Each day on the road is different, but what I have described to you is a typical day. Times are approximate as my day is based on sunlight, not what time it is!
7am (Sunrise): Wake up and lie in bed until warm enough to venture outside.
7:30am: Get up and make breakfast (coffee and two sachets of instant oatmeal).
8am: Pack up. Everything has it's place in my bags, but each morning it takes around 30-40mins to pack up everything onto my bike.
9am: Start cycling.
9:30am: Stop at cafe for second breakfast (biscuits and gravy is a favourite)
10:15am: Continue cycling. As I ride I tend to take a break every 90 minutes and I will eat high energy foods throughout the day.
Throughout the day I will stop at any sights of interest and inevitably will end up talking to some locals, tourists or other cyclists. I do not like to be in a rush when cycling so I can take all these opportunities without worrying about missing miles etc.
5:00pm: Arrive at campsite and set up tent.
5:30pm: Warm Shower (if available!). I also wash my cycling kit whilst in the shower.
6:00pm: Enjoy a nice cold beer. (good source of carbs too!)
7:00pm: Cook food. Normally a carb fest, but I have to keep the cooking simple as I only have limited options with my camping stove. Frequent food are pasta, cous cous or instant mash; always with some sort of meat for protein.
8:00pm: Wash up and pack away food (so no wild animals visit in the night).
8:30pm: Polite conversation / read book / update blog.
10pm: Sleep
Obviously this a broad outline of a typical day on the bike. One problem for me is staying in touch with home, as due to the time difference I have to stop during the day and find somewhere to get online to talk. There is also bike maintenance and washing to do at some point!
I hope this is a good insight into my daily life, it's tough but I like it.
Hi Richard. Sounds like you're still going strong. It's a heck of an undertaking and there aren't many people in the world that are able to do that. You may not realize the full extent of the triumph until much later.
ReplyDeleteI'm no nutritionist, but I just want to mention that you make sure to eat enough protein. When I returned home, I realized that I had lost lots of weight and I am pretty sure my muscles were digesting themselves during the trip. After a week of heavy protein, I felt much stronger. Just my experience, YMMV.
Best of luck.
Ray (Vail)