THE TOURING CORNER: Short tours? Long tours? Regional tours? Transcontinental?

Some of the above could mean different things to different people.  Let’s start with a bit of definition.  

Short Tour:  Let’s be reasonable. And say this is anything that could be comfortably done in a two or three day weekend.  Say between 100 and 200 miles.

Long Tour:  Let’s say this is something that could be done in a “normal” vacation, anything from a week to a month.

Regional Tour:  Usually this would be a trip across some region of the country, involving multiple states.

Transcontinental (Transcon):  All the way across the country, east to west, or north to south, or anything of that magnitude.

Obviously, none of those definitions are rigid, or received wisdom.  They are just general guidelines.  I’ve done a trip that started in Delaware, crossed into Pennsylvania, then into Maryland, and back into Delaware again.  Sounds impressive, but that trip was only a bit over forty miles.  I know of a location where it is possible to Start in Maryland, visit Virginia and West Virginia, and be back in time for lunch.  But I think we get the picture.  Multi state doesn’t necessarily mean long, and there are places where doing an out-and-back in the same state is an epic.  Texas and Alaska come to mind.  It’s really more about the distance and time involved.  The idea is to have some general bounderies to talk about.  This is important as things change (sometimes radically) as we consider longer types of rides.

Training for Short Tours:  This isn’t too hard.  One works on riding the bike and building time and endurance.  At the same time, it’s a good idea to ride a bike that you will tour on, and load it as if you were touring.  Let me make this point                absolutely clear!  There is a huge difference between doing a 50 to 100 mile ride on a 20 pound bike, and the same distance over the same terrain on a 50 to 75 pound “loaded” rig!  Train on the heavy bike!  Commuting and utility cycling is a great way to accomplish this.  And, no, it’s not strictly necessary to ride a fully loaded bike all the time…  just most of it.

            But do keep this in mind!  You can train yourself up to handle a two day tour, or a week long tour.  The thing is, it’s not possible to train up for a month long (or longer) trip.  For the long journeys, you can only get into sufficient shape to begin.  After that, while under way, you will ride yourself into condition.  The first week will be grand, but you will be getting tired.  The second week will suck.  Then you will slack off a bit.  By the end of the third week, you’re into it.  After a month, you’re made out of lumber.

Packing… Just what should be carried on a tour?

            While you are training, you can be refining what you pack.  What and how much depends on your preferences, how far you’re going, the time of year.

            Folks who do bike tours tend to fall into one of two groups, the over-packers and the under-packers.  Interestingly, both groups have the same problem.  No matter how much you pack and how carefully, you will, invariably leave something behind…  And it will prove vital.  No matter how frugal you are with your load, you will, invariably, carry something completely useless around with you.  In both cases, you will survive.  Your ingenuity and adaptability will allow you to work it out.