TD dream.

Why dream small....?

[Blackhound]

I was 54 yesterday and I am still dreaming about doing things. I consider this a positive and that I am not drifting into old age with nothing on the horizon.

[Taylor]

Happy birthday Kev.

[Mart]

Dan,
I was perusing the Scotland Mtn book you sent. The very last route in the book takes you through the inner loop of the Cairngorm Loop (albeit in the opposite direction starting from FeshieBridge). A nice little target :)
My aim is to do it whilst on up on holiday (2nd or 3wk August) if anyone wants to join me.

[Dan_K]

Some of those routes in the Scotland book look very tempting. Great pictures too!
Apart from an overnight in Glasgow, i've never been to Scotland. Long way to go from South London.... Cost of petrol and travelling time always puts me off when I can be in Wales in just over 2 hours. Flying with a bike is a faff too for a weekend trip.

Hoping to be in Slovakia again in August. Gonna see if I can plot a 2-3 day bikepacking trip inside the 2 week family hol....

[adjustablewench]

I've been looking at using the sleeper trains for a trip to Scotland this year - prices don't look too bad if you book enough in advance

[Dan_K]

I've been looking at using the sleeper trains for a trip to Scotland this year - prices don't look too bad if you book enough in advance

Yeah i've seen those too. Would be fairly convenient from London. Think it was still £100+ when I last looked. Is Scotland worth that much effort over Wales though? Having never been, I don't know...

[Blackhound]

Thanks Taylor.

Try and book 3 months in advance and you can get decent prices. Look at 'splitting' your route as well for savings.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel ... in-tickets

It is a days journey each way for most of us in England. Is it worth it? I think so. It always seem bigger some how and even more remote. Recall riding out of Aviemore one day up the Burma Road and seeing one person all day. And unless their are people with guns you can ride where ever you like.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Is Scotland worth that much effort over Wales though? Having never been, I don't know...

I don't think you can always attach a price to experiences ... riding is about making memories for when you can't ride anymore

[nobby]

What else are you going to tell your grand-children when you are old?

Lies, they won't know the difference and if you make them laugh they won't care. :)