I intended the previous page to be the end of the October mini-tour.  I had to change my mind when I started proof-reading the journal entries (a process I quite enjoy) and noticed frequent references to aging.  Things like feeling the need to perform bike tricks to prove I wasn't washed up as a bike rider.  Being envious of the young free spirits at my campsite.  Feeling old compared to the college students at St. Olaf.  Mentioning how, as I age, it hurts more & more after crashing on ice.   Old tent vs. new tent.  Old bike vs. new bike.  (Had I thought about it at the time, I could have used those old versus new things as metaphors for the Old ME vs. the Young ME.  Sadly, I don't recognize my smart ideas until AFTER I've blurted them out.)

I'll tell you right now, all those negative thoughts about age came from somebody else's brain--probably G-2's--not mine.  I don't FEEL old, I don't ACT old, and I don't RIDE old.  Even so, I'm not going to edit out all the things I wrote.  Quite the contrary, I'm going to ADD to them with a story. 

Today, I was out in the 32-degree (freezing) morning for an early bike ride.  "Old people don't ride in this weather," I thought, smugly.

It warmed up quickly, though, and I passed up three 20-something guys on a hill that climbed away from the Vermillion River.  They were riding bikes too.  One of them was walking his bike up the hill and the other two weren't going much faster than he was.  As I passed, I greeted them with a cheerful "hi."

One of them said to the others, "sure, look, he's passing us young guys."

I laughed.

A few seconds later, I wasn't laughing.  "Wait a minute," I thought to myself, "he basically just called me an old guy--not an experienced bike guy, not a cool guy, not a tough guy--just an OLD guy."  I should have turned around and straightened them out.  I may have been older chronologically, but my leg muscles were younger than theirs.

I would not have written about what I discovered while proofreading because I've never liked a lot of pre-tour and post-tour pages on bike touring journals. (Though I don't seem to mind such pages when I'M the guy writing them.)  But the encounter with the young guys was a story too rich to ignore.

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Tim McNamaraHey, I work there a couple of times a month!
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2 years ago

Gregory GarceauTo Tim McNamaraHi Tim, that's cool. I live just three blocks from there, and I walk my dog around the pond behind the place almost every day. If you ever see a YOUNG guy walking his cute pug-black lab mix back there, come on out and say "Hi."
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2 years ago

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Dealing With My Bike Touring Attention Deficit Disorder

I do have to make one concession to aging, though.  While I ride one of my bikes almost every single day, I no longer like riding it ALL day.  Three to four hours is about right for me.  That's not because I'm in pain after three or four hours.  Nor is it because I'm worn out.  The sad truth is that I get bored of SITTING, and the fact that I'm sitting on a bike saddle while pedaling does nothing to alleviate the situation.

At some point, I just want to get where I'm going so I can do something else.  Like camp, hike, cook, cartwheel, swim, write, make videos, crank up the tunes, eat animal crackers, climb rocks, veg out on TV movies & Cycleblaze journals, etc.

There was a time when I'd keep pedaling beyond those four hours because that's what I felt was necessary to accomplish at least 50-70 miles per day.  Not no more!  I have to listen to what my brain tells me about my undiagnosed A.D.D.  I'm going to try to stick to about four or five hours of pedaling, no matter how many, or how few, miles I can go in that time.  (Unless there is an emergency and I have to go further, in which case, that's what I'll do.)

Here is a Pink Floyd song that's NOT about me.