Over the past three weeks I’ve struggled a bit with this Unbound XL goal. I know that rando folks ride more than twice this distance in a single sitting and then get up the next day and go to work, but for me, at this stage in my life, three hundred and fifty miles on gravel is intimidating – significantly intimidating.
Of all of my varied concerns my main fear is getting off route in the middle of the night. I have a very skeptical view of bike computers, when I rode the Cross Washington Mountain Bike race my Garmin told me that I was “Off-Route” at least 70% of the time (I no longer use Garmin, but back when I did I referred to my bike computer as the Garmin Off-Route). Fortunately, on the XWA I knew where I was supposed to be – roughly – at least 90% of the time. This won’t be the case in Kansas. On Unbound XL I won’t be following signs, wheels, or tracks, I’ll be completely dependent on my computer – a device that I have yet to view as dependable.
My current plan is bring two computers, both with the route uploaded. When one goes dead I can plug it into a battery bank and switch to the fresh one. I’ll only use the computer for route data and won’t use it to track time, speed, power, heartrate or any other myriad data that modern computers track. Riding moderately long distances has taught me to just ride and to keep moving forward. Tracking time, speed and all that other junk just messes with my head – “what I’ve only gone 38 miles and I’m already exhausted, I’ll never make it.” Miles tick by slowly when you’re counting them off one by one.
I am now using the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, it seems good, but come spring I’ll have to really work with it to gain comfort and confidence. I’ll also bring a paper map/instructions tucked deep into the bottom of my gear bag and hopefully that’ll be where it stays.
No matter how much I train, how dialed in I make by bike and how bike computer tech savvy I become I’m still going to show up at the line full of nerves and apprehension. I all honesty I think this apprehension is a good thing. I think that doing big scary stuff, goals that are perhaps a tad out of reach, is a good thing, not just for physical health but also for overall mental health. More on this subject in later posts.