I've already told you that we'll be riding an average of 60 miles each day. That being said I expect that our mileage will very quite a bit depending on a number of factors like how hilly a region is, how tired we are, how much want to see a particular place, and how many flat tires we get just to name a few. We'll begin our trip by listening to some conventional wisdom from others in starting out with lower mileage and making up the ground later once we've trained into riding shape (there is no real way to train for such a trip except getting on a bike day after day). This means we could end up doing 30 miles every day for the first week but then we may end up having several 100+ mile days at some point.
A lot of things go into making a trip like this happen. It's a financial commitment but also a time one. You don't have to use the best gear out there but you do have to fully dive in to doing something like this. It means setting aside 2 months of time where you are basically incapable of doing much other than what getting through each day requires (get food, ride, maybe stop at some places to take pictures, and find a place to sleep).
Having never actually been camping this is going to be a unique experience for me in particular. We'll be camping at campgrounds when necessary, staying at motels and hotels when there are no other options, but mainly we will be relying on the hospitality of others, hoping we can find people along the way who will allow us to pitch our tents in their yards or church properties in order to help keep our costs down. Like I've said already, we'll be carrying everything we need in our panniers including our tents, sleeping bags, and camping stoves. We'll be like traveling bike gypsies essentially.
I just mentioned costs. I'll explain them only so anybody who may be considering a trip like this can have a good idea of what they might have to expect.
First there is your bike, a pretty important part. There are custom options out there that will fit you exactly how you want, be made exactly how you want, and cost however much you want. These are pretty expensive but are built to last a long time. If you know you'll be doing multiple tours in your future or you plan on bike commuting to work on a regular basis, a $3,000-$5,000 bike might not really seem unreasonable. The bike I have chosen retails for around $850 but can be found on sale for less at times. A good entry level touring bike is probably going to be between that and $1,000. On top of that you need to consider what kinds of changes you may want to make to the bike. These add up quicker than you realize as you can spend $100 on pedals that clip in to your shoes (called clipless pedals ironically), $100 on a Brooks leather saddle, another $100-$300 for a set of good racks, and countless other small things like a mirror, bar extensions, and water bottle cages. There are always inexpensive options of most everything but you get what you pay for most of the time so there are economic decisions you must make based on what you are willing and unwilling to compromise on.
No comments:
Post a Comment