day 9: rest day/a day in the life

rest day today in memphis.  did laundry.  got a massage.  rested.  ate some good barbecue.  so i thought i'd use this day to talk about what happens during a typical day on the tour.

our days start early with breakfast usually between 6:00 and 6:30 am.  depending on the accommodations, we'll either have a continental breakfast at the motel or go to a nearby restaurant and load up on pancakes, eggs, bacon, juice and whatever else is on the menu.

but before breakfast, most of the riders are already up, packing their bags from the night before and starting a pre-ride stretching routine.  getting downstairs will take two trips:  one for the bike and one for the bags.  we'll fill up water bottles, top off the air pressure in our tires and check to make sure we haven't left anything in the rooms.  finally, we'll drop off our bags in one of the support vans before heading out on the ride.

sondra in front of one of our support vans

we'll follow a route map for the day's ride.  the route maps give directions and distances for all turns along the day's journey.  most of us keep the route maps either paper-clipped to our handlebars or housed in a clip-on, waterproof case made especially to hold maps.  we will have met the prior evening, usually right before dinner, to go over the next day's ride route.  the route maps are handed out at that time and any special instructions, including road hazards or special sights to see, are given at that time.

the riders, having ridden together for over a week, have gotten into a routine involving both the pace they'll set as well as with whom they'll ride.  the fossils, the veteran group that's been together for years now on these rides, usually goes off at a very fast pace.  they will always get into the day's terminus town earliest, sometimes even before we can check into the motel on short distance days.

finishing in memphis yesterday.  john is wearing a tiny rearview mirror on his helmut

depending on the length of the stage, there will be at least one and upwards of three pit stops, the latter only in the case of 90+ mile days.  pit stops are simple affairs.  the support van will stop in a convenient area, maybe a park or merely the parking lot of a gas station that has bathrooms.  there's no formal lunch stop anywhere.  pit stop foods are  typical sports snacks (granola bars, fig newtons, a nut/dried fruit/m&m's mixture, bananas & peanut butter, slice oranges, etc.) and cold water.  there are also baggies filled with a pre-measured amount of powdered gatorade (the flavors will change each day) for those riders who want that kind of electrolyte replacement.  i would have thought everyone would want that, but it turns out many riders carry their own electrolyte tablets or other supplements.

taking a break at the pit stop before entering natchez

bathrooms are a catch-as-catch-can situation.  we will usually look for fast-food restaurants if we really need to use the facilities, otherwise, a secluded area of trees are usually the ticket.

during the day, all riders will be monitoring their food and liquids intake.  everyone's body chemistry is unique and how we all react to our "fuel" consumption varies.  the affects of what and how often we eat are felt in two ways.  on especially hot and humid days, we're all making sure we not only drink enough, but also replenish our electrolyte supplies.  there was an old mantra during the years of the aids ride, "hydrate, urinate, perspirate."  sounds disgusting, but it's very sound.  drink only water and you'll sweat and pee too much, lose all your electrolytes and cramp up.  drink only gatorade and no water and you'll stop peeing and sweating.  as a result, you'll overheat.  so it's all about keeping things in balance.

the second aspect of our body chemistry is what's even more mysterious, even to many of these veteran riders.  there are times during the course of a day's ride when i'll feel absolutely sluggish.  other times, i'll be feeling on top of the world and riding at higher tempos with greater strength.  trying to keep control of all the right amounts of foods and liquids and the timings for all intakes still doesn't help to anticipate when my body will feel stronger or weaker.  even when talking to my fellow riders, they admit that it's not always a predictable science.

while there's only the one or more official pit stops, on occasion, we'll all decide to meet up somewhere for lunch.  or, in our smaller group, we'll stop every 15 miles or so if we come across a convenience store.  a cold pint of orange juice on a hot afternoon can be a real pick-me-up.  ditto an ice cream cone.

lunch with the guys in mississippi

or a quick stop at a local convenience store

at ride's end each day, we check into our motel rooms.  the motels are pretty low key.  think one or two levels below a basic marriott or sheration.  we're talking clarion or day's inn level motels.  a holiday inn express is a luxury hotel on this tour!  and they are rarely in the middle of town.  instead, they are out on a highway or some other out of the way location.  but, these motels do allow us to keep our bikes in our rooms.  guess that counts for something.

straddling the louisiana/mississippi border

first the bikes go up to the rooms, then we come back to retrieve our bags.  from there, it's a fixed pattern for most of the riders before we reassemble for the ride wrap where we review the day's ride and get copies of the next day's route map and warnings.

once each of us get into our rooms, the routine is pretty much the same.  first, a series of stretching exercises.  funny enough, when i talked with my trainer about setting up a pre- and post-stretching routine, i didn't think about what other riders might do.  turns out we all do pretty much the same series of stretching exercises.  that's about ten minutes.  then, we all take our bike clothes and wash them in the sink in the room.  rarely are there washers and dryers in these hotels and, as we'll be on the road for at least five or more days between breaks, we'll need to wear those outfits at least one more time before a proper washing (most riders only bring four sets of bike tops, shorts and socks).  what follows is something out of a scene from college dormitory life.  the best rooms to get are those on the second floor.  in most cases, that usually means either a separate balcony off of the room or, worse-case scenario, railings in front of your room entrance.  either way, if you passed by one of the motels in which we stay at around five in the afternoon, you'd see a bright array of colorful bike shirts, shorts and socks all hanging out to dry.  we'll all wash our clothes before showering because we want to catch enough remaining sunlight to accelerate the drying process.  the line-drying technique, with sunlight, usually has clothes dried in two hours.  on the other hand, if you have to drip dry your clothes in the bathroom, it'll take all night and you still might need the services of the hairdryer in the room to finish off the job before packing up.  the last thing anyone wants to do is pack wet clothes.

then it's a shower, maybe a nap or checking e-mail, calling the office or home or talking with fellow riders before wrap.  if we get into our destination town early enough, and there's really something really interesting to see, i might walk into town.  if i need any adjustments to my bike, i'll have one hour before wrap to meet with andy, the mechanic, to resolve any issues uncovered during the day's ride.

wrap is usually at 5:30 or 5:45 each night.  then it's off to dinner.  dinners are similar to breakfasts in that we'll all eat together in a local restaurant, usually within walking distance to the motel.  it's never anything fancy and can range from a buffet restaurant to a cracker barrel to a local burger joint.

dinner is usually over by 7:30 or 8:00 and, by then, most of the riders are getting ready for bed.  this is the time i'll do one final check on e-mail and i'll post the day's picture and write my blog.  if i'm really tired, i'll lay out my clothes for the morning and do most of my repacking.

the days eventually become a very structured routine.  the only differences are the scenery and the distances.  and, maybe the weather.  so far, it's been sunny everyday and quite warm.  and it looks to continue the same all the way to st. louis.