The Metamorphosis of a Dumb Idea into a Smart Idea

All Credit Goes to The Feeshko

THE ROOTS OF A TOUR ARISE FROM AN INNOCENT CONVERSATION

"So, I suppose you're already thinking about your next bike trip, huh?" suggested The Feeshko (my wife) while we were on our daily walk. Our dog, Diggity, was with us and he looked up at me with his big brown eyes. With dread, he was wondering the same thing. I was taken aback by the question since I had only gotten back from my Cheesy tour of Wisconsin the previous night. I hadn't even unpacked yet.

"I don't know, not really," was my reply.

"Really? I thought you'd be chomping at the bit to get out there again," she replied to my reply.

"Okay, in the back of my mind, I guess I'm ALWAYS thinking about the next bike trip. I've got nothing specific at this time, though. Besides, I think it's probably a little early to start asking for another few weeks away from home."

"Maybe you should think about shorter trips--like three or four days each month--instead of those longer trips all at once."

"Three to five days?" I was not impressed with the idea. "Heck, it takes that long just to get warmed up."

"Okay," replied The Feeshko, "I just thought I'd throw that idea out there."

ONTO SOMETHING

That exchange occurred a couple weeks ago. Since then, I keep going back to her absurd, yet intriguingly radical, idea. "She's either onto something here . . . or she's ON something." [1]

I know it's not the latter because she has never taken a mind-altering drug in her life. I have. So I can only assume that some kind of psychedelic aftereffect has influenced me to reconsider her idea with a more open mind.

I've actually gone so far as to daydream about potential routes and other possibilities while on my daily bike rides. Oh, the possibilities! Oh, the DIFFERENT possibilities!

There are seven months left in the year 2022. Unless The Feeshko says she was just kidding about that monthly mini tour jazz, that means there are seven more opportunities for me to try seven different forms of bike touring. Seven different styles. Seven different themes. Seven different mindsets. Seven different directions from home. Best of all, SEVEN NEW BEGINNINGS.

Oh, cycle tour, how many different ways can I love thee? Let me count the ways.

An all-camping tour
An all-motel tour
An all-rural tour
An all-metro tour
An all-gravel tour
A minimally-loaded tour (to the extreme)
A normally-loaded tour
An OVER-loaded tour (with luxuries to the extreme)
A solo tour
A tour with a companion (if I can recruit someone willing to ride with me)
A tour with my dog (if he proves he can sit still in his trailer that long)
A tour with my skinny-tired roadie bike (probably related to #6)
A tour in which I do not enter a building of any kind
A tour with no electronics of any kind
A hot, humid summer tour
A crisp fall tour
A cold winter tour (to make up for the one I abandoned last December thanks to a big snowstorm)
The tailwind tour I've had on my mind for at least six years
Tours that begin from my driveway
Tours that end in my driveway
Tours that begin AND end in my driveway
Tours that are ill-defined and highly flexible

The list above is just 22 things off the top of my bald head. Whatever I decide for my tours, I'm excited to have the unique opportunity to do something different every month for the rest of 2022--all with The Feeshko's blessing. Hip-hip-hooray!

DIFFERENT

I'm okay with the knowledge that "different" is the kind of word one uses when one cannot honestly think of a better compliment. For example:

GREG: Hey Sven, I rode my bike across Wisconsin last month just for fun.

SVEN: Oh really? Well, that's . . . um . . . different.

Obviously, I'd prefer a response like "great," "exciting," "awesome," "super-cool," or "you are the king of bike riding!" I'll accept "different" though, because when it comes to being different, well, I'M THE MAN!

MORE JUSTIFICATIONS

There are also some behind the scenes reasons for why these monthly short trips are such a fine idea:

Every four weeks I go to Iowa to drive my dad 70 miles to his oncolology appointments. The Feeshko has some health problems of her own, and I have to work around her medical appointments too. Those things preclude any multi-month tours at this time.

Also, Diggity gets some serious separation anxiety when I'm gone too long. You might call it doggie depression. According to The Feeshko, he goes down to the Greg Room, hops up onto the Greg Chair, and whines for hours. It's hard for me to think about the little guy missing me so badly. I miss him too, and the fact that he's getting up there in years only exacerbates the situation.

In addition, this touring concept will give me a chance to further my high-minded agenda of "keeping it local" and to keep up the "Midwestern Bike Touring Bum" persona I invented for myself.

Most importantly, I'll be able to prove, once again, my long-standing belief that I can have fun wherever I go--even in places with which I'm pretty familiar.

A FEW FAMOUS MINNESOTANS

About 90% of my touring will be in my home state of Minnesota. The rest will likely be in Wisconsin. Both are fine states for cycling but, come on, who even cares about seven consecutive tours conducted within about 150 miles of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area? I know I probably wouldn't read a similar journal about short tours around Omaha or Wichita or Atlanta.

Therefore, I'm going to have to rely on my magnetic personality, Pulitzer Prize-worthy reporting, and over-inflated ego to keep you interested. If that doesn't work, I'll remind you of some famous people who thought Minnesota was pretty cool.

A rare photo of The Feeshko, my muse and the famous Minnesotan who came up with the idea for what I plan to do

REVIVING THE ORIGINAL CONVERSATION (Just to be sure)

"Remember a couple weeks ago when you brought up the idea of three-to-four day tours each month as opposed to a single longer tour," I reminded The Feeshko while we were on another doggy walk?

"Yeah."

"Are you still cool with that?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Cuz I'm starting to think it's a pretty good idea."

"REALLY? You think something I came up with was a good bike touring idea?"

"Yes, and I'm liking it more and more every day."

She couldn't believe it.

************

[1] I stole that witticism from local sports radio personality, Dan "the Common Man" Cole.

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Kelly IniguezThere's nothing better than a spouse blessed trip! Much less one every month!

One of the many advantages of a short trip is being able to pick a good weather window. I didn't do too well on checking the forecast with my recent overnight to Aspen. Unsolicited opinion - check the forecast!
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2 years ago

Suzanne GibsonTour 22!
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2 years ago

Nancy GrahamOh YES! What a fantastic idea — and so many tours left for this year alone. I WILL be following.
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Kelly IniguezOh yes, I did think about the advantage of choosing a good weather window. Later in the year, that could be a problem though. I might pass up a few days of bad weather, and then another few days of bad weather, and then before I know it, there are only a few days of REALLY bad weather left.
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Suzanne GibsonI like your "Tour '22" suggestion. It sounds a lot more epic than "30 days of '22 split up into seven increments."
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Nancy GrahamThank you, Nancy. I hope I can make it worth your while.
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2 years ago

Emily SharpThat's fantastic. I'm sure you are going to have heaps of fun. Thank you to the Feeshko for giving and blessing the idea. (And good to see a pic of her on slush with no moon boot or ambulatory aid!).

I started doing 2-4 day rides in 2015, and it has been a wonderful way to get out and spend time in the tent. I've never had any theme for the rides, other than just always trying to find new roads.

I think you'd have so much fun getting a map of the region (or creating one on google or komoot or the like and getting it printed at a large format printers) and then marking off where you've been. I get a lot of joy from this myself.

Do 2-5 day rides feel like a tour? No. You never get into the rhythm of the road.

But are 2-5 day rides a heck of a lot of fun and adventure? Heck yes.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Emily SharpYou can be SURE I will enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. It will be similar to what you've been doing for quite a few years now, but probably not as remote.

Interestingly, up until about four years ago, I had a 1980 Rand-McNally Atlas in which I highlighted all the highways I had driven. I travelled extensively by auto and I always searched for new roads to drive on, much like you search for new roads to bike on. Whenever I'd go somewhere, I always took a different route home so I could highlight more highways. I had yellow highlighter markings on at least 40 of the 50 states, with heavy concentrations of them in the Midwest. I don't know for sure why I quite doing that, or why I threw that atlas away, but it probably had something to do with my steadily decreasing interest in motorized travel.

Anyway, I have to believe you are getting pretty excited about your BIG tour(s) coming up. Are you done with your work contract yet?
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonA theme you may not have thought of came up over dinner with Susan tonight - chronology. Stay in five different towns or hamlets and visit them in order in which they were incorporated.
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Scott AndersonI will definitely have to consider that very fine theme. The only drawback is that I'd have to look up at least five dates of incorporation, which would reach the upper limit of research my brain can handle.
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Gregory GarceauI can be your offline memory unit. When you find a place and date fire them my way and I’ll keep a list for you.
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2 years ago

Emily SharpTo Gregory GarceauOh, that's sad that you no longer have your adventure map. I don't have a lot of things, but I still have my first map that I marked up. I spent a month traveling around the western US on Greyhound when I was 20, sleeping in parks and the bus stations. I bought a fold-out map to decide where I wanted to go, and after the trip, I marked all my routes with a highlighter. Then on all the different backpacking trips I did with my friends in college to WY, NV and UT, I marked those drives off. Then, I marked off the 6-month, 20,000 mile road trip Nigel and I did in 1999-2000. I can't remember if I put my US bike tours on it or not. But I still have that in my box of sentimental things.

Still working and it's absolutely nuts. End of financial year is always crazy in government, but even more so when your dept is being dissolved then and rolled into another one on 1 July. I'm also essentially doing logistics for two trips (the one to see my folks and all the stuff for the bike tour so I can take off straight away when I get back), plus getting everything together to go into storage. I finish work on the 23rd, carpets get cleaned 24th, move and clean house on 25th/26th, vacate inspection on the 27th, then fly to Sydney on the 28th, on to AKL, LAX and DEN on the 29th and then up to Fort Collins on the 3oth. I have one week in Colorado to isolate before I see my parents, and I think I will just be exhausted and liking that I have a week to relax first! I have much more energy than I used to, but I do still have limits!
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2 years ago

Stuart RosnerGreg,
Came on here to finally comment on your Palouse tour journal, which was as highly entertaining as all your journals are. Great photos, brought back memories of the four months I spent in 2014 living in Richland, WA. One weekend I did a loop out of Spokane that must have covered much of the same ground that you went through on your trip. Like you, I thought the Palouse scenery was something special and I can see why you thought it deserved it's own dedicated bike tour.

Happily, I see that you have several postings even more recent than that tour. Not surprisingly, our bike touring instincts are very similar, my equivalent to your Wisconsin trip is coming soon: I'm going to venture into my neighboring state of Pennsylvania and do a loop to Pittsburgh and back. And I'm gonna do it "differently", I'm not gonna use the C&O Canal Trail like most sane cyclists would (I'm kinda of bored of that Trail), I'm just gonna barrell across the state from Gettysburg on westward. To get back home, I'm gonna take the National Road, an old road that I've seen snaking back in forth alongside I-68 in Maryland on many of my auto trips out west.

Anyway, sorry I've taken so long to get back to you and look forward to catching up on your latest Cycleblaze entries.

Stu
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Stuart RosnerGreat to hear from you Stu. I was worried that maybe our connection went bad after I got booted off CrazyGuy.

For sure, the Palouse is very special, especially to a person who doesn't live nearby. I remember one of my brothers-in-law, who lives in Spokane, saying "there's nothing down there but farmland." Well, maybe so, but it's not the same kind of flat, corn & soybeans farmland I'm used to.

I'm excited to read about your "different" tour of Pennsylvania. You KNOW I'll find it.
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2 years ago

Mark BinghamLooking forward to a bunch more tours this year! By the way, have you ever told us where The Feeshko gets her nickname?
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauI'm not sure if I have told the story on-line, mainly because nobody asked. Besides, what makes you so sure it's a nickname?

Actually you are right. The Feeshko is not her real name. It evolved over many years from Alice, to Alicia, to Licia, to Leash, to Feesh, to Feeshko, and finally to The Feeshko. I had an employee who worked for me for three years before he ever knew her real name. Somebody called her Alice one day, and he said, "Alice? Who's Alice?"
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Gregory GarceauBy the way, I'm having trouble with that stupid Bluetooth keyboard I bragged about on page two. I'll catch up eventually, but if anybody asks, you can tell them why I haven't updated nightly.
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2 years ago

Bill StoneShort, Local, Diverse, Fun = ShoLoDiF, a whole new category of touring.
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Bill Stone"ShoLoDiF." I love it. I might have to steal your term for future posts.
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2 years ago