So back to making progress after playing tourist with Alice. Early start and make some miles…ha ha…the appeal of town is strong. I slept in and tooled around getting breakfast, groceries and planning my route.
I am starting to build confidence. My body is growing accustomed to the grind. My mind has probably gotten the strongest. I know what I can do and mentally I am better equipped for a full pull day. In other words when I look over the daily route and pull away for the day I am confident. This is a huge shift from the start when I had no idea what multiple full days of loaded cycle touring would feel like.
Today I especially knew what I was in for. I had done the big climb yesterday. All trail all day. The Nor-Pac over lookout pass and connecting below to the route of the Olympic. 56 miles. All alone in beautiful woods with a gravel trail in reasonable condition.
I have learned to control my effort and not get in a rush. If I hit it hard I blow up and the rest of the day is miserable. If I spin in low gear and forget about the stop watch it feels like I can go forever. Perpetual motion machine. This was what I did all morning back up the pass.
About half way up I was taking a break and it occurred to me that I was feeling great and was full of joy. For the first time on this trip I was caught up in the moment of just cycling. I wasn’t thinking about where I was trying to get to. I wasn’t thinking about what I would do in town. No golf, no soda, no pressure. It was simply cycling in a great location smiling and enjoying the journey.
Don’t get me wrong I have enjoyed every mile of the trip (yes even day three). But today was special. My body and mind have caught up to what I knew I could do. I am feeling more confident in my endurance. My fully loaded bike handling skills have improved exponentially. I know what the bike can do and how to read the terrain and surface. Again Alister is a beast and can eat potato salad gravel for all three meals of the day. I on the other hand prefer asphalt silk pie all day long.
Don’t get me wrong I am still absolutely feeling every mile. I am exhausted every evening. But it feels like something has changed. As I said most of it is mental. I don’t think I have magically gone from overweight and out of shape to a world class cyclist in three weeks. But the changes are real and make me excited for the miles to come.
If you are wondering, NO, I have not gotten faster. I have never been fast at anything and biking is no different even with all the recent practice. Average pace with only the little breaks works out to 8 miles an hour plus or minus depending on terrain (I pause the computer for lunch and other longer breaks). But speed really isn’t the point. As said in an earlier post getting to DC is Future Erich’s problem. This guy is just out biking and golfing.
