![]() ![]() Snacking and road trips go hand in hand like… snacking and road trips. While there’s truth to this, it’s still worth making a list of the necessities and not going too far beyond that, because you’ll soon be tripping over your copious belongings and wishing you’d packed lighter. When packing for a van trip you may feel the ability to throw all your belongings into the car, as opposed to packing for a flight where you have weight and suitcase restrictions. I won’t go too deep into tidiness because that’s more of a personal vehicular hygiene decision than anything. Despite lots of time on the bike, both Laura and I require most of our work to be done behind a computer screen, so those elusive moments of a quiet car are invaluable. Using this setup, the passenger is able to get Hazel settled with snacks, her toys, and hopefully happily zoning out starting out the window so the passenger-seated parent can accomplish a bit of work. Switching gears, a cellphone that works as a mobile hotspot is a lifesaver for us. That allows mom or dad to go out and ride, the other parent hangs with Hazel, feeds her and maybe gets her down for a nap, then the switch-a-roo happens so the other parent can get out and ride. Arriving at said location, our daughter Hazel is of course happy as a clam to play around, there’s virtually always ample parking, and I’m typically looking for a playground in which I also see lots of space in most directions to ride. For driving, I’m a simpleton and Google Maps is tough to beat where I’ll compare user ratings and see how much of a detour any particular stop is from our required route.ĭiving a bit more into the map-planning process, it’s going to be beneficial to everyone in our family if we stop at a playground. As it pertains to planning rides, I only use Ride with GPS and am especially happy to hone in on heatmaps and their surface features, so I can see how popular routes are as well as if they’re paved or gravel roads. That, of course, is based on how our progress is coming along on the particular day, plus an estimated amount of time designated to driving and riding. I won’t over-plan the navigation process too far in advance of the trip, but instead prefer to see how it shakes out over the course of the day. Whether it’s the entire driving route, the distance needed to be covered for the day, the restaurants, gas stations, and general places to stop, as well as the riding route, that job belongs to me. It’s convenient to start with a navigation person. To then try to make progress from point A to point B along the trip could easily be moot without a bit of planning. Not to mention trying to get work done for our respective jobs. While living in the van, an entire day could be whittled away between getting our daughter dressed and fed, each of us getting out for a ride, and swapping off watching our daughter since her independence is minuscule at best. Now in parenthood, and especially with a spouse whose interest in riding is perhaps even greater than mine, planning is a much better course of action. Rides will be fit in at some random spots along the side of the road whenever the mood strikes. Drive as far as a I can, do some jumping jacks, fill up on snacks, and use whatever bathroom you find on the fly. ![]() In a former life, I subscribed to the wing it mentality. ![]() There are two schools of thought with road tripping: wing it or plan it out. That said, my advice here is as good for the family sedan as it is for a minivan or Sprinter, just as long as you have a sweet Saris rack carting your beloved bikes along for the ride. Admittedly we have a Sprinter van that we purchased from a friend which was already outfitted to haul bikes, and that increases the convenience factor significantly. Van trips are now part of the adventure and equation for our family and for a good slice of America. As a former “single guy, bike racer”, the planning process to attend races has become a bit more complicated since I’m now a “married, father of a one-and-a-half-year-old, entrepreneurial bike racer guy”. Now looking back at the past five months, it has been a whirlwind of activity. As a result, and with an abundance of caution, the King family event schedule went from tentative to very very busy over the course of a single weekend. Naturally, nearly everyone was on tenuous terms with attending events right up until Unbound happened in early June this year, which effectively opened the flood gates to live events once again. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |