Motivation: why ride?

[pickupel]

Hey Guys and Gals,

It may seem a really obvious question to ask, but it's one that I'm really interested in. Why do you ride long distances? What motivates you to go on cycle tours? I ride thousands of miles a year and try to go on at least one lengthy tour each summer — one of the questions I'm asked the most is "why are you out here" often followed by "you're crazy."

Your reasons might be personal, or you might not have thought about it before, but if you have a second write a few words and let me know!

Thanks in advance,

Ed

[DaveB]

I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment, the chance to see new and different places, the opportunity to spend time with friends who share the same interest and I know I'm contributing to my own health and weight control. 

You could turn that question around and ask the other person to justify their own specific interest or hobby.  For example, ask a golfer why he enjoys spending lots of money to chase a little white ball around a great big field while dressed in absurd clothing.  No one's hobby makes sense to those who don't do it.

[mmounties]

Hi Ed, check this topic for answers as well.  http://forums.adventurecycling.org/index.php?topic=11816.0

I find my likes change over time.  Right now I like the physical challenge, the time away from thinking business, the opportunity to notice the little things around me that I'd totally miss if I took a car to get there, and the chance to get together with some really cool people from all walks of life who also happen to like getting around on two wheels.

[John Nelson]

I think the answer is difficult because, for most people, the answer is a combination of many different reasons, with different priorities depending on the day and person. It's pretty much everything: fitness, health, weight control, wind in your face, the outdoors, seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, achievement, challenge, feeling of exertion, social interaction, random interaction, thrill of speed, relieving stress, appreciation of a fine machine, sunshine, environmental concerns, beating others, beating yourself, smug superiority, chance to think, conquering nature, wildlife, etc.

[johnsondasw]

What John said.  I tried to think of other reasons but he had pretty much covered them all. 

[bogiesan]

My dear wife often asks me, "Okay, you were gone for ten hours. What did you think about while you were out there on the desert or in the mountains?"

My answer is always, "I have no idea. I was conscious, I was alert, I was thinking, I was often talking to myself. No clue."

 

[PeteJack]

+2 for John Nelson. After doing big rides with partners I find that these days I prefer riding solo. I never get lonely.

[Pat]

Hi Ed,

We tour because we are crazy!  At least, the world sees us.  We stepped out of the metal cocoon, complete with Pandora soundtrack and cell service.  We set aside a virtual world with the physical, the New-Normal with the concrete, and group-think with individual responsibility and accomplishment.

We take great enjoyment in being aging rebels, pedaling along, quietly rejecting the narcissism and emptiness of the masses.  Our rebellion knows no bounds - we can stop to take enjoyment at a quiet stream, unnoticed and unappreciated by strangers whizzing by scant yards away.  We can climb the steep grade and revel at the view of the ocean, so hard earned, as the SUVs and RVs pull frantically in and out.

In other words,  we do it because it's fun.

Happy trails,

Pat

[indyfabz]

+3 on what John said. I finished an 8-day, 475 mile, fully loaded ride earlier this month and felt/experienced every one of those things. At first I thought "smug superiority" was excluded, but then I remembered how smug and superior I felt when, on the last day, I met some friends, who were near the end of a 55 mile day ride, for coffee. My loaded bike next to their cabron fiber feathers made me feel supreior, if only a little.

[paddleboy17]

I am only able to do shorter trips, but I don't know anyone that tours at all.

I like the fact that I move myself and my possessions daily.  The "fix" leaves me better prepared to meet life, and confident that I can survive should civilization collapse.

[pickupel]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I think it's interesting to see what motivates people to do what we do, particularly when so many people in today's instant-gratification obsessed world can't fathom why anyone would be out on a bike in the middle of nowhere. I wrote down my thoughts here: http://bit.ly/19meVFE

[Smudgy]

 ... because ... I have to!

It give me the greatest sensation of freedom. It makes me feel like a kid every time I get on that bike, just like when my Dad took the training wheels off for the first time.

I just turned 50, I told my wife that my goal in life is to ride coast to coast when I'm 70.

[johnsondasw]

Why wait 20 years?  Since I turned 50 I've had 2 knee operations, a pacemaker implant.....etc.  I'm still riding, though, but it would have been easier to do a coast to coast 15 years ago when I was 50!

[Smudgy]

Oh, I'm not waiting. The only way I will be able to pull that off is if I ride every year 'til then. 

[tonythomson]

because....... (that should be the sum total of an answer) I can't see that as tourist we are any different to the thousands of people who go to the same places as us except that we use a bicycle for transport.  Nothing special, maybe a tad slower, and we have more time maybe but mainly prefer going under our own steam. 

Would I swap all my future trips for a chance to go into outer space, maybe!

Planning to go S to N of Australia next year, crazy certainly not or will be if I don't do the right research and planning.