As my spotty-at-best posting might suggest, life and work are continuing to conspire against my blogging efforts. The life stuff is good, I'm doing a little coaching for the first time this year and my free time is pretty much soccer soccer soccer.
Work, however, has also been crazy, which has led me to start thinking about retirement although it is a far off, unreal condition for me. Nonetheless, I have had an idea and I would like to hear from people about its potential flaws or how it might be refined.
Every cyclist loves a tailwind. What if you could take a trip that was nothing but tailwinds, every day? So here's my idea. I pick a spot somewhere smack in the middle of the US. I have a fully loaded tourer and maybe even a trailer. I have camping stuff, a few nicer things to wear and some vacation money. Each day I get up and ride in whatever direction the wind blows me. If the winds shifts, I shift with it. I stop if I'm blown into a town I want to see more of, maybe stay in a motel. If I'm blown into the middle of nowhere I find a spot to camp. In my mind's eye the first time I try this it is for a couple of weeks. The next time, lessons learned, a month or more, and so on...
Hey, I could write a travel book about it, or since I take so much video, make a short film! See ya later; dream time is over and I've got to get back to work.
Tailwinds*,
R A N T W I C K *"Tailwinds" salutation stolen from ChipSeal.
11 comments:
Wouldn't it be loverly!
I'd try it.
Maybe.
Sounds like a bicycling "Then Came Bronson" type thing. Take your video camera along with you.
I'm in the middle of reading the Jack Reacher novels. If he had a bike, this is what he would do. After you've perfected it you could start a "tour to ?".
Retirement is different for cycle commuters. Afterwards they keep working just so they can ride their bikes to work. I retired in October 2009.
When I retire (supposing I do and don't keel over at work in my late 80s clutching my chest and screaming GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHG) I plan to find someplace to go each day that requires the bike. Coffee with friends, shopping, a dusty trail I can hit, you know the drill.
Otherwise, I might go nuts.
Oh, and I love your idea. It actually sounds like a lot of fun:)
Hmmm, people (other than Steve, who loves the commute THAT much) like the idea.
Jeff... tour to ? Sounds like fun too, although it would require me to like, talk to others. Perhaps by the time I retire I will have worked out my loner issues.
That'd be very nice! I hope to do something like that when/if I retire!
Peace :)
I entertain ideas for weird concept trips all the time. The major risk is that you just keep blowing back and forth in the American Midwest and never escape. The other problem would be if you hit the coast and got a sustained offshore wind.
Reminds me of Wanda, an 80 year old woman I met one year on BAK (www.bak.org). She got up on the morning of her 80th birthday, climbed on her bike, checked the wind, and then rode in that direction for 80 miles. When she had ridden 80 miles, she stopped along the side of the road, called her daughter, and said, "Come get me"!
What would really suck is to get one of those tail winds which make you go 'round and 'round and 'round and 'round and 'round and land you in Oz. We would miss you. Just wear your ruby cycling shoes...
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