What is it about the mileage?

Pat

I am seeing posts on this and other places where the topic is about the trip
but all anyone wants to do is brag on the mileage and I don't get it. I rode
around County Clare and the Dingle peninsula for 12 days and I was doing it
for the experience, not to come back and brag about how many miles per day I
covered.

Now, I am planning to ride the Katy Trail and there are many posts saying
things like "I did the entire 225 miles in 4 days" or "it didn't take me but
6 days" and I want to ask "why?" Doesn't anyone ride to experience the trip
or is it all about bragging when you get home? What is the point of going to
a new place if all you do is maintain a 100 km per day distance level?

Pat in TX

Papa Tom

>>>Doesn't anyone ride to experience the trip or is it all about bragging
>>>when you get home?<<<<

Pat:

This is a subject that has been discussed here many times. I initiated the
conversation once - several years ago, but was immediately pounced on by
people who have a different idea about riding.

I quickly learned that you have to follow your bliss and do whatever makes
you happy. Cyclists, by nature, are individualists who don't want to be
told how to cycle. While I agree that "riding for the journey" is very
rewarding, I can now accept that others ride for other reasons. Perhaps a
cyclist was never able to accomplish anything athletically outstanding in
her childhood life; so now she wants to share with the world that she rode
her first century. Or a guy grew up chubby and always lost the races at his
elementary school's Field Day; and now he's full of himself after having
completed a 200 mile rail trail in one day.

We're all OK (unless we're jerks, of course) doing what we love doing. So
enjoy the Katy Trail...and damnit, take a MONTH to ride it if you want to!

Tom M www.geocities.com/NYRides

Guy Anderson, Sr.

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 08:17:30 -0500, "Pat" <infox@tmail.com> wrote:

>I am seeing posts on this and other places where the topic is about the trip
>but all anyone wants to do is brag on the mileage and I don't get it.

What you "don't get" is that not everyone must ride like you do.
Different strokes for different folks!

Me? I enjoy both balls-to-the-wall mileage AND going slow and
smelling the flowers.

mike.a.schwab@gmail.com

On Mar 27, 8:17 am, "Pat" <in...@tmail.com> wrote:
> I am seeing posts on this and other places where the topic is about the trip
> but all anyone wants to do is brag on the mileage and I don't get it. I rode
> around County Clare and the Dingle peninsula for 12 days and I was doing it
> for the experience, not to come back and brag about how many miles per day I
> covered.
>
> Now, I am planning to ride the Katy Trail and there are many posts saying
> things like "I did the entire 225 miles in 4 days" or "it didn't take me but
> 6 days" and I want to ask "why?" Doesn't anyone ride to experience the trip
> or is it all about bragging when you get home? What is the point of going to
> a new place if all you do is maintain a 100 km per day distance level?
>
> Pat in TX

Yeah, we have a bunch of mileage addicts and braggards on
http://www.bikejournal.com/ , including annual mileage challenges as
to who can get to 2,500 first (among people who have not ridden that
far), 5,000 first (among people who have not ridden that far), or
8,000 miles first (among 2 individuals), requests for other not to
ride so much. Other people want photo posted to prove every state line
you crossed. Some have joined RUSA which requires 200K-1200K rides in
certain time periods and signatures at certain checkpoints. You (Pat
in TX) would certainly want to stay away from a site like that.

Pat

>
>>I am seeing posts on this and other places where the topic is about the
>>trip
>>but all anyone wants to do is brag on the mileage and I don't get it.
>
> What you "don't get" is that not everyone must ride like you do.
> Different strokes for different folks!

No, what I don't get is why someone would want to travel a long way to get
to a new and/or exotic destination and then totally blow through the
countryside ONLY to brag at how little time it took them!


>
> Me? I enjoy both balls-to-the-wall mileage AND going slow and
> smelling the flowers.

Well, so do I. But, I do the mileage around here where I live and explore
the vacation areas.

Pat in TX

Pat

>
> Yeah, we have a bunch of mileage addicts and braggards on
> http://www.bikejournal.com/ , including annual mileage challenges as
> to who can get to 2,500 first (among people who have not ridden that
> far), 5,000 first (among people who have not ridden that far), or
> 8,000 miles first (among 2 individuals), requests for other not to
> ride so much. Other people want photo posted to prove every state line
> you crossed. Some have joined RUSA which requires 200K-1200K rides in
> certain time periods and signatures at certain checkpoints. You (Pat
> in TX) would certainly want to stay away from a site like that.

I think you misunderstood my post. I can pile on the miles in Texas, but
when I spring for a trip to Ireland, say, I am not obsessed with racking up
miles so as to impress the guys back home.

Pat in TX

Papa Tom

>>>>No, what I don't get is why someone would want to travel a long way to
>>>>get to a new and/or exotic destination and then totally blow through the
>>>>countryside ONLY to brag at how little time it took them!<<<<

As I said in my earlier post, Pat, I agree with you wholeheartedly - and I
am often sad for riders who, in my opinion, are missing the whole beauty of
riding. But they don't seem to feel sorry for themselves, so who am I to
judge them?

What you're describing reflects what I like to call the "American Idol
Attitude." Essentially, it's the manic drive that people (especially young
people) have for taking shortcuts to every one of life's goals. In my years
as a professional musician, I had many, many great experiences that I
wouldn't trade for anything. I played in large concert arenas across the
country, recorded on major record labels, and met some of the most
interesting people you could ever imagine. In the end, after half my life
working toward the goal of "making it" in the music business, I was
nowhere - and I had to make the very rough decision to move on to something
else. As disheartening as the results were, to this day, I maintain that I
would not give up the experiences I had for anything.

Today, 15 year old kids with absolutely NO experience pass a few auditions
and "go to Hollywood." Then, if Simon is having a bad day and they don't
make it past the first elimination round, they have a nervous breakdown and
announce on the 10:00 News that they will never sing again. The attitude is
that, if you can't accomplish a goal easily and without any real compassion,
then it's not worth doing. That's why young girls are climbing all over
each other to get into those "Girls Gone Wild" videos - It's all about
achieving massive notoriety in the fastest, most painless manner possible.
Unfortunately, this attitude applies across the board these days.

Saddest, though, is that many people carry this attitude into their hobbies.
While I believe there are many self-respecting cyclists who race and clock
their mileage for "healthy" reasons, I agree that far too many spend a lot
of time calculating every pedal stroke and every ounce of sweat excreted and
end up missing out on some of the best parts of cycling. These people are
not content to enjoy the ride if there are no bragging rights to go along
with it. Perhaps they are perfectly content not knowing any other way - or
maybe there is something the rest of us can teach them. I don't know and
I'm not sure it's my job to solve the problem.

Anyway, as I implied the last time around, you can only ride one bike at a
time, so concentrate on riding your own and enjoying the hell out of every
second.

TM www.geocities.com/NYRides

Tom

On Mar 27, 7:17�am, "Pat" <in...@tmail.com> wrote:
> I am seeing posts on this and other places where the topic is about the trip
> but all anyone wants to do is brag on the mileage and I don't get it. I rode
> around County Clare and the Dingle peninsula �for 12 days and I was doing it
> for the experience, not to come back and brag about how many miles per dayI
> covered.
>
> Now, I am planning to ride the Katy Trail and there are many posts saying
> things like "I did the entire 225 miles in 4 days" or "it didn't take me but
> 6 days" and I want to ask "why?" Doesn't anyone ride to experience the trip
> or is it all about bragging when you get home? What is the point of going to
> a new place if all you do is maintain a 100 km per day distance level?
>
> Pat in TX

The whole idea of cycle touring is to see the place through which you
are traveling. The big problem is getting back to the job or whatnot
on time. The best way to do this is to be able and willing to spend
more time in a place that you didn't plan to spend time in or to
detour to some place you didn't intend to see.

The Katy trail is rather easy, almost no hills just level pedaling.
There is some climbing coming out of Clinton but most of the time it's
quite flat. So to do it in 4 days isn't much to brag about.

Tom

Gary

"Pat" <infox@tmail.com> wrote in message
news:651l3cF2djtedU1@mid.individual.net...
>I am seeing posts on this and other places where the topic is about the
>trip but all anyone wants to do is brag on the mileage and I don't get it.
>I rode around County Clare and the Dingle peninsula for 12 days and I was
>doing it for the experience, not to come back and brag about how many miles
>per day I covered.
>
> Now, I am planning to ride the Katy Trail and there are many posts saying
> things like "I did the entire 225 miles in 4 days" or "it didn't take me
> but 6 days" and I want to ask "why?" Doesn't anyone ride to experience the
> trip or is it all about bragging when you get home? What is the point of
> going to a new place if all you do is maintain a 100 km per day distance
> level?
>
> Pat in TX
>
I read a tour report once where the guy was so obsessed with mileage that he
actually blew through Grenada Spain and didn't stop to see the Alhambra, and
when he wrote his report he talked about hills and dips in the road. One
would think that if you went by the Alhambra you might want to stop to see
it, since 1) you never saw anything like it before, and 2) there isn't
anything like it anywhere else, and 3) you might never pass that way again.

Papa Tom

>>>The Katy trail is rather easy, almost no hills just level pedaling....So
>>>to do it in 4 days isn't much to brag about.<<<<

Ah, but we're assuming the person was bragging about it. Perhaps he/she
stated that as a way to encourage others to ride the entire trail - as in "I
rode the whole 225 miles and, even at my snail's pace, it only took four
days."

"Tom" <tbgibb@aol.com> wrote in message
news:87a62d49-aa1d-47d8-a56e-acca38be43bb@s12g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
On Mar 27, 7:17?am, "Pat" <in...@tmail.com> wrote:
> I am seeing posts on this and other places where the topic is about the
> trip
> but all anyone wants to do is brag on the mileage and I don't get it. I
> rode
> around County Clare and the Dingle peninsula ?for 12 days and I was doing
> it
> for the experience, not to come back and brag about how many miles per day
> I
> covered.
>
> Now, I am planning to ride the Katy Trail and there are many posts saying
> things like "I did the entire 225 miles in 4 days" or "it didn't take me
> but
> 6 days" and I want to ask "why?" Doesn't anyone ride to experience the
> trip
> or is it all about bragging when you get home? What is the point of going
> to
> a new place if all you do is maintain a 100 km per day distance level?
>
> Pat in TX

The whole idea of cycle touring is to see the place through which you
are traveling. The big problem is getting back to the job or whatnot
on time. The best way to do this is to be able and willing to spend
more time in a place that you didn't plan to spend time in or to
detour to some place you didn't intend to see.

The Katy trail is rather easy, almost no hills just level pedaling.
There is some climbing coming out of Clinton but most of the time it's
quite flat. So to do it in 4 days isn't much to brag about.

Tom

Pat

>>
> I read a tour report once where the guy was so obsessed with mileage that
> he
> actually blew through Grenada Spain and didn't stop to see the Alhambra,
> and
> when he wrote his report he talked about hills and dips in the road. One
> would think that if you went by the Alhambra you might want to stop to see
> it, since 1) you never saw anything like it before, and 2) there isn't
> anything like it anywhere else, and 3) you might never pass that way
> again.

I went to Spain in May 2006. Of course, I'm looking around for bicycles. To
my surprise, I see guys dressed out in full kit---riding mountain bikes on
the roads! Well, when I got to Granada, I was a bit suprised at how hilly it
is. It became clear to me that the guys were training in town, on the
mountain bikes, to build up their legs and lungs. The only people I saw
riding road bikes were between towns, out on the country roads (and not many
of these riders, either). The majority were not riding Orbeas, either (even
when I was in Madrid I didn't see any).

At any rate, the Alhambra is atop a good-sized hill so that the views from
the top are stunning.
>

mike vore

> On Mar 27, 8:17 am, "Pat" <in...@tmail.com> wrote:
>> I am seeing posts on this and other places where the topic is about the trip
>> but all anyone wants to do is brag on the mileage and I don't get it. I rode
>> around County Clare and the Dingle peninsula for 12 days and I was doing it
>> for the experience, not to come back and brag about how many miles per day I
>> covered.
>>
>> Now, I am planning to ride the Katy Trail and there are many posts saying
>> things like "I did the entire 225 miles in 4 days" or "it didn't take me but
>> 6 days" and I want to ask "why?" Doesn't anyone ride to experience the trip
>> or is it all about bragging when you get home? What is the point of going to
>> a new place if all you do is maintain a 100 km per day distance level?

Everyone rides for their own purpose, some count mileage, others come back
and brag "I saw 1,354 squirrels, 45,987 trees, etc" To each his(her) own. You
get your bragging rights your own way.

I'll bet that when you get to the office you might say "Boy what traffic
today, it took me 10 minutes longer than usual!"

So what's your beef? Why try to stir up trouble with others that get theirs
in their own way



--
Mike Vore
http://www.OhMyWoodness.com
http://www.OhMyWoodness.com/photos
http://www.OhMyWoodness.com/thewoodenradio

Pat

>
> Everyone rides for their own purpose, some count mileage, others come back
> and brag "I saw 1,354 squirrels, 45,987 trees, etc" To each his(her) own.
> You get your bragging rights your own way.
>
> I'll bet that when you get to the office you might say "Boy what traffic
> today, it took me 10 minutes longer than usual!"
>
> So what's your beef? Why try to stir up trouble with others that get
> theirs in their own way
> --
> Mike Vore

No beef. Not trying to "stir up trouble". Just looking for some
understanding as to why people would take a long time to get to a faraway
place and then make the entire trip about their daily mileage. It baffles
me, that's all.

And, no, I don't care about "bragging rights".

Pat in TX

Ron Wallenfang

On Apr 1, 8:34*am, "Pat" <in...@tmail.com> wrote:
> > Everyone rides for their own purpose, some count mileage, others come back
> > and brag "I saw 1,354 squirrels, 45,987 trees, etc" To each his(her) own..
> > You get your bragging rights your own way.
>
> > I'll bet that when you get to the office you might say "Boy what traffic
> > today, it took me 10 minutes longer than usual!"
>
> > So *what's your beef? *Why try to stir up trouble with others that get
> > theirs in their own way
> > --
> > Mike Vore
>
> No beef. Not trying to "stir up trouble". Just looking for some
> understanding as to why people would take a long time to get to a faraway
> place and then make the entire trip about their daily mileage. It baffles
> me, that's all.
>
> And, no, I don't care about "bragging rights".
>
> Pat in TX

I suppose I'm one of the people you don't understand, as my
temperament is to try to go from dawn to the last motel before dusk on
all my long trips. That largely is what it is - a matter of
temperament. I can offer some rationalizations that contain some part
of the truth e.g.:

1. As stated in a post last year about my SF - Milwaukee trip last
August, one factor is the desire to have an athletic achievement worth
noticing. But I'm not very fast, not possessed of much upper body
strength, not very agile, not very co-ordinated, my shoulders are
injury prone, and I'm more often than not a bit overweight. But I do
have the ability to sit on a bike for hours on end, day after day, and
that is what I do.

2. I've been recording my daily mileage since 1993 - with other
information - and inevitably that feeds a daily mileage oriented
mentality.

3. I'm 64 and not yet retired. My wife does not do bike trips, and
if enough vacation time is kept available to vacation together, I have
to make the most of my time alone. So not many days are available to
cover a lot of distance. If I cut my daily mileage by, say, 2/3, I've
cut out 2/3 of the things I've seen at all.

4. You do "smell the roses" - many of them anyway - at 14 mph, rather
than auto or airplane speed. And in many areas en route to the more
beautiful ones, you have time to smell all the "roses" you care to.
From Nevada desert to Utah salt flats to Illinois cornfields to the
north woods in which I grew up, there's a lot of territory you can
take in quickly, from an aesthetic standpoint.

5. Due to mechanical problems, I lost a day and a half on one trip,
by good fortune in the Williamsburg, VA area, using a loaner bike
while mine awaited a new frame. It was a nice opportunity to enjoy a
nice area, but I was unquestionalby restless to be on my way again -
once again a matter or temperament.

6. There are priorities and limits. I have never to my recollection
passed up a weekday Mass opportunity, when I happen by a church at the
right time of day, and I am dogmatic (literally) about finding one on
weekends. When fatigue threatens, I will readily look for a likely
park or roadside spot to nap and refresh, and those hours of
refreshment can be very precious.