BigBlueToe

I no longer try to keep in touch on tours via the internet. After 4 or 5 days so many emails have piled up that just reading them takes an hour - especially since I can't refrain from answering some of them. Trying to upload pictures and journal entries at libraries can be problematic - finding the library in a larger town, waiting for a computer, etc. I don't carry a laptop because I don't want the weight.

In the old days I'd keep a journal just for myself - an actual bound journal with paper pages - no, really! But sitting at the picnic table every day after a long ride and writing the day's events gets tedious. Towards the end of a long tour my entries would get fewer, further between, and much shorter.

Now I have a new solution that works great for me. I have an mp3 player with a voice dictation feature. I lie in my tent on my comfortable air mattress and pillow, and dictate my journal entry. I can take my time and relate every little detail that comes to mind without worrying about the tedium of writing it out, not to mention writer's cramp.

When I return home I listen to the recordings and transcribe them, add pictures, and put them on CrazyGuy. An added benefit is that I can transfer the audio files to my computer and keep them permanently. It used to be fun to get out my written journals from time to time and remember the trip - my state of mind on various days, I'd even draw pictures occasionally. Now I can listen to my voice, hear my unedited comments, hear my tone of voice (often exhausted but content.)

I stay in touch with family members via cell phone. There's no reason to keep an online journal updated on a timely basis. At least, that's my opinion.

wolfpack 

ah, you are correct....life changes and you have to get your priorities straight.... more to cycling than just seeing how fast you can go or whether you can beat your last time.....

Neil_B

When you "transcribe" the tapes, are you copying word for word or editing them as you type?

Airwick

but I do recall you telling me about a trip on the road with the fairer sex? How did that go? (I have 6 of those t-shirts)

Airwick

My theory on this NV is time really does go in slow motion in the morning while on tour. I prepare to take off before we go to bed so the only thing I do in the morning is take down the tent and load the russells but it still takes us 15 minutes.

You make some good points, but I've already crossed that bridge It's not about my feelings on blogging, it's about seeing if we can agree on a system before we take off.

I think I will stick to the 8 sentences or less,.....

Neil_B

That reminds me, I need to have T shirts made saying "Misanthrope." No need for "Old" on it, all misanthropes are old at heart.

Machka 

Airwick, when and how long is this proposed tour? If it is more than, say, about 3 weeks and won't be till next June, I suggest that you and Wolfpack go on a shorter tour for 3 or 4 days to test things out and see how it goes.

Wogster

Touring cyclists from what I have been able to determine fall into 2 groups:

1) Those who tour simply to cover a longer distance, they can get up at 5AM hit the road when they don't need lights anymore and ride until they are required to turn on the lights again. Then quickly set up a stealth camp, eat and bed. Next day, wash, rinse, repeat.

2) Those who have a travelling holiday and simply use the bicycle as a way to do the travelling portion. They tend to ride much less, 4-5 hours saddle time, maybe 7-8 hours travel time, they leisurely set up camp, maybe have a swim, a shower, do a little laundry, read a book, cook a nice meal, go to bed when it's too dark to see anymore, get up when they wake up, have some breakfast, leisurely break camp, and then get back on the road.

For tour partners, you really both need to fall into the same group, if the partners fall into opposite groups, the first will always be itching for the road, and the second will feel rushed all the time, one of them will say forget it and take a bus home. Any kind of relationship between the partners will be history at that point.

This is something that tour partners should discuss in the planning stage, if they find there are issues then, it may be best to cancel the tour. Anyone who tours with me, will find I fall into the second group, fortunately so does my better half.

wolfpack 

well, being that i've never done this before, i can't say for sure which of those 2 groups i'd fall into. but, knowing me, i'd more likely fall into the first group instead of the 2nd. maybe not ride from dawn to dusk, but near 'bout it - maybe leaving a couple or three hrs in the evening to jsut relax before hitting the sack. i just can't really see me as in the 2nd group. and, you are very correct that Airwick and i will have to discuss this thoroughly during the planning stage.

martianone

IMHO- touring with your partner is riding TWOgether, being together.
Suggest you take a lot of shorter 3-4 day shakedown tours to work out the details.
Also suggest you [collective] loose the "roadie mentality" about touring and make
time to smell the roses along the way.
ps- i like writing my thoughts in an old fashioned paper journal, rather than finding a place with electronic connections. however for me, touring is an escape from technology and electronics.

wolfpack 

good grief, if y'all just knew how much i'd love to do that (and can do that - lose the roadie mentality) in order to see and experience via the bike. granted, i still will love to go on rides with my other roadie friends and ride fast & furious, but there's a time and a place for both.

wolfpack 

ummm, just delete your post??

skiffrun

I don't know what you're talking about.

How did you generate that fake quote?

wolfpack 

Wogster

You could also plan a 2-3 day tour together and find these things out.... If you find a mismatch, putting up with such for a day or two is a lot easier then when it's a couple of weeks that seem to never end....

wolfpack 

oh, i totally agree with you. i'd rather have a few weekend tours or even a week long one to see how we interact together when we are toghether 24/7....i think this will be part of the planning for next year....

mas-az

Is she a politician? Eight sentences could be a very large amount of words. Maybe you should state the limits like Twitter does.

jamawani 

Me?

Let's see there was that French guy who kept asking me why they didn't have the #3 breakfast at the McDonalds in Prince George. Until I yelled, "Il n'y en est plus !!!"

The locals though we were Quebecois and scowled at us.

<<<>>>

And there was the British guy who I ran into in Yosemite - and then again in Page, Arizona. We got caught out in red rock country in a killer rain and hail storm. I started screaming hysterically, "Rain harder! Rain harder!!" After that he kept a distance of at least 10 years.

<<<>>>

There was the most wonderful Audra who helped me off to a great start on my 2005 tour - but it was only a day and a half that we rode together. More than that and I start getting squirrelly.

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p..._id=26285&v=RZ

PS - I note that your future touring companion hails from the right Carolina.

wolfpack 

hee hee....that is correct.

spinninwheels

Airwick,

When I did my first tour with someone of the fairer sex (now my SO), I wasn't too concerned with her desire to blog. I was more concerned with the amount of time that I would have available to journal myself. That is why I decided to carry a digital recorder. I could just make entries whenever I chose, and I just wrote everything up after the trip.

Maybe it had to do with us touring in remote regions, or lots of mountain, or just getting to know each other better, but she only used a computer once in ten days IIRC.

The days unfolded as they needed to. And yes, there was stress, but that had more to do with our personality differences. Overall, it was a huge learning experience.

mr.bobdob

Machka's questionnaire looks like a great place to start, but....

Post a pic of your potential companion & I'm sure we'll reach a consensus on *exactly* how much to compromise.

Bekologist

let me get this straight:

the OP wants to limit a 'someone special' to an 8 sentence limit on her blog while bicycle touring with her?

and, the OP thought this was a 'brilliant idea?'

my, how much there is to learn. Let the woman blog. Bring her coffee in bed in the morning so she can do so leisurely on her blackberry. make the pancakes and quit complaining

wolfpack 

i like your thinking.

valygrl

Touring with a new-ish SO is a great way to accelerate the progress of the relationship in whatever direction it is going to go anyway.

botto