Old 05-14-19, 12:45 PM
  #37  
mstateglfr 
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Des Moines, IA
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Bikes: '18 class built steel roadbike, '19 Fairlight Secan, '88 Schwinn Premis , Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross V4, '89 Novara Trionfo

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I have a wife and two kids that are 12 and 8, dogs, a full time office job, and a volunteer position that keeps me busy about 12 hours a week.
Free time is limited and my vacation time is really time to spend with family on whatever our shared calendar shows for activities coming up.

Luckily the volunteering is with a youth mentorship organization where the kids ride 3x/week and train for RAGBRAI at the end of July, so that gives me time on the bike a couple times a week for 25-50mi at a time. If not for that, I would rarely get on two wheels it seems.

Point is- I get creative.
- The mentorship program has 3 weekend campouts where we ride 120-150mi in total and camp overnight. So I go on a couple of those each year.
- RAGBRAI is a week of camping and riding. It’s a supported tour, but each year I get to see dozens of small towns that ive never been to or thru in my state and camp each night.
- I go on 1 or 2 overnight camping rides with my oldest daughter, and will soon bring my youngest daughter with. It’s a lot of planning to ensure the route is safe, realistic, and fun- but its completely worth it. This year we are going to travel out of state to ride later in the summer for a few days.

Basically- figure out how to get the most out of touring based on the life parameters you have chosen. As mentioned in the thread already- s24o trips are a good way to get some experience and to feed the itch a bit. Or plan a few days and take a weekend plus F and M off work. 4 days to ride for 3, basically. Those things will help you figure out what you like, what you dislike, and then allow you to refine your trips in the future.
If something like taking extended time off work to cross the country isn’t in the cards for you, then make the most of whats around.
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