Originally Posted by cyccommute
Amen, brother! I often read about other people's mileages, like "I did 1000 miles in 9 days", and think why are you touring? Point A (the start) and Point B (the end) are unimportant when you tour. All the points inbetween are the most important. I've ridden a little as 15 miles in one day but they were wonderous miles.
I don't do organized tours for that very reason. They are not touring, they are races.
When on tour in Scotland, my wife and I spent 5 wonderous days in Oban out of 18 days touring. It was marvelous and memorable. Sure we could have covered 500 miles in those 5 days but we would have missed Lisamore Rocks, the Island of Mull, Iona and Staffa. And we would have missed Mrs. McIntire, a truely wonderful innkeeper and lovely woman.
Stop, smell the roses because there are no roses at the end of the trip.
Stuart Black
True enough. On my last two tours in Wales, I didn't actually "tour." Stayed in one spot and took marvelous rides every day with a small group of friends. Great way to really get to know a landscape and a bit about the culture.
By the way, I've been meaning to ask you about your pie obsession. There was a wonderful article a number of years ago in the New Yorker, written for someone just like you. The author travelled all over the country in search of good pie. One of the rules of the road was something like: You never get good pie within a mile of an Interstate highway. I'll see if I can track it down.