My thoughts seem pretty random and fleeting while on the road. Climbing up hill I think about ways to make the bike lighter. Into a headwind, if it is light, how to make myself more aero and if it is really blowing, my thoughts go to just calling it a day or struggling on.  But the one recurring thought pattern from late morning into evening is chocolate, Dark Chocolate!

Brent,

I try to ride mostly in the boonies, places where traffic is light and civilization struggled and may still be.  Places where there is ample vision, far off vistas that spread themselves over a very wide landscape.  These don’t have to be spectacular, just “there”, such as a small valley or distant mound.  The great long stem grasslands come to mind.   An open prairie, an imaginary buffaloe herd, the historical significance of where I am.   Who owned this land before me?   Navajos?Apaches?  Comanches?  Maybe Quannah Parker?  Just how wonderful to be here; be where I am.  

I lke to imagine those humans who lived, loved and raised kids in humble housing.  As a child of the depression I mentally compare an old dilapidated house, building or store to those of my childhood.   The old gas station or the old cotton gin or the occasional schoolhouse.  (I went to first grade in a newly constructed schoolhouse built by the WPA,)  A huge draw while touring is coming up to a town or village that is miles from nowhere and maybe has few or no residents.  I try to guess how many may have endeavored to exist there and I wonder how far residents would have had to travel for the finer, or more essential things in life.

The mind always thinks.  During waking hours we know what it is thinking.  It is impossible NOT to think.  As said by an ad in the ACA magazine, and I’m paraphrasing, “the horizon may be the most wonderful” of all sights.  Maybe thats what I think about.

spoon

#1 How is my wife doing? She has a health issue that keeps her body from recovering like it should, so that factors into how I plan our route. I know about every 4-5 days she's going to need one to just crash as long as we don't go too hard. The crash days will be more frequent if she's pushed too hard. Fortunately, cycling is a lot easier on her than walking. What might need to happen to maintain the fun factor?

Riding along I'm constantly observing, watching for something interesting, a place to stop and check out, or just enjoying the place I chose to travel to. Being in the moment. 

Mentally calculating time/distance to food stops and our accommodations for the day. Food. I do a lot of planning around food.

Great question.

I usually perfer to ride alone and for me, it depends on a number of factors. Like Spoon, I prefer to ride more open/natural terrain and focus on the natural environment around me. Riding in demanding urban environments or with traffic is never much fun... But so much of it depends on things like: 

• How fit I am (the fitter I am, the more relaxed and mindful my cycling) 
• How many days I've been riding (generally, the further I ride, the more relaxed and mindful I am)
• What's happening in my personal life (At the start of a long tour it can be hard to turn off my "monkey brain" and the first days are often spent mentally sorting and winnowing out the chaff)
• The weather (cold wet windy muddy days are not a lot of fun)
• Here in OZ, the flies can drive you a bit crazy.... 

Lots of interesting thoughts. I guess, really, it is a lot like what Dickens said (though I grossly mangle his words from 'A Tale of Two Cities') in that one thinks of good, not-so-good and everything in between, in short, everything.

Thanks all for the replies. At times I wonder if I am alone in my thoughts that seem to meander everywhere almost randomly. But it seems not.