The four or five people I've told about this Plan have had a lot of thoughtful questions about details surrounding how the trip is going to go down (as have I). Yesterday, my friend Jack and I spent some of our (very scarce) free time at our respective jobs discussing the fact that I should include a bunch of them in an "FAQ" or "Q and A" section of the blog.
Well, Jack emailed me early this evening with an outstanding list of ONE HUNDRED QUESTIONS about the trip. I want to answer most of them between now and 4/15/10.
For tonight, I'll start the ball rolling from the top of the list, with Question #1 of 100:
(Q1) How will you physically prepare yourself, appearance-wise? For example, will you grow a decent biker beard before you embark? Lift weights to gain some bulk, or put on a belly to look less threatening?
A: Good, important question about the beard. It's neither part of the plan nor out of the question. Here's a picture of the biggest beard I've grown so far:
Now, on the one hand, it's hard to imagine a better time to try to out-do that than while spending over three months on the road. If I were to spend a couple months at the end of next winter growing a normal beard and then the next 100 days letting it get as big as it wants, I think I'd be there. On the other hand, I could start the trip with a clean shave and then not shave again until I get home...kind of use the beard as a clock showing how long the trip has lasted. And on the theoretical third hand, I recently cut off my last beard and am still in the honeymoon stage of truly enjoying starting off each day with a smooth face. I'm cyclic with regard to the beard and am not at a particularly beardly place in my life right now. This could end up being a game-time decision.
I promise that my responses to most of the other FAQs will be more committal than "maybe."
As an immediate example of my commitment to being...committal... yes, I am committed to getting myself into good physical shape for this experience. I understand that long-distance riding is physically strenuous, especially when one gets into the mountains and has thinner air and stronger winds with which to contend. Plus, I already find that maintaining concentration and alertness the whole time that I'm on my motorcycle can present another kind of fatigue (this is particularly true in the cold); I'm not used to focusing on one thing for an extended period of time.
I know that I maintain a higher energy level when I'm fit and getting regular exercise than when I wander away from the good health wagon. So I want to be in top physical shape by the time I leave. Writing this as a guy who is sitting on a couch with a 24-ounce Miller Lite ("Big Beer") and who has paid about $210 in gym fees since last attending the gym, it's a good thing I've got 498 more days.
Finally, I want to do a good job of taking care of my back from now until the trip. It's given me very little trouble since I recovered after it last seized up and I need that to continue. I don't figure that spending several hundred hours on a motorcycle seat is the very best thing for a balky back (though spending two hours on my bike so far seems to be much easier on my back than spending two hours in a car, which is a good sign), plus I'll be sleeping on the ground a lot. So it seems that putting myself on a good stretching and strengthening regimen would be good preparation.
Alright, well, that's Question and Answer #1. Not the most interesting answer to a question I've ever given. I'll try to make the next one a little more colorful.
1 comment:
I highly recommend starting with a beard like in the picture if you have any intention whatsoever of hitting Amish country, maybe splitting some wood for nickels or something, on your way out of New York.
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