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How to plan for and enjoy a multi-day bike trip
(and why they are awesome)
v1.0
Joel Martin and David Little
[email protected]@gmail.com
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]
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Trips weve done
Yucatan>Guatemala>El Salvador>CostaRica>Central
Mexico: ~2000 mi
Colombia>Ecuador>Peru: 1750 mi
Michigan (home)>NYC (home): 700 mi
3-day loops: Catskills, VT, western CT: 150-200 mi each
Thailand>Malaysia>Indonesia>Japan>China>
Mongolia>Russia>East Europe>WestEurope: 5000 mi
Brazil>Argentina>Paraguay>Brazil: 2000 mi
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Intro to bike touring: What is a biketour?
Riding to hotel and back
Fully supported carrying food and gear tolast weeks
Something In-between
Local/National/International
There are a million ways to do it, we arejust giving you a VERY
brief overview,some things to think about, and hopefullysome
inspiration
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Goals
Explanation
Motivation
Overview of what is involved Have an idea of what its like
External resources (you will need)
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Why bike touring
Great escape from city
Biking is fun
Best way to see the world
Great way to meet people you normallywouldnt
Camping is awesome (and optional)
New relationship with food
Beer tastes better
Feeling of accomplishment: pleasure throughpain
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Where to go
Near home: take commuter train or bus toescape sprawl (LIRR/MNR
require pass)
Personally, love Bolt/Chinatown busses
Yonder: drive or fly there
Look carefully at baggage policy
Leave from home
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Route Planning 1
Picking a general area: mountains, beaches, family,places of
interest
Daily distance If you commute frequently, 40-50 miles/day on
flat ground,
or 30-40/day on hilly terrain is a good
Dont kill yourself Flat/hilly When you are tired it is still
possible to keep biking if the
road is flat. If it is hilly you will be walking, and slowly
atthat.
Places to eat If you start getting way out there, make sure you
carry
enough food or there are places to eat. Lower yourstandards, you
may find yourself eating out of gas stations
Places to sleep
f
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Logistics: finding somewhere to
sleep
You will be tired
Campgrounds
Wild Camping on state park land (googlemaps)
Someone backyard
Hostels/hotels
Friends houses
Couchsurfing/Warmshowers
Under Bridges (Joel)
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Have fun, do not bike the whole ti
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Route planning 2
How do we do it?
Google maps/street view/terrain view
Mapmyride.com: gives you elevation profile,very important
Look at others routes: crazyguyonabike.com
Random
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Choosing a bike
Especially if the terrain is hilly, you want gears. This means 3
rings in the fronttotal # of gears is not
important but range is. Effectively all mountain bikes and
hybrids will have
enough gears. 10-speeds or road bikes are really notrecommended,
but they do work. Single speeds aretorture unless you are riding on
salt flats
Touring bikes
You will have some gear and will have to find a
way to carry it. If you are staying at hotels you willprobably
be able to get away with a backpack (notrecommended). If you are
camping and cookingthen you will probably need a rear rack
andpanniers
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Gear and skills
Necessary tools Spare tubes, tire levers patch kit, mini-pump,
multi-tool, zip
ties, tape. Recommended: emergency chain link
Camping Gear: visual demo. Search online, thousandsof pack
lists.
Bike odometer/computer: cheap and useful Generally: Minimal,
light, simple Skills: change a tube, find source of puncture,
re-place
dropped chain
Relying on peoples innate altruism So long as you are on roads
with car traffic, no matter how
bad your mechanical problems someone with a pickuptruck will
take you to the next town
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What is it like?
Like riding a bike. All day
If you dont like riding, might not be for you
How much to ride: 30 mins on, 5 off, plusmeal breaks. 4-5 hours
total riding isplenty
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Common pitfalls
Not eating/drinking enough. You should bedoing both
constantly
Taking too much stuff. Seriously, two
shirts, two pair socks, two pair underwearand a raincoat are all
you need in thesummer
Biking too much Not stopping or making adjustments when
you get foot/hand/back/ass pain Rotate hand positions
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Food
Drink
Shade
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Safety
Have some cycling experience under yourbelt. Be attentive.
Helmets are good but are asmall part of the safety equation
Plan routes on quiet roads
Dont get too hungry, tired, or thirsty Look the part: poor and
stupid
People are generally trustworthy but this can
be taken too far Dogs: IME not much of a problem in the US,
but in other countries they have a beenproblematic
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How to have a good time
Things WILL go wrong. Roll with it
Take a lot of pictures
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Online resources/inspiration
http://www.adventure-cycling-guide.co.uk/
http://www3.utsidan.se/corax-e/
Crazyguyonabike.com http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/
Sheldonbrown.com
http://www.adventure-cycling-guide.co.uk/http://www3.utsidan.se/corax-e/http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/http://www3.utsidan.se/corax-e/http://www3.utsidan.se/corax-e/http://www3.utsidan.se/corax-e/http://www3.utsidan.se/corax-e/http://www3.utsidan.se/corax-e/http://www.adventure-cycling-guide.co.uk/http://www.adventure-cycling-guide.co.uk/http://www.adventure-cycling-guide.co.uk/http://www.adventure-cycling-guide.co.uk/http://www.adventure-cycling-guide.co.uk/http://www.adventure-cycling-guide.co.uk/
