When I was a young cyclist, just then beginning to investigate the idea of touring, I was privileged to be present at a particular “bench racing session.” (“Bench Racing” is what performance oriented cyclists call it when they get together to exchange advice and to lie to each other.) The topic turned to a recent incident, in which a relatively local individual was discussed. This man had been out on a long ride. He had gotten into trouble, and stopped going. The conditions were bad, and the man had suffered severely from exposure, requiring hospitalization. He’d stayed out, without rescue, for a long time. Our local paper (a small town bi-weekly) had carried the story in some detail.
The paper described the things that the unfortunate cyclist had done after stopping. He had attempted to construct some kind of shelter, and had been unsuccessful in starting a fire.
One of the people present at the discussion was an older and very experienced cyclist, from Europe, with a lot of touring behind him. (Let’s call him Hans.)
Hans expressed an opinion. “That man should have kept going. He should have continued to ride.”
Several others argued with Hans’s viewpoint. “He was already exhausted, and lost, and in a remote area,” one man said. “That’s why he stopped.”
“Besides,” another man added, “When you’re lost the best thing to do is stay in one place, so you can be found more easily.”
“This is not so,” Hans said. “Yes, the man was exhausted, but not so much. He did a lot of things after he stopped. So? He could have still been riding. Really exhausted means that riding is no longer possible. And as for the advice to stop moving? This applies to when one is lost in the wilds. Not so much on roads. He should have kept moving. It would have kept him warmer, and the chance of finding help is much improved.”
Someone protested that the unfortunate couldn’t ride any more. To which Hans replied, “Bah! Any cyclist always can go ten more miles. If you can mount the bike, you can ride for ten more miles.” I’ve remembered that advice, put it to good use, and given it a lot of times since then.
To brand new riders, ten miles equates to a really long way. But anyone with a bit of experience realizes that ten miles is a relatively easy accomplishment. I’ve found the “ten miles more” statement to be generally true, and I have put it to extreme tests.
There is an interesting corollary. It comes under the heading of, “The fact that one can do a thing does not mean one should do it.” And here is where a little bit of judgment comes into play. There have been times when I have been in remote areas, alone, tired, sick, cold, and on the bike. The best way out of the situation was to keep going.
Now take this past weekend. I was riding the “100 Mile Loop” of the Cox Atlanta Bike MS event. That loop is actually 105 miles long, and it is hilly. The day was hot. I was having fun. I managed to get behind the fuel and hydration curves. By the time I hit the lunch stop (at 80 miles), I was in a bit of distress. I felt lousy.
Lunch stop cooling, sitting, food, and drink helped me a lot. I got back on the bike and continued. By the time I arrived at the stop at 93 miles (one I would usually skip), I was again really feeling it. I elected to withdraw and get a ride in.
The question remains, could I have completed this ride? I think the answer is yes. But I would have paid a penalty for it, and risked injury. The ride was supposed to be for fun. It wasn’t “for record.” There was help readily available. I used my judgment and took a lift. As a result, I had a good ride on Sunday, and a great one on Monday.
That statement, “Any cyclist always has another ten miles in them,” can go a long way. But it’s wise to know when to apply it.
A NOTE OF PRAISE AND THANKS: The SAG drivers at the Bike MS event are true heroes. They were fantastic! I was far from the only rider who had trouble dealing with the heat. Those selfless volunteers did outstanding work making pickup on literally hundreds of heat stressed riders. They did it with style, care, compassion, efficiency, and a lot of hard work. More, they maintained good cheer throughout a long and difficult day. I can’t say enough good things about them. I can only say, “THANK YOU!!!”
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