Your first long distance tour...

[destination]

What was going through your mind upon commencing your very first long distance tour?
What was going through your mind as you finished, or were about to finish your first long distance tour?

[johnsondasw]

Excitement on the first question about the tour to come and excitement on the second question about tours to come.  I'm still excited, 30 years later about touring, and still doing it every year.

[indyfabz]

1.  Dang!  I have only ridden a fully loaded bike once, and only for 62 miles.  And I have never slept in a tent.  And how in the world can 13 people carry enough cooking gear to prepare decent meals?  I am wondering whether I might have a screw loose.

2.  Dang!  I realized my dream to ride my bike across the country.  And it wasn't as hard as I feared.  And I sure gained a lot of experience and knowledge. Forget going back to work.  I am going to plan another trip.  Now I hope my mom is home because I don't want to have to dig around in my panniers to find the house key I stashed away at the start of the trip.

[nancysv]

You really expect me to remember that long ago?  Honestly, I have no idea.  My first long distance tour was from Norfolk, VA to New Orleans - I think I was excited to get started and excited to finish!

I'm still excited about touring and learning about our world, and I've now pedaled many thousands of miles through many countries.  We're currently stuck in Ecuador and I can't wait to get back on the road!

[trout]

What was going through your mind upon commencing your very first long distance tour?
What was going through your mind as you finished, or were about to finish your first long distance tour?

Interesting questions that I attempted to answer 28 years after my first long distance tour, in this short journal on crazyguyonabike: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=RrzKj&doc_id=497&v=0&term=chuck%20allen&context=all

[John Nettles]

I was 15 going on a 1,000-mile, month-long ride with a fellow rider who was a newspaper reporter.  We were scouting out other cross-state (RAGBRAI, SAAGBRAW, etc.) rides to see how Oklahoma's could improve.  I had to walk my first hill ever as we ended up on a road under construction so had a gravel road on a really steep uphill next to the Mississippi.  I couldn't get traction so I had to walk.  Over 30 years later, I still remember that blasted hill but now I don't care as much if the old body doesn't have the wind to make it up the hill.

At the end, I was thinking, man I gotta go back to school.  Bummer.

Good question!

[tonythomson]

Despite several long distance hauls, I still have the same self doubts / concerns, can I actually do this?  Should I have someone along?  Is my equipment up to scratch, despite all the experience and research. Is this too great a physical challenge to me.  Two or three days in and i am fine. Determined.

At the end, well really pleased that I've completed what I set out to do but usually wishing it would last a bit longer as always really enjoyed the experience.  Finished the ST in 09.  Can't wait for the spring to start Atlantic coast but I'm sure the old doubts will be there..

Tony

[Galloper]

Glenageary to Sandycove.   1/2 a mile, I was 5.   It was kind of scary but very exciting.   And I had jam (jelly) sandwiches.   I still get that same feeling today and I still like jam sandwiches.   

Either my mother was very laid back about letting me go adventuring or she carried out a covert surveillance operation that would shame the CIA.   I rather suspect the latter.

[DaveB]

My first "Long Tour" was TOSRV in 1986, a fully supported annual ride (~5000 participants at the time) that requires two century days in a row but on an unloaded bike.   

I was a relatively new rider and my longest ride at that time was 33 miles so I was apprehensive since I would be riding in "terra incognito" even before the lunch stop.

I was elated at the end of the first day, having completed my first ever century and even happier at the end of the second day.  I've been back 18 times since. 

[destination]

What does "terra incognito" mean? I looked it up and found out that incognito means "in disguise"

[mucknort]

What does "terra incognito" mean? I looked it up and found out that incognito means "in disguise"

I can't find anything for "terra incognito", but here's some definitions for "terra incognita":

Wikipedia says:  Terra incognita or terra ignota (Latin "unknown land," with incognita stressed on its second syllable in Latin, but with variation in pronunciation in English) is a term used in cartography for regions that have not been mapped or documented.

yourdictionary.com says: terra in·cog·nita (ter′ə in käg′ni tə)
an unknown land; unexplored territory
an unknown or unexplored field of knowledge

[tonythomson]

Maybe for your first tour it should just be "terra" (sic) 

[johnsondasw]

What does "terra incognito" mean? I looked it up and found out that incognito means "in disguise"

Any time I want to know what anything means, I just type it into google and find out!  What a difference from just a few years ago.

[jimbo]

My first long tour which was my very first tour ever  was coast to coast in 2008 at age 62, and my first thoughts were "how will a 30 mile uphill in the Cascades feel"...and as the temps went to 105º+ my thoughts quickly changed to "can I ride in this heat for a week". I found living in the moment was all I wanted to do and it worked for me. At the end, the 3rd week of Oct. in Maine, it was a cold cold day with a NE wind and all I thought about was getting off the beach after the toast. Not very profound.  
I had some profound thoughts on the long long Hwy#44 in SD where the moments ran into days. My riding companion had lots of profound thoughts, but as the blog writer, and a writer by trade, (www.fllt.org/blog/)  he had to be thinking of profound discoveries along the route.
For me it doesn't have to be profound to be meaningful. Just be.  Ride and live.

[destination]

Well, Glenageary to Sandycove to "Terra" might just be as far as I can go. (enjoyed your posts)

See: "Health issue" in General Discussion Thank you.