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Tips To Get Started Touring |
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Transitioning from avid riders to touring
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We are not
touring "experts" by any means!
We've got friends who have made multiple
Trans-America trips. We would most
definitely yield to their expertise!
We can share about how to get
started right. Before touring, normal
rides for us had grown to around the 50 - 60
mile range. We had also participated in
several organized rides (one was a century).
But loading all your traveling gear on the bike
and taking off on a trip is quite another
matter! We did lots of research, attended
seminars, read first-hand accounts, and talked
to touring veterans. What we share below
is the BEST of all the wisdom we gleaned in our
studies, and then tested in our own experience. |
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Change
Gears (mentally) |
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I had the opportunity to
attend an "Introduction to Touring" workshop
taught by someone who has traveled several thousand miles by bike. In his mind this was
the most important thing. You have to make
a mental shift away from the way you normally
ride, or you will not enjoy yourself.
In fact you will spend the entire time
frustrated.
Whatever speed you are used to traveling, forget
it! You will be going several miles per
hour slower, and be several gears lower than you
are use to. Deal with it! If you
can't, you will hate touring. This can be an
especially hard adjustment for the more
competitive riders who are always focused on speed
and time.
Touring is not about "making time," it's about
"having a good time." It's about enjoying
the journey, not rushing to a destination.
(Check out our
Route 66
Philosophy) |
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Evaluate
Your Equipment |
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You may love your bike.
It may be the perfect bike for the type of
riding you enjoy. But is it right for
touring? You might need to either make a
few minor modifications, or maybe use a
different bike altogether.
There are lots
of differences between an SUV and a sports car.
The SUV is build heaver to handle larger
loads. It has bigger tires for better
stability on any surface. Also, the
transmission is geared lower to efficiently move
the weight up hills. The cycling equivalent of
the SUV is the touring bike. Now let's apply those principles.
Your bike
needs to be sufficiently strong to handle the
weight of the rider plus cargo. Tires should be wider and rugged enough to
be sure footed on less than ideal surfaces (you
will
encounter sections of poor quality pavement).
It is also very helpful to have low gear ratios to get all the weight up the steep
hills. One more thing, you will be riding lots
of miles, day after day. Give special
thought to your riding comfort. |
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Train
Loaded |
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We're not
referring to riding while intoxicated, but
rather being heavy with cargo. Most bike
tourists haul somewhere around 40-50 pounds of
gear per person while traveling. No matter
how much riding you do, you're probably not used
to that kind of weight.
The point of training is to prepare yourself for
the main event. If you don't train
"loaded" you will be in for a nasty surprise on
day one of your trip! Training should
replicate the real thing as closely as possible.
Your bike will handle differently, balance
differently, and oh my, climb differently!
You need to get used to all those things.
However you choose to carry your cargo (trailer
and/or panniers), train with that same gear.
(We share our choices on our
Touring Equipment
page) Prior to our first trip, we
rode all of our local rides pulling our trailer
loaded with 8 two-liter bottles of water (plus
other gear). When we left home on the
first morning of our trip, everything felt
perfectly normal. It felt the same as it
had for the last couple hundred miles of
training! |
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Weight A
Minute |
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When choosing equipment, there's usually a careful
debate. "This tent is 12 ounces lighter
than that one, and the red sleeping bag is 8
ounces less than the blue one." The weight
of equipment is important. You will likely
make your selection from backpacking
type equipment at an "outdoor store" since
your
goal is the same as a backpacker: gear that is as light as
possible, and packs as small as possible.
Now let's get personal.
The most important weight issue for most of us,
is us! Step on the
bathroom scale. How much extra weight are
you packing? Let's be honest, it's kind of
silly to worry about a few more ounces for a
sleeping bag if you have an extra 25 pounds
around your waste! I am not just pointing
fingers. I'm speaking from personal
experience. Since we got our bike, we have lost
90 pounds between us! Why
carry all that extra weight up the hills? If
this is true for you,
consider a diet as part of your training regimen.
You will be grateful on every hill you
encounter! |
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Take A Trial Run |
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There is always a difference
between theory and reality. No matter how
carefully you plan, things may not actually work
as you expect. You want to discover those
things on your test run, not on day one of your
vacation! You will see what works and what
doesn't and then make adjustments when you get
home. You may also find that you didn't
really need some things, but could have used
others.
As it turned out, we chose wisely for our test
run. There is a very nice State Park about 50
miles from our house. We rode out there
one day, spent the night, and rode home the next
day. The journey was a nice
cross-section of riding: some on a bike
path, some on city streets, some on a busy
highway, and most on country roads. From a
terrain standpoint a lot of it was flat but
there were some average hills, one pretty decent
long hill, and even a ridiculously steep hill.
Overall it was pretty representative of what we
encountered when we made our first actual trip. |
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Fantastic Resource |
One more thing.
If you are interested in touring or even just
thinking about it, check out:
Adventure Cycling. The history of their
organization goes back to the creation of the
Trans-American bike route in 1976 to help
celebrate the country's bi-centennial.
Among other things, they produce great bike
maps, and a monthly magazine with very helpful
and motivating stories! |
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Touring accessories on the Touring
Equipment page, and pictures
here. |
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