Traveling on your bike is called bicycle touring. You can tour in a supported tour or unsupported.

A supported tour uses a sag wagon to carry your clothing and supplies. The tour may be an organized event with thousands of cyclists and big trucks to carry gear, or just a family outing with your spouse driving the family SUV. You can meet each evening at the campground or hotel where you’ll spend the night.

An unsupported tour is where you carry all your gear on your bicycle. The amount of gear you carry will depend on your tour – if you will camp you’ll need tent and sleeping bags; if you plan to stay in hotels your gear will be minimal.

How do I start? Just go. Although you’ve seen cyclists with all kinds of fancy-schmancy gear on their bikes, you don’t need it. Buy a rack for your bike at your local bike shop and strap what you need on in whatever stuff sacks you have lying around.

In time you will figure out that bike-specific gear like panniers (saddle bags for the bike) is easier in the long run, and will invest in it. But for now – don’t let lack of gear keep you from touring. Just get out and ride your bike!

Where do I go? It doesn’t matter where you go – just ride. If Grandma lives a day’s ride away, that would be a good destination. What about a state or national park a couple hundred miles away? You know the roads around your home, so choose one with little traffic and head out. There in no need to over-plan your journey.

How far should I ride each day? This question is hard to answer in that it will depend on the rider. Some cyclists find they are comfortable with 100+ miles per day, while others prefer a slow and easy pace of 30 or 40 miles each day. A good average to plan on when starting out is 50 – 70 miles per day, and plan on adjusting that figure up or down depending on how you feel. You’ll know within a week what pace works for you.

When planning your daily mileage, you’ll also have to take into conditions the conditions you will face. Wind and hills will affect your daily mileage, as well as extreme heat or cold. The most important thing to think about while planning distances is to be flexible!

The most important thing to remember when planning distances is to be flexible and realize that each day will be its own day.

Where do I sleep at night? Each person will attack this question differently. If you are on an organized tour, you’ll sleep in set spots every night. Independent tourists will have more flexibility. Some people prefer to stay in a hotel or B&B each night and plan their tour accordingly, while others choose to camp for financial reasons or because they tour in a remote area with no hotels.

If you’ve chosen to camp, you’ll need to get creative. Rest assured that there will always be a place to camp, but you may have to look around a bit. Campgrounds are great if they are available, but many times there aren’t any where you want to camp. You can camp free on national forest or BLM land. If those options don’t work, you can always wild camp – pull off the road and hide in the woods where nobody will see you. Another option is to stop and ask someone who is working in their garden if you can camp in their yard – they are almost thrilled to have you.

Be assured – all people on earth understand that you need a place to sleep and almost all will help you find that place.

What do I eat? While touring, you are placing enormous demands on your body day in and day out and you need proper food to fuel it. Depending on how hard you push yourself, needing 5000 calories or more a day is not unreasonable.

A proper diet is critical while touring. You may be tempted to fill up on ice cream, cookies, and chocolate bars, but don’t do it. Your body needs the vitamins and nutrients it can only get from good food.

Eat a variety of foods with a good balance of carbs, protein, and fat. You will most likely find that you’ll need a higher percentage of fat than you are used to – the fat tends to provide fuel for longer periods of time than carbs do. Check out this shopping list for bicycle tourists for more specific ideas.

The important thing is to simply get out and ride. You’ll learn the ropes quickly and will soon be as comfortable on the road as you were at home. Don’t stress about the planning – it’ll all come together. Most of all – enjoy!

For tips, guidance, and inspiration for bicycle touring, visit Nancy Sathre-Vogel’s site, www.familyonbikes.org. Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory

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