Mental Preparation

There are so many things to do to get ready for a cross-country bike ride like I am planning. The first is to imagine that it is even possible to do such a thing, because everyone who is not a very serious cyclist will think that you are crazy. They will not necessarily tell you this, but they will think it. While from their perspective it would be nuts to try and travel across America by bicycle, much less in little over a month, this does not help you. Friends who are not cyclists will be supportive even if they can’t give you good advice. In general cycling friends in general will not want to offend you if they think you may be biting off more than you can chew. In fact getting realistic advice about whether such an adventure is reasonable is very hard.

If you can find a friend who can and will give you realistic opinions about a transcontinental ride and can evaluate you ability to complete it hold on to that friend no matter what. Personally I have not had such a friend to give me advice. I am sure that some of my cycling friends think I am going to be in over my head and I may be, but I plan to give it a good a try as I can.

Why would one do something like this? It is not as if there aren’t some far easier ways of getting from one coast to the other. The classic response, because it’s there, also doesn’t cut it. Thousands of people have ridden across America, your doing it represents nothing more than a personal achievement. I heard today of a man who swam the length of the Amazon River. That’s an achievement where one can say that he did it because; it was there, and wanted to see if anyone could do it. Riding across America has to be about personal goals or reaffirmation. It could be that you have survived a disease or injury or tragedy and this is your way of demonstrating to your self that you are past that event. It could also be that you have recently celebrated an important birthday, usually they have years that end in a zero, and you wish to prove to yourself that you are not old yet. Unfortunately there will always be someone older and faster than you who has ridden across America.

My motivation is a combination of the above. I have a 35^th reunion from college coming up in a few months and riding back to my reunion would surely be something that no one else in my class ’72 from MIT, will do. So if I limit my Universe sufficiently, I can be unique. I would also like to think that I am not so old and this be a way to reaffirm that to myself. In doing it I may also confirm the opinions of my friends who secretly think I am crazy, but I will take that risk.

The ride is also about the cruel turns that life takes. While I am planning a bicycle ride across America, in large part because I can, my best friend from college, someone who I lived with for 8 years has been contemplating under going chemotherapy for renal cancer. While I am riding across America, the best man at my wedding will be fighting for his life in a hospital in Boston. I know we will both get to our reunion, but the differences in our lives today don’t seem fair. Dave you fight your fight and see you in Boston this June.