Now that I actually have more than five
minutes to write, I thought it would be a good time to describe my
daily routine, at least so far.
I'll actually start with what happens
when I get to the hotel...
I park my bike somewhere and go check
in. Sometimes they make me fill out the guest information form
myself, and my hands are usually wonky after riding on bad roads for
hours. So I usually write like a first grader.
They ask me (or tell me) when they are
serving breakfast the next day. I will always be at breakfast as
early as possible, since the weather always seems to be better in the
mornings. When I looked up hotels on Booking.com, my only two
requirements were breakfast and Wifi. Bonus points if they had a
restaurant.
Once that is sorted, I ask if I can
take my bike to my room. The answer is almost always no, and they
want me to leave it somewhere else. If that is the case, I head back
to my bike, and open one of the rear bags to get my bike maintenance
gear. (It is important to pack this last so it is on top!)
My daily maintenance routine is to wipe
down the chain with baby wipes and re-lube it. I'll check the tires
to make sure they are still in good shape and then check the bolts on
the racks, fenders, handlebars, and seatpost. This way, if I find any
problems, I have the maximum amount of time to remedy them and
possibly buy parts/supplies. Or look up videos on YouTube to see how
to fix the problem.
Once the bike is taken care of and put
away, I'll go to my room and bring all my bags up with me. I then
proceed to dump out every bag in it's own separate pile. There are a
few reasons for this: 1) I'm basically going to use everything I
brought with me, 2) in case of rain, this ensures things have a
chance to dry out, 3) it keeps like items together and makes it fast
to pack up in the morning.
The downside is the room looks like a
trailer park after a tornado. I do have lots of things grouped
together in plastic bags, but still.
The next task is to start the laundry.
I brought a small bottle with Dawn dish soap, so I find that and
figure out how to block the sink. Some hotels have stoppers, but I
also brought part of a rubber glove to be a makeshift stopper. I fill
up the sink with water and a little soap and put all the clothes I've
worn that day in the sink. They will sit in the soapy water while I
take a shower.
Once I'm done with my shower, I put the
clothes in there and rinse them off. The European showers with the
handheld showerhead makes this really easy.
At some point, I will also plugs things
in to charge, like my bike computer and lights and maybe cell phone.
Before I deal with the wet laundry, I
have to take care of the other cycling kit sets. I'll lay out the one
I am wearing the next day, but also the one that got washed the night
before. (I have three kits in total: the one I'm wearing and two
spares.) I learned that sometimes things aren't always completely dry
after one night of drying, so this gives that set another evening to
completely dry.
Now the wet laundry gets wrung out,
rolled up in a towel, and then hung up to dry. I am getting pretty
creative with places to hang things.
Now that the bike, my clothes, and I am
clean, it is time for dinner. I will eat at the hotel restaurant, if
they have one. While I'm waiting for my food, that is a great time
for checking Facebook, emails, etc. on my phone. I also feel a little
less weird sitting by myself if I am on my phone. Maybe I just don't
notice people looking at me funny.
After dinner, I'll head back to the
room and work on my blog and check my route for the next day. I have
all my RideWithGPS files loaded on the bike computer already, as well
as one index card per day with the map on it. As final preparation,
I'll write additional notes to myself about cities or road names on
the card and put it in the easy access front bag. I also download the
route to my phone – the RideWithGPS app has an option to download
routes and maps for offline use. If I get lost, I'll fire that up and
it uses the phone's GPS and not cell data to show me exactly where I
am. I have used it a few times for a map check and it has been very
helpful. It is also a better format to show people where you are
trying to go, like Pawel in Plock.
With everything mostly ready, it is
time for bed. I would like to get as much sleep as I can, but it can
be tough to get to sleep sometimes. This is not a new phenomenon –
I usually only get a couple hours of sleep after an Ironman.
In the morning, I'm usually up way
before the alarm. I will start packing things up, with the goal to go
to breakfast and come back to the room to pack up the final few
things and then go. In an effort to be a normal person, I will wear
clothes over my cycling kit to breakfast, so stuff like that will
need to be packed when I return.
Everything gets packed in the same bag,
so I know where I can find it. I have a few things that are
non-critical and can be used to even out the weight between bags,
like extra granola bars, etc. If I will need it on the road or
immediately afterwards, it gets packed last.
All of the stuff that goes on the bike,
like lights, waterbottles, the computer, and the repair kit, goes
into a mesh backpack to carry to the bike. I put that in as a last
minute item, but it has been very handy!
Then I check out, retrieve my bike from
wherever I stored it, load up the bags, turn on the computer, and the
lights, and I am on my way!
I will start the ride with two bottles
filled with plain water. So far, it has been reasonably cool when I
start out. I'll ride until it is time for more water, which is about
2-3 hours. Lately, gas stations have been one of my favorite stopping
points. They have water, Coke, candy bars, and bathrooms, which is
really all I need. I'll buy a big bottle of water, the 1.5L size.
That fills my two bike bottles perfectly. If it is getting warm, I'll
put a packet of Skratch Labs hyperhydration mix in one bottle – it
is very salty and has other electrolytes to make sure I'll still have
a good mineral balance if it is very hot and I'm drinking a lot of
water. I also reapply sunscreen, which I make sure to put in the
front bags.
If I am going through a major city near
the middle of the day, I will stop just before it so I have a clear
head when trying to navigate the traffic, bike paths, stop lights,
and pedestrians.
If it is a very long day, I might stop
again with 2 hours to go. Usually, the wind has picked up by then, so
it is something to look forward to.
It is always a relief to see the
destination city on a road sign...I am almost there, plus I can't get
lost!
One of the things I have really enjoyed
about this trip is the simplicity of the routine. I didn't really
notice that until today, when I didn't have it.
This was a long post, but I know some
of you are interested in the nuts and bolts of the operation, so I
hope this helped!
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