Bicycle from Sea to Shining Sea
3 Cross Country Bike Tours-USA
Get your FREE copy of 18 excerpt pages from the book, Bicycle from Sea to Shining Sea, available in this 1.5MB download pdf file.
Adversities
Our average daily bicycling distance was eighty-five miles. With the day after day, week after week of cycling, saddle sores developed in areas where we never had problems on one-week tours. Muscle pains were relieved from acetaminophen, naproxen sodium, or ibuprofen, however, until the tour was completed, our bodies never received the rest required to recover those hard-worked muscles.
We started bicycling very early every morning, but because of the long distances that we covered, the energy-sapping heat could not be avoided. The sun baked and burned our skin and dehydrated our bodies. Climbs slowed us, and if we pushed ourselves too hard, knee problems forced us off our bikes for days. Even flatlands beat us up as we pedaled in the same gear and in the same cycling position for hour after hour after hour. Headwinds slowed us, kept us out there longer, and contributed to dehydration.
In the high altitudes over the mountain ranges, cold rains sapped our energy, progress, and enthusiasm. Mornings of thick fog brought us danger, because delivery trucks could not see that we were there. Rough road surfaces pummeled our upper bodies and destroyed our momentum of spinning and rolling swiftly. Rumble strips pounded our arms and shoulders. Drainage grates menacingly lurked in the blacktop like Jaws in the ocean. Deranged drivers subjected us to their insanities.
The gypsy life of packing all our belongings into a duffel bag and pushing on to another destination was wearisome, even without the extreme physical, bicycling demands. In two month’s time, each of us went through mood swings that added uniquely human, unexpected
- - - page 115 - - -
Buy Yours here - Signed by the Author! $19.75
Credit card security ensured by PayPal encryption service. (PayPal account not required.)
