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All this as he keeps the fire burning hot and strong for his 2010 ride by doing what he calls Deprivation Training. It is a way of life based on a chapter from his on line book, "How to Bike America", in which he teaches people interested in biking across America how to pull the tent stakes that keep them from stepping out of their boxed in lives to undertake such challenge.
Because it worked so well to make him hungry to get up very early each new day on his weather compromised ride to Salt Lake City, he began it almost as soon as he returned because he has a better feel for how huge getting all the way to Boston really is. He knows, with all the added new variables, the Busycle, the documentary film crew, the publicist, the Mayors he'll be on time for this year, and his new book, “How America can Bike and Grow Rich, The National Bicycle Greenway Manifesto” , that he cannot afford to lose sight of his ride for more than even a few minutes.
He first learned the basics of Deprivation Training when recovering from his head injury, He then turned it into an art form that is far more than theory with the two bike rides across America that followed his setback as his autobiography proves. Knowing the importance of keeping a reward system engineered into the program he has devised, if, for example, he only got five hours sleep (he tries to average six hours), he will let himself eat a light breakfast upon awakening instead of waiting until he has been up for a few hours.
By not allowing himself to have any of the comforts we take for granted in our lives, instead of dreading all the sacrifice that will be required of him in 2010, he will look forward to a ride where some familiar comforts will return. Sleeping on a hard floor in a sleeping bag, for example, will make him hunger for the ride to begin where his support vehicle will have a small bed for him to sleep in
And once he is out there, when all he has is the quiet of the open road, he will have already become accustomed to not having the music or television that all too many of us substitute for the silence that houses our Highest Self. When he is able to splash cold water on his face when he awakens on the 2010 road, he will feel like he is in heaven after all the months of waiting until mid morning to do so Not letting himself eat until he has been up for three or four hours is the dress rehearsal he needs to pedal 15 to 20 miles worth of pre-rush hour roads before he then takes the time to noursih himself.
With his journey across America in mind, he knows he cannot establish himself with the responsibility of a house or apartment. Hopefully by the time you are seeing this, he has, once again, found a floor or garage where he can climb into his sleeping bag at night. In order to keep him reminded of the transient nature of the lifestyle his ride will force upon him, he plans to spend a lot of time at local area libraries as well as the local YMCA where he will be able to get his hygiene needs taken care of as well as round out some of his training.
**snip**
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