Why Would Anyone Want To Ride A Recumbent Bike?

The following guest post was submitted by recumbent rider, Susan Reed.

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The Benefits Of Announcing Your Bicycle Tour To The World

For the past three weeks I’ve been wrestling over whether or not I was going to go away on a trip this spring. I don’t have enough time at the moment to get away on one of my long distance tours, but I was sure I could get away for a couple weeks and keep my business on track. I knew I wanted to get away, but was unsure how I could make it happen. After all, I have bills to pay, a business to keep running, and people depending on me for all sorts of different things. How could I abandon all that and pursue my dreams of yet another bicycle adventure?

If you’re like most people wanting to get away on a bike trip, you’ve struggled with some or all of the abovementioned questions. You want to go on tour, but feel that your responsibilities and financial obligations are holding you back.

On the other hand, you know that going away will be worth whatever you give up to go… and you know that once you’re out on the road, you’ll be happy that you made the decision to leave.

So how do you make that decision to leave everything behind and hit the road on your bike?

Here’s how you do it…

Announce your trip to the world!

As soon as you mention your trip to your friends, family members, and co-workers, there is no backing out. As soon as you tell someone you are going on tour, you’ve made a commitment to yourself and to that person that you have to follow through with. Having such a commitment is one of the easiest and fastest ways to turn your bike trip into a reality.

If you’re currently in a situation where you are wrestling over whether or not to leave on a bike tour, the first step is to make the decision in your own mind that you are going. When you make this decision, it isn’t important that you know exactly how the trip is going to take place, how you are going to get the time off work, or how you are going to afford the vacation. You can figure all of that out later. What’s most important is that you make the commitment to yourself that you are going to do what you say you are going to do.

As soon as you’ve made that decision, start telling people about it. This turns the trip into a reality. You can’t back out now, because how would that look to all those people you just told? Not very good! You’d look like a quitter! You need to tell people so that you have no other option but to make the trip actually happen.

Then, after you’ve made the decision to go and you’ve told other people that you are leaving, then it’s time to figure out all the details for the tour. Work backwards and determine everything that needs to be done before you leave on tour to ensure that the trip is the adventure you’ve always dreamt of.

When you work backwards like this, you’ll not only make your bicycling dreams come true, but you’ll accomplish a whole lot more than you would when working from the beginning and taking one step at a time. You’ll become a better person along the way and you’ll have fun planning and preparing for your trip. Best of all, you’ll make your trip happen faster than you ever before thought you could. Speed is good when planning life goals. Act fast and regroup along the way!

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Two Weeks Before You Leave On Your Bicycle Tour

You’re two weeks away from the start of your epic long distance bicycle adventure and you’re both nervous and excited about the events that are to come. You’re excited about the possibilities, but nervous about everything that could go wrong. More than anything, you’re concerned about your ability to feel at home out on the road. You know the riding will be fun, but what about the nights in your tent, sleeping on the ground, living out of your bags? What is that going to be like? And how in the world are you going to prepare yourself for this extreme change of lifestyle?

Here’s how you become more comfortable out on the road:

Two weeks before you leave on your tour, pack up your bike with every single piece of gear you are going to need for your tour. Put all the gear on your bike and act as though you were leaving on tour at his very moment.

Once you’ve got your bike packed, start living off of your bike. Cook with the stove. Eat with the pots and utensils you will be carrying. Practice packing and unpacking the bike every single day. Act as though you were on tour and living out of your bike at this very moment.

When night comes around, blow up your sleeping mat, whip out your sleeping bag, and sleep on the floor. Or better yet, set up your tent in the yard and sleep outside. Be sure to pack your panniers and all your other gear inside the tent with you. Lock up your bike and secure your belongings.

In the morning, pack up your things. Use your toiletry kit and camp towel when you go to the bathroom or take a shower. Roll up your tent and sleeping bag and pack your bike again.

Do this every single day for two weeks before you leave on tour and by the time you actually leave you will be comfortable living off of your bike.

One of the other benefits of doing this before you leave on tour is that by living this way you ensure you have everything you will need for the tour. It’s better to find out you forgot something when you are still at home than to discover your blunder once you are out on the road and in desperate need of that forgotten item.

Live off of your bike for two weeks before you leave on tour and you’ll learn to be at home out on the road!

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