By Joe “Metal Cowboy” Kurmaskie — I’m often asked “What’s the hardest part of a bike tour?” Whether we are talking about towing the family around Oregon for a week, planning a cross country summer adventure or an international odyssey, the answer is always the same… and it’s not weight, equipment, training, mapping, packing, money, lodging, food, timing traffic and it’s almost never the actual pain or suffering exacted by hills and wind … it’s attitude. In the words of the Avett Brothers, “Decide what to be, then go be it.” The biggest obstacle to any bike ride is to end the planning and talking and dreaming about the project and actually get into the saddle and pedal. This is not to say that planning and training should be ignored, but I can’t count the number of times people let the planning and training and thinking overwhelm them, letting that trip of a lifetime become the never-ending story of the ride that never happens. To bicycle tour or not to bicycle tour? The Kurmaskie family embarks on a Trans-Canada epic tour. Photo courtesy Joe Kurmaskie Take maps for instance. It’s good to bring some along, paper and/or electronic, and picking a general direction with a few highlights to see along the way, but don’t let the map dictate the journey because it will ruin the adventure. Steinbeck said it best in Travels With Charley. “A trip, a safari, an exploration is an entity different from all other journeys. it […]
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