Getting back to normal life after a long tour

[onlineamiga]

Hi Guys,

I finished my first solo tour last month. I know a lot of people see touring as a holiday. But this was a "guy whos never ridden a bike since paper round days does 2500km for charity" tour. Infact i raised nearly £3000 for cancer charities so far. Done because my mum survived breast cancer. She got the all clear! Cycling from where I moved to, back to my home town where I grew up was absolutely fantastic.! People were so inspired, and I pulled up onto my street to a heros welcome. The ride got so much media attention also. Local papers, radio interviews, even local TV on both sides, in Gibraltar and Yorkshire! Absolutely phenominal!

It was just the best thing ever! I wanna say thank you to everyone here. I learned so much about cycle touring and reading blogs and the posts and people answering my posts was just giving me the motivation and drive for this to make this happen! A year ago if someone said that I had it in me to cycle 2500km back to the UK. I'd have laughed. But I did have it in me, and I have it in me again!

Since getting back, its life back to normal. Back to work. The attention dwindles and life carries on.
Coming down from that is tough! So Im thinking, what next time?

Ive definately got the touring bug, and I wanna go off and do more. But what on this planet could beat that trip? This tour wasnt really about nice places to go. It was a very personal thing for me. Which gave me the drive and motivation to make it happen. So the next one which I will probably do in a couple of years has to be bigger and better!

Months of research, training, preperation, 23 days on the road, and achieving something I never thought I was capable of doing.. Having been so involved and focussed on this trip, especially as I am not (or wasnt) an experienced cyclist has really given life a purpose. Now its all over, its actually really difficult. How does one get back to reality?

So I guess a couple of questions are:

After a long tour.. How do you get back into mundane life?
I need ideas for the next one!

Plenty of pics of the tour on the website http://www.gibraltartoyorkshire.co.uk

 

[smith4188]

After a long tour.. How do you get back into mundane life?

I did almost the reverse ride at exactly the same time last year (Isle of Man to Nerja). If you had as good a time as I had, I'm sure it was fantastic. I suppose that the tour you do next depends on what you want out of it, the places you want to see, the distance you want to go, the amount of time you have, your budget, the publicity possibilities if you want to raise more charity money. What do you want to do?

But as well as planning your next tour, wouldn't it make good sense to try to rearrange your non-cycling life so that it doesn't feel so mundane? After a great tour it can't be easy slipping back into a life you don't seem to rate much.

 

[jay clock]

well done! get another one planned. Maybe longer? Don't aks for sponsorship though. Once people know you are capable of 2500k, then it is unfair to ask them to sponsor you for longer.

Enjoy it!

 

[andym]

Good for you.

IIRC this was riding the basic Decathlon Rockrider MTB with upgraded tyres? Did it work out OK?

 

[snowy10]

Well done!!

 

[onlineamiga]

Good for you.

IIRC this was riding the basic Decathlon Rockrider MTB with upgraded tyres? Did it work out OK?

No, I decided to go for the revolution country explorer from edinburgh bicycle instead of taking the MTB in the end.

 

[Dayvo]

Onlineamiga!

That's a great effort, not just the ride, but managing to raise so much money for a very worthy cause. Glad that your mum's in the clear!

Getting back to a 'normal' life again after a long tour isn't easy; I've had two 6-week trips (southern Sweden to Gibraltar, and Sydney to Adelaide) and loved every second whilst on the road, and all the months leading up to it with all the planning, getting equipment, finding a route etc., and when it's over there is a feeling of emptyness.

Now that you, too, have the touring bug, I can only advise you to plan for the next one(s). It shouldn't be difficult to manage a 1-3 weeks trip each year (depending on your job and committments etc.). Then, if it's possible, why not try something longer, 4-6 weeks, and if you're feeling really brave, just go indefinitely.

Or you could spend a lot of time here talking with like-minded folk, who day-dream of long tours.

Once again, well done!

 

[insurin]

Hi Andrew

Congratulations on raising money and awareness for cancer and completing your epic ride. I would like to thank you for your advice given to me when I done my ride in Gibraltar. I wish you luck for your next ride also.

well done.

 

[Crankarm]

Well done onlineamega. Life will seem humdrum until your next tour. London to Cape Town and back?