Hi Greg,
Thanks for the reply. That is actually reassuring and reinforces my hunch that it is the cause of my current lack of bike touring enthusiasm.
I estimate its 50-50 on if she will be around this summer but just in case she is, I am planning some short-ish, local-ish rides--no more than a day's drive away or 4-5 nights total length. If necessary I can zip home for Wags.
There is no sense fighting it. She won't live forever and then I can plan big again after that.
She was up for adoption because her owner (a farmer) died and she was at the shelter a very long time because not many people want a 10-year old, 70 pound, arthritic dog. Later I found out she spent the first 2 years of her life in a laboratory where they do practice surgical operations. She was never operated on, she was "surplus" but what a shitty way to start off as a puppy. I feel like I want to stick with her till the end and not let her fell abandoned--again.
Diggity rocks! He was so excited he didn't know what to do with himself ;-) Great video.
Karen
I miss my cat during bike tours, but I'm pretty sure I miss the cat more than the cat misses me.
Such a sad story about Wags' early history. Diggity also had some tough times before we adopted him at three years of age.
I'll pass one bit of advice I got from a guy whose rescue dog died of old age recently. He said, "give your dog lots of hugs.." I've followed that advice every day.
There are several motivators that have kept me cycling throughout my life, but mostly it all boils down to the fact that I love it. The environmental friendly aspect of it is probably the biggest factor; I'm not polluting the air or contributing to global warming while cycling, and I'm (hopefully) setting a good example for others. That was enough to motivate me to commute to work when I could during my career. Commuting by cycle is the "right thing" to do, and doing the right thing is sufficient motivation for me. Also, traveling solely by own power has always motivated me. Why do I cycle? Maybe because it's so much more efficient and faster than walking.
While the above paragraph applies to my life before retirement, now that I've joined the ranks of the useless non-working class, I have 2 primary motivators for my cycling;
1.) I enjoy long self-supported tours, and I've discovered that it's much better to have at least some minimal training prior to commencing. So then, I do a short ride (16 - 20 miles) most days and when preparing for a tour I will ride a once-weekly long ride. I start training several months in advance (at least 3 months, sometimes as much as 7) and slowly increase the distance of the weekly long ride until I'm riding 65 - 70 miles. It doesn't get too cold in the winter in Tulsa, and I'll ride as long as the temp is not below freezing. I tell myself that I have to do the training if I'm going to do the tour, and that motivates me. Even when I'm uncertain exactly when or where my next tour will be (as I am right now), I still ride to maintain conditioning so that I'm prepared to go on tour somewhere-sometime. I've been retired for 2 years now, and I have undertaken a long tour each year so far.
2.) I like living, and as it turns out cycling may very well have saved my life. No kidding, this is not meant as a figurative statement; it is a literal statement which is now backed by medical science. And not just the "exercise is good for you" sort of general science, but very specific science showing that what happens during exercise at the cellular level actually slows down the advancement of aggressive prostate cancer. I don't want to divert the thread from the "what motivates you to cycle" theme, so I'll start another thread that discusses this in more detail - but, know this; during exercise, large skeletal muscles secrete a protein in the blood that suppresses the growth of prostate cancer cells. I have aggressive ("high-grade") prostate cancer - in the interim since I was diagnosed in 2018, medical science has advanced such that they can now locate very small prostate cancer tumors - I'm currently undergoing radiation treatment to destroy 2 small tumors located using the new imaging technology - slowing down the advancement of the prostate cancer by cycling these last 4 years may very well have saved my life. It will be early May before a PSA test can show the results of this current treatment, and hopefully I will be on tour somewhere at that time. Although the particular study I have seen dealt with suppressing prostate cancer by exercise, exercise may very well suppress the growth of other cancers as well - the studies are underway.
There are several retired folks on this list, and quite a few in the 70+bracket (which I just joined a couple of months ago). I humbly submit that regular cycling may help you to have a long and enjoyable retirement, and that alone should be motivation enough to keep the wheels spinning. I have cycled regularly during the 4 weeks I have been receiving radiation treatments. I have 2 weeks remaining, the treatments are beginning to sap my energy, and it's harder to convince myself to get out and ride when the weather's cold. But there are worse things than cycling when the weather's a bit cold, so I'm going to wrap this up now and go for a ride. Thanks for starting this thread and helping me remember my own motivations to ride.
I'll pass one bit of advice I got from a guy whose rescue dog died of old age recently. He said, "give your dog lots of hugs.." I've followed that advice every day.
Yep. Doing that. All an old dog needs is treats, walks, belly rubs and a little love. It's a lesson for us all on what it takes to be happy.
(And cats really are so much easier when it comes to bike touring! I never had this bike touring motivation problem with my cat ;-)
Tom I find that there are two or three motivators which inspire me to get back on my touring bike. One is reading others’ journals which is why CycleBlaze is such a great asset. The second is pouring over paper maps. Maps, atlases and globes always fire up my travel bugs.
And third, is getting out on easy day rides with a few other cyclists, especially those who share a love of cycle touring.
I love that video! You can really see a smile on Diggity's face!
I, for one, don't think your dog excuse sounds stupid. My little buddy, Diggity, is one of several reasons my tours have become shorter and shorter. At least I have my wife to watch over him while I'm gone, but it breaks my heart when I call home and she reports that Diggity runs down to my "Gregroom", hops up on my Lazyboy chair and whines for hours because I'm not there. He's almost thirteen years old and I know he doesn't have too many years left. I dread the day he is gone.
Every time I come home from any absence--whether it's a few hours or a few weeks--I get a loving greeting. This one came after my last tour of Washington and Idaho.
1 year ago