I decided the pace of the supported tour was too fast for me--no time to smell the roses. The Tour had a volunteer or two too many, so the leader had no objection to my splitting off to ride unsupported.

I'm heading to Helena, MT tomorrow--50 miles, which is more the pace I feel comfortable with than the 85 to 105 we've been doing--and I think that will be a good place to regroup. I will have to go over my gear and make sure I am set up as well as possible for unsupported riding. I will carry more than I have been the last week on the bike, but not as much as a fully loaded bike tourer. I'm planning to use warmshowers.com to find places to stay along the way as I did in my practice ride in Massachusetts. My current plan is to follow the same basic route as the Tour, which by the way will be laid out for me with fresh yellow arrows on the pavement.

I might end up getting back to Cape Cod later than planned but I think the experience will be more what I am after. I wasn't learning anything about bicycle touring by riding with roadies on a supported tour. There was also way too much food available and I actually think I was gaining weight. One of my goals for this summer is to slim down as far as reasonably possible and see what effect that has on my general health. Having to buy and carry my own food will no doubt have a limiting effect on the caloric intake!

Right now I've got a miserable cough from a cold--lots of trouble sleeping last night--but colds pass.