Now take that feeling you can see in my grandson's eyes and imagine multiplying it by 10 and you will begin to understand the thrill of bicycle touring. This post is meant to give a glimpse into the primary differences between weekend weekend rides and touring. Lets start with a contrast.
Weekend Rides
This is where you meet up with a group of your friends to ride a route you usually know. These rides are generally called club rides. They are a group of friends who meet to ride for the fun and exercise of it but with an element of competitiveness and high physical output, many times riding anaerobic for a large part of the ride. (That means out of breath or oxygen deprived.)
Bicycle Touring - Touring on a bicycle means traveling a route for the fun of it. It is traveling, seeing, exploring, and learning about where you have been while using a bicycle as your vehicle. It is about meeting people and discovering how they live along with the history and landscapes along the way.
Bicycle touring is also about being prepared for the unexpected but possible challenges. It includes the possibility of equipment failure, weather and every day needs like food, shelter, fluids and the knowledge of how to fix your own bike.
Touring requires more self sufficiency. If it could rain and get cold you better have a rain coat. If it could become hot you better be well conditioned and have plenty of fluid on board. If it could snow you better have extra warm clothing. If its going to be sunny you better have sunscreen and plenty of water. If it's going to be hilly or mountainous you better have a gear set that will not burn out your knees. And all of this holds true because you generally don't have readily available support. You can't just call home and have mama come pick you up.
Weather - We have encountered snow, sleet, tornadoes, rain, hurricanes on tours. I'm serious. It snowed and sleeted on me in Wyoming 3 years ago. We woke up in Leadville on a Colorado tour with snow on our tents and temps in the 20's. We rode through a hurricane 15 years ago in east Texas...the one that flooded the coast. (Hurricane Allison) We rode in a summer storm one year that spawned a tornado that touched down in the woods near us. The Sherriff set up road blocks to get us off the road. We avoided the road block by sitting on a kind residents porch till the storm passed.
I've viewed people shivering under trees just after the summit of Cottonwood Pass Colorado because they did not have adequate clothing on board as a snow and sleet producing weather system pushed over the pass. And on that same ride, saw a guy try to beat the cold by blasting down the mountain only to have his bike suddenly go horizontal at 40 mph in the blowing rain. He did a great job of getting back up for about 3 seconds till he noticed shorts and jersey were virtually gone.
Arid and hot climates produce special needs - More Hydration and better conditioning. On a tour back in the 80's, my brother and I left Twenty-nine Palms California on a September morning bound for the Arizona border. (That by the way is all pure desert.) The photo below is also in the desert.
We had a tail wind, it was very dry, maybe 20% humidity. And it was cool, in the 50'sf. I had 8 water bottles on board with plans to replenish about 70 miles out. No services for 70 miles. My brother had 3 regular water bottles and two 2 liter bottles of frozen water strapped on the back of his bike. We had plenty of water to make it to the first service station out in the desert.
About mile 50 the temperature reached 90f. and then quickly rose to 114f. Dan ran out of water because he dumped his two large bottles in favor of making better time and higher speeds thinking he could make it. I shared what was left of my water but we ran out of water about 10 miles from the desert station. He had was beginning to hallucinate with chills and the shakes.
Fatigue - We all get fatigued on multi-day tours and we all handle fatigue in different ways. When we ride on a weekend, we ride 1-2 days and then recover by going to work on Monday. On tours, you ride day in and day out and you have limited recovery time.
Some people get cranky when they get tired. Saw one couple pack it up on the middle of a tour after a big argument because of some lost camping gear. I've seen people stop talking and in some cases cease to reason well. Especially if we are riding above 5000'.
Saddle Sores - I've seen people complain about saddle sores around day 4. In a couple of cases, I've seen people transported to emergency rooms because of infections due to saddle sores with a high fever. They waited too long to manage them and paid a heavy price. One must use butt butter or utter balm daily and liberally to avoid these sores.
Conditioning - Things happen to the body on a tour that don't happen on a weekend ride. That little arm issue you feel on a weekend becomes agony on a long tour. That little knee pain you get every now and then will stop you dead in your tracks on a long tour. Especially if you are inclined to try to race the tour instead of tour the tour.
Bottom line, the best way to condition for a tour is to ride. And ride it like a tour. Put in back to back days of miles similar to your tour miles leading up to the tour. If you cannot do that, then try to ride at least 30-40% of the expected tour miles on back to back days leading up to the tour. 5 to 6 days in a row.
Bottom line, the best way to condition for a tour is to ride. And ride it like a tour. Put in back to back days of miles similar to your tour miles leading up to the tour. If you cannot do that, then try to ride at least 30-40% of the expected tour miles on back to back days leading up to the tour. 5 to 6 days in a row.
I came back from my very first tour in California with swollen knees because I didn/t understand gearing. I've watched people give up on cycling altogether because they refused to "wuss it" and get a triple or compact crank.
My brother eventually road all the way across the US on a modified version of RAAM. He called me mid way and said, you should have seen all the racer guys at the end of week 1. Many were toast and went home. Those that remained toned it way down with much lower average speeds.
Route Management - People don't like detail. People like to be told where to turn and or have an arrow on the road to point the way. Yet, without trip and situation awareness things happen that we cannot anticipate. You have to use a map and have a route.
My brother eventually road all the way across the US on a modified version of RAAM. He called me mid way and said, you should have seen all the racer guys at the end of week 1. Many were toast and went home. Those that remained toned it way down with much lower average speeds.
Route Management - People don't like detail. People like to be told where to turn and or have an arrow on the road to point the way. Yet, without trip and situation awareness things happen that we cannot anticipate. You have to use a map and have a route.
Riders get separated and take wrong turns. My brother decided to ride ahead of me with no maps near Lom Poc California. He turned right. I turned per the map. He ended up in custody of the Vandenburg Airforce base security for a time.
I missed a turn in Montana last year and ended up riding 20 extra miles that day. It was a 60 miles day that turned in to 80 miles. All of this essentially means, get a map and use it. Especially near larger towns and cities.
The 7 P's - Use the 7 P's. I will keep touring as long as I can. I say this because virtually everything that can happen to you can be either avoided or minimized by applying "The 7 P's".
- Proper
- Prior
- Planning
- Prevents
- Piss
- Poor
- Performance
This post was about the differences between weekend riding and touring. It focuses on the stuff that can detract or stop your tour and now to avoid those things. Perhaps in future posts I'll write some of the hundreds of cool stories and things that happened that made it all worthwhile. And the boundless beauty experienced and photographed over the years.
Happy Touring
This photo is special to all of us. That's Tennessee Bob on the far right. The winner of the day's first pass climb. You really have to know the whole story to fully appreciate the photo. Yes it was supposed to be a tour. :))
Happy Touring
