35 My goal in riding PBP or riding The Great Divide or whatever is, to be the kind of guy who can do this kind of riding. So instead of looking at the goal, I really look at myself, and say, “What do I have to change in myself in order to accomplish it?” R2R: What advice would you offer to someone just getting started in long distance cycling?
Some people come into a control or the finish of an event and complain they had a really hard time, because they aren’t used to riding in the dark. I want to say to them. “It gets dark every night! You have an opportunity to practice this every night! If you don’t think your lights are adequate, figure that out prior to the event.
Finally, I would say, never quit until you’ve eaten something. You are not out until the time limit has passed and you aren’t at a checkpoint. Any distance is biking distance if you have the time, food and water to get there.
Planning for Cycling Success
Peterson: You never know what is going to happen to you on these events. I try and be incredibly pessimistic about what could happen. So that makes my practicing quite intense. For example, if the event will have a lot of climbing, then I will do a lot more climbing prior to the event than I think I will do in the event. If I think it might be raining in the event, I go out and ride in the rain. Some people see that it is raining and they won’t ride. When I see that it is raining, I see a great opportunity to practice.
It’s like music, or martial arts. It’s practice, practice, practice. When you are actually doing the event, or earning a black belt, or playing a symphony, you go in prepared. If you have this base of practice going in, you will be able to say, ‘this isn’t as bad as that rainy night I went out to train.’”