Accepting limitations

Take a good look - because the next time he will be much lighter... oh - Leonardo (our bike, see the stoker's blog for an explanation) not George! We have been lightening load along the way - but it just wasn't enough. The yellow bag in back contains our camping gear... tent, sleeping pads and bags. We bought pretty light ones but still the weight added up. Additionally, the way the bags stack in the bag, they really caught wind, and that was a big problem. The wind has been with us from the start, and heading west - the wind will likely be with us the rest of the trip.

As the Captain - I have to be confident in my ability to control the bike in all situations - winds, traffic, stopping and starting. The yellow bag made the bike so top heavy that I was no longer biking with confidence. I thought that it would get better after the very high gusts abated (30 to 35 mph).  But the high winds abated as we left Palatka, but still the ride was extremely difficult and my upper body ached from controlling the bike. I was not having fun, was nervous, and finally had to admit that I was not able to safely carry and control that amount of weight.

Part of life is pushing yourself to find your limits. Up until now I had been able to meet the challenges I set for myself - tenacity had always been my ace in the hole. I knew if I kept at it I could do anything. I trained for and completed triathalons and half marathons; I worked at and got my doctorate. This was the first time I came up on something that defeated me. Tenacity was not going to get me through this - and, could end up getting us hurt.

We watched a documentary- Asiemut -  (you can link to this site from our blog) about a french canadian couple that rides across Asia. Melanie comes up against her own limitations and realizes that she needs to take a bus for part of the journey. She was also upset, but said that recognizing and accepting your limitations is a big part of pushing yourself and any adventure. I tucked that bit advice away for our trip. I would have liked my limitation to not have been met so soon in the journey- but actually in accepting this limitation and making appropriate changes, we are able to continue with the journey.

So we jettisoned the camping equipment. We did keep the sleeping pads and some thin sleeping inserts so we could bivouac if necessary - such as if we needed to make a pallet on the floor of a fire house. This has lightened the load so that the bike is easier to handle, I am more confident and it is like night and day in my enjoyment of the ride. We can also go faster and handle hills better. This makes both of us feel more confident about the 'hills' out west! So - I have learned that accepting limitations doesn't mean giving it up - it means making adjustments so we can keep...

Riding on!
Jana