You can or you can't. Whichever you choose you are right!

During the hardest and most brutal day of my Round Lake Huron tour I heard that quote come in over the radio. This was Day Four of the tour, my fourth consecutive day of headwinds and I was also battling incredibly HOT temperatures throughout the day.

Apparently it's something Henry Ford said at one time. Personally I am thankful to him for saying it because after mulling it over in my mind for a while I reached deep down inside and summoned the physical strength needed to complete my planned distance for the day. At the end of that day I felt on top of the world and ready to go another 100 km such is the power of the mind! (grin)

I mentioned earlier that I think mental strength is the most important personal strength that you will need in touring. For most people this is a bit of a shock. How could a bicycle tour require more mental then physical strength?

Well occasionally you will find yourself mentally tired even if your body is physically fine. An example of this could be after riding against a headwind every day for a week or feeling worn down from the constant roller coaster ride up and down mile after mile of hilly terrain or maybe you just find yourself missing your friends and family or even wondering what you are doing out here in the middle of nowhere all by yourself!

All of these examples point to the need for mental strength. I have found that the body will typically go where the mind directs it to. Unfortunately if the mind goes then the body tends to collapse and wait for instructions.

Sometimes the cause of the mental collapse can be traced to a lack of food, water or the need for a rest day. Other times the secret lies in searching for and finding the good element of a day regardless of the problems that were encountered during that day.

I firmly believe that the most important thing you can bring to a tour is a positive mental attitude!

Sometimes a route can be mentally overwhelming. The danger here is that people get caught up with thinking about how long it will take to complete some huge distance rather then instead visualizing the distance broken down into reasonable chunks. When you think about going around Lake Huron the distance seems much, much longer and more difficult then if you just think about needing to complete the distance around the Thumb of Michigan before thinking about the next chunk of the trip. So the trick here is to break the trip down into manageable chunks and get as much enjoyment out of each section as possible!

"Of all the days I've toured, the closest I ever came to bailing out was a windy, rainy, hilly day in Cape Breton. There were several strikes against me - I had gone into the ditch two days previously an dmy legs weer a bit beat up, the weather had taken a decided turn for the worst, and I knew that if I really needed to, my mother-in-law would come pick me up. (Her summer house was the base-station for my ride.) She'd been quite concerned with me bike up and down the hills of the Cabot Trail, and had made the offer before I left. I guess it stuck in my mind.

Two mountains, five hours, and a horrid 40 km into headwinds later, I was ready to quit. I phoned 'home', and found out that my mother-in-law and the gang had actually driven the entire Cabot Trail the day before, looking for me, but had missed me.

Somehow, that steeled my resolve a bit, so I got back on my squishy bike and kept riding. I was on flatter terrain by then, the wind started to die down, and eventually the sun came out. Six hours later, I was having a very entertaining evening with a nice American couple I met in the campground, shooting the breeze and drinking their wine. It turned into one of the nicest days I'd ever spent on a bike, in fact.

To this day, I still think of that as two separate days, even though they both occured on the same leaf of the calendar."

Brian Huntley

Tips and Tricks to help you get through a hard day!

There are probably a few people who just read these two comments from two different writers and all of a sudden their desire to tour plummetted. I feel the need to point out that I am talking about my worst touring experience on the same day as my best. Most touring days will be somewhere in between.

For the hard days there are tricks that can be used to help you through them. Here are a few:

1) When fighting headwinds all day I find some nice music to be very helpful. I currently use a mp3 player for this but in the past I used a FM radio. Typically one earphone in the right ear and no earphone in the left. This may not work for everyone and apparently it might even be illegal in some parts of the world

2) Breaking the day into chunks. Brian Huntley posted the following, "If I make it to that rocky outcrop, I'll coast for a few seconds"?

I also use this technique to get through the distance.

3) Moni Neville provides this quote:

"Don't worry, I have time. If I didn't I wouldn't be on a bicycle."

Moni mentioned that "usually this was my answer to people excusing themselves because they were making me wait for 'whatever'."

Her comment also works well for those days when the elements seem to be conspiring against you. When it comes down to it what exactly is the rush? Take some time to smell the roses as the old saying goes.

When I am in the rose mindset I find that I can just sit back and go at whatever the happy pace is and eventually arrive somewhere.

I know that there are other techniques to add to this page. I plan to include comments on group touring and mascots elsewhere but if you have some additional tips please put them in the guestbook or drop me an email so that I can include them.

In the next few pages I will mention a few topics that tend to be related to or assist with the mental aspects of touring. Examples include touring solo or in a group, riding with a mascot, bringing your family along on the ride and bringing along your pets.

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