A Momentary Glance at The Scale of Things

In the 1990s, I used to teach folks basic rock climbing.  I would bring students to the local crags at Taylors Falls on the St. Croix River which separates Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Often, the students, in harness, roped and completely safe, would get about 10 or more feet up off the ground.  They'd pause before reaching for the next handhold and look down. Then, their legs would start to shake.  I would always have a firm hand on the rope which reached up above to a pulley and back down to their harness. They were completely safe. Should they slip and fall, they'd be caught and the climbing rope would not let them drop more than a couple feet. The climbing rope was rated for over 10,000 pounds of weight. It might stretch a little bit but no harm was to come from the fall and the climber was perfectly safe.  But the body was not willing to believe it!

Weekend Climbing On Local Crags

Nevertheless, the students often would start to shutter and get the "Yips".  It became hard for them to focus on the next move;  they could not keep their attention off the distance from where they were to the ground.

I'd counsel students to not think about the heights but rather to focus their concentration only on the next handhold and the next step up.  Sometimes the student would be able to refocus on the task at hand. Or not.  If not, I'd have them let go of the rock and then slowly lower them back down to the ground. Learn to trust the rope.  Time to let them take a breath and allow the adrenaline to clear out of their system. After a 'time out' usually they would retry and succeed in completing the climb.

The same principal holds true for big bike touring projects. Don't thinking about total distances.   Yet, this evening, I violated my own rules.  I looked at the map and contemplated on the scale of the distance to travel. 

I'd been fiddling on Google Maps this afternoon, drawing up some general corridors for my upcoming  trip.  I happened to lay out the route from Morris, Illinois to O'Neill, Nebraska.  After copying down some way-points, I panned back on the map to look at this section of the continent. The section is, a little over 600 miles, but when laid out against the entire continent it looked like Small Potatoes....  Yikes!

On The Edge of the "Big Empty"

It provides a daunting aspect. O'Neill, Nebraska is on the edge of the High Plains that stretch off into the distant west.  The Green, Moist Midwest is back behind the Missouri River and the winds and scarcity of the vast Great American Desert lies ahead. It's another 1600 miles of pedaling to the Pacific (Newport, Oregon). The Rocky Mountains lie between. On reaching the ocean, it not the end of the trip. From there, I'll have another 160 miles to get up to Portland, climbing back over the Cascade Mountains........    It's enough to make me momentarily shudder!!  

So, I give myself the same sort counsel I used to give new climbers: Focus on each step and not on the big picture.  Don't shake yourself up with imaginings and 'What If's? Be Tactical.  Each day is it's own package...

Commitment

 

Lining Up Ducklings in Boston

I've continued to line up my ducklings.  This week I've attended to these items:

1.  Bought a Used Microsoft Windows Based Computer.  This is an older Dell unit.  At first glance it looks like a laptop but it has detachable keyboard. It has a number of features of the earlier Microsoft "Surface" touchpads.  The main feature is that it has a very small form factor. If I want, I can bring the detachable keypad or not. I'd save a pound of weight dropping the keypad. I'll think about it.  

Besides the laptop, I'll have several other electronic devices including a 5 year-old Kindle which is my library with a number of books to keep me company in the evenings in my tent.   Flip phone as well as smart phone. I prefer having a camera that can take batteries (AA) so I never have to worry about not having juice.  Besides electronics, paper and pen are still my 'go to' technology....

2. I've laid out a planning calendar in a spiral notebook to set some sort of potential pace.  I used post-it yellow pad slips and can reposition them on the calendar as I move along.  This will give me some conceptual elasticity and I can adjust the calendar (and specific plot points) as I get into a rhythm.  As plans run up against reality, I'll be able to adjust it and move the post-its. I'm guessing that this is very optimistic and that my actual results will run me into early July.

Adjustable Calendar

3. Going to the website, BikeFlight.com, I've come up with a clear idea of cost and time factors for shipping the bike to Massachusetts.  The boxed bike, panniers, clothing, camping gear, tools, etc., will ship as a single unit. The bike weights around 30 pounds. Assuming a packed weight of 95 pounds, that gives me 65 pounds of stuff I can pack in alongside the bike.  65 pounds is pretty close to what I usually haul on a loaded bike tour.  When I fly to Boston, I'll have my daypack carry-on with a couple pieces of clothing and computer. 

BikeFlights.com Estimation

BikeFlight estimates the shipping time (via UPS) at around a week. So, since I'm flying out on April 28, I'll ship on April 12. That gives me over two weeks lead time on shipping.  Hopefully that will work.

4.  I've taken care of medical and dental items. Last Monday I had my annual eye-exam with my ophthalmologist. I only use cheaters which seem to work fine for me. But I  Also I visited my dentist twice to make sure there are no ticking time  bombs in my mouth waiting to go off while out on the road. He ran an X-ray and came up with a could items which needed attention.  All is now good.       Last Monday I had blood draws at a Quest diagnostic laboratory in anticipation of  my annual medical physical which comes up on April 14. 

5. While I'm gone, I need to have my home looked over. I've made arrangements for neighbors to keep an eye on the place as well as for someone to regularly mow the lawn.  Also, I've bought several 'trickle chargers' for vehicles, motorcycles, etc., so that batteries are maintained over my two month absence.  

6. My grandson, Isaiah, lives in Madison, Wisconsin where he works at Morgan Stanley. He'll be able to drive down south ~150 miles to the vicinity of Peru, Illinois when I'm passing through the area.  He can bring me items that I might not be able to easily purchase on line.  If  there is  anything I want to sent back home, this will also be an opportunity.  In addition, It would be good to see the lad!

                                                                                 [

This morning I woke up and looked out the window at a fresh 4" cover of wet snow!  I hadn't expected this.  Yikes!  I laughed at it but this reminds me that you can get some cold wet weather even in early May.  There can be a range of weather going into spring and early summer.  I also remind myself that I'll be going over the high plains and over the shoulders of the Wind and Teton mountains in Wyoming sometime in mid June.  At higher altitudes there will still likely be snow covers and cold rains.  

April 4, Morning in Wisconsin