GNBR – Painful Preparation

Over the years of doing long tours (1200 to 2600 miles), people often ask how I prepare for that type of ride. Truthfully, there really isn’t a way to prepare to ride many miles day after day. Plus, employment, family, and church, before departure, make it impossible to ride any significant miles day after day. So, I ride often and as far as time permits, but it’s never enough. By the end of week one on a tour, my but is raw enough that I’m applying butt cream survive and my legs are tired. However, one thing I have been doing to prepare is watching videos of other riders biking across Canada. If nothing else, I might know the name of the next province on the trip, which is likely way more than most Americans know:).

The funniest video series is a group of three young friends riding for cancer awareness: https://youtu.be/a4UD0MvnUe4?si=rxq9su179LzYt7CP. As far as I can tell, none have biked since they were 9. Yet, they get on their bikes in St. Johns, Newfoundland (my end point) and pedal west. Their adventures, mainly due to a lack of preparation, are hilarious, if not terrifying. Much of their time seems to be spent fixing flats and broken bikes. Crossing Ontario took something like a month! Despite the trials and painfully slow pace, I love that they stay upbeat and “keep pedaling”. Hopefully, I can keep that mentality.

Some other videos aren’t so cheerful and hit a little closer to home. In this one https://youtu.be/izgoQjR8Y_A?si=5HENkSqLT_s_feD5, a couple starts their ride in BC. It’s only a 12-minute video, but 9 minutes into it, there isn’t a couple anymore, but rather a single guy. As I watched other bike touring videos, I found too many similar stories: a couple starts riding together, but sadly, only one finishes the ride. The companionship dissolves. Even after watching several of them, I’m unclear if long-distance bicycle riders make bad companions (which is likely true for me) or if long-distance bicycle rides are challenging for companionships.

My experiences riding almost 8000 miles with my fantastic wife, Gloria, were the opposite. We had wonderful days together. We fondly and frequently recalled the trips and experiences when not on tour. My friends and children will undoubtedly point out that Gloria was incredibly tolerant of my crazy adventures. I won’t disagree. But, in my defense, I did provide a very padded seat and an electric bike. As you can see, she loved being outside, although that smile might be because she isn’t sitting on her bike.

As you all know (see last week’s post), Gloria passed away last year. Until recently, I thought my Canadian ride was going to be solo. Then I met someone online. We dated, and seemed to hit it off. She’d even made some reservations to meet me on my bike ride for a few days. I began thinking the four months of riding might not all be lonely. However, even worse than my video friends, our relationship didn’t make it 9 minutes into “my” 12-minute video of our ride. In fact, we didn’t even make it to minute 0 on the ride.

She dumped me on Easter like I was suddenly a rotten egg! The “end” was so sudden, you’d have thought she discovered I had leprosy! I’m unsure what I did wrong, although my dating “skills” are undoubtedly rusty, and I didn’t buy her a cushioned seat or an e-bike. More likely, I think she could not tolerate my religious beliefs. My LDS Christianity was likely not acceptable to her protestant Christianity. So, like my video friends, I’ll now pedal solo, apply butt cream as needed, see an incredible variety of beautiful country, and enjoy meeting the wonderfully friendly and pleasant Canadians.