First Overnight Ride
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 5:20 am
Over the weekend I ditched work on Saturday and went with a friend to the Twin Cities. It was my first overnight ride, and the most I'd ridden in a day roughly 500 miles. I learned several things about the ride, one that if I didn't have my mp3 player after about 3 hours I'd be pretty bored. Two the next time I go on on an overnight trip like that I'm going to try and find routes other than the highway. The ride just wasn't exciting. The only time I've had fun on the expressway was when I was driving from New York to Chicago through the mountains...have to do that on the bike someday soon!
After the first hundred miles or so I started wearing a ear plug in one year and the mp3 player in the other. These made a HUGE difference. I can not imagine taking an extended trip at highway speeds without them. The wind noise really tires you out more than I had noticed. The lack of a windshield didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, though I kept constantly gripping the bars a little to tight. It also was nice to be able to stop every 100 miles for gas, but infuriating at times as well. There were times when I'd get into the rhythm of moving around on the seat, and was still very comfortable after the 100.
Overall the experiance was very enjoyable and not nearly as difficult as I imagined it to be. My major beef was with the vibrations on my bike for an extended period of time. I'm starting to see why people like footboards over pegs. Ah well none of this is going to stop me from another long trip, but now at least now I'm more convinced than ever I want some sort of touring bike.
What were your first overnight experiances like? Did you sit and plan or was it spur of the moment?
After the first hundred miles or so I started wearing a ear plug in one year and the mp3 player in the other. These made a HUGE difference. I can not imagine taking an extended trip at highway speeds without them. The wind noise really tires you out more than I had noticed. The lack of a windshield didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, though I kept constantly gripping the bars a little to tight. It also was nice to be able to stop every 100 miles for gas, but infuriating at times as well. There were times when I'd get into the rhythm of moving around on the seat, and was still very comfortable after the 100.
Overall the experiance was very enjoyable and not nearly as difficult as I imagined it to be. My major beef was with the vibrations on my bike for an extended period of time. I'm starting to see why people like footboards over pegs. Ah well none of this is going to stop me from another long trip, but now at least now I'm more convinced than ever I want some sort of touring bike.
What were your first overnight experiances like? Did you sit and plan or was it spur of the moment?