Perpetual Change

A Day in the Life of: A Backroads Leader

Up around 7. I usually try to get up an hour before we meet the guests so that I have enough time to do morning prep, have breakfast in peace, and brush my teeth.

Morning prep entails setting up a table that has a fruit and granola bar basket, a water jug with various gatorade flavors, gorp bins (one each for peanuts, m&m's, assorted nuts, granola, raisins, dried fruit and maybe something else) and plastic bags. We also put out the day's directions, any maps, candies, sunscreen, tissues and wet wipes. Then we make sure all the bike tires are pumped and the bikes are generally clean and in working order. We unlock and unstack them, and put them by guest couples or families (they are all named) around the courtyard or parking area. We fill water bottles and put up any maps or props that we will use for our route talk.

Breakfast usually entails a huge spread of meats, cheeses, eggs, granola, fruit, yoghurt, pastries and rolls. It could also include vegetables, pickles, beans, salads, and pickled fish. It is always an event; we stay at such nice places (like www.schlossfuschl.at the other day). I don't always like eating with guests because they tend to get hung up at breakfast on how many kilometers are the options that day and where are the hills. I always tell them, "The hills will come; you will go up them; it will be tough; and you will feel very accomplished at the top. DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT!"

We do a route talk where we have about 15 minutes to alert guests to any difficulty on the directions (they are text line by line steps, with interval distances noted. It is a little bit like an adult scavenger hunt, or a road rally). We also orient them to the days schedule and activities (the most important always being lunch. Some people call us Snackroads), and try to give them some cultural and historical background for where they are for the day. I say 15 minutes, but really you have about 30 seconds before the end of their attention span; they are on vacation after all. If they are really attentive, we do a vocabulary word of the day in the local language.

Then off we go, usually by 8:30 or 9. We always work in pairs, so one of us will bike for the day, and the other will drive the van. My co-leaders are equally often women or men, but rarely American, while all the guests are generally American or Canadian. I prefer it this way. We ride along, mixing in activities for the day like town tours, or winetastings. We stop for cider cake at an Austrian (pig) farm one day here. The van support person plays leap frog with the group, setting up small refreshment stations every so often. The biker usually rides from the middle to the back of the group and offers cultural interpretation and bike coaching (not to mention direction coaching). We also take a lot of photos. Of course the guests take more, which results in an average speed of about 15 kph; not a break neck speed. We offer different length options with either additional loops or a short shuttle. Each guest will usually bike between 35 and 70 kilometers for the day, though most trips have a 100 k day (for the long option).

Our guests are all ages and all activity levels, though generally have a basic fitness level. They are generally very wealthy, the biggest group being doctors and lawyers (often both in a couple), but we also get teachers and retired government employees. They are from all sexual, political, and religious backgrounds, though we do get more Jewish people percentage-wise than is representative of America. They have generally chosen the trip because they have some interest in the area, but sometimes know nothing more; and equally often, have chosen it because the dates fit. The crowd here in Europe are generally very well travelled internationally.

Biking is always the prefered activity for the leader. It gives you some excercise and some alone time in the day too. Guests never believe it but being in the van is much more exhausting. Sometimes if it is a long day, we will switch at lunch, but this causes more logistics so more often it is easier to stick with it for the day. We chat with guests; adjust bikes; distribute first aid, snacks and drinks (I can't imagine how many photo albums I am in, holding a basket of fruit); we deal with logistics, massages, taxis and special requests by cell phone in a mix of languages; we'll load the bikes in the van to shuttle tired folks up hills; we constantly count everyone. Then if no one gets lost (not too common) or is really slow, we will usually get in at about 4 or 5.

Then we count, stack, lock and tarp all the bikes (or rack them on the van if we will be transferring somewhere in the morning). This usually gives us about an hour to relax and shower. We then come down dressed up for dinner and any cultural events of the evening which could include a castle tour, a Q&A with a local, a local dance or sword performance, or even more creative things on kids trips like pottery, pizza making, falconry shows, or 9 pin bowling. These activities usually start sooner in the day to cut down the kids riding time.

Then we host dinner, which is usually 3 or 4 courses. We often serve as the facilitators of conversation at least for the first couple of days; and we try to stay away from politics, religion and their employment. This can be the most challenging part. Finally, we retire for the evening. Sometimes we might go for a drink. We then chat about the day, and plan for the next before packing and going to bed. We will usually change hotels 4 times in a week. I always try to get 8 hours of sleep; however, I don't read much while working. I also disengage from the regular world. In fact, I don't see news or email for the week. All the logistics take all my mental energy and time and that is why people enjoy travelling with us so much. They can shut off their brains for the week, and so you get CEO's of huge corporations asking how to order a coffee. It can be comical espeicially their questions and comments sometimes. But I would never laugh,.. of course; at least not in their company. And I thought kids say the darnedest things. The look fo panic in their eyes the last day is always interesting; this is when they realize that they have to go back to thinking for themselves, but it is never much easier for me to go re-integrate.

More on that later.

Labels: average day

posted by jjs @ 5:26 PM