Bike touring has become more and more popular in today’s generation. It’s a great source of adventure and people who practice it love how it’s full of extremities and thrills. Just so to introduce, bike touring involves traveling long distance by bike for pleasure and adventure. But different people has different test, someone like road bike, someone like mountain bike etc.
The first time a went on bike touring, I thought it would be automatically easy, and that I didn’t need much preparation. I was wrong. I was right about one thing though. I knew it would be fun, and it was. Beginners often stumble upon disappointments of every kind just because they didn’t prepare well enough, didn’t choose something right, or because they didn’t carry everything they needed for the journey.
This is a beginner’s guide to bike touring, designed to enlighten you on the way to go about everything concerning cycle touring. And by everything I mean a complete guide. You will learn how to choose your bike, places to go, routes to take, and how not to freeze in a freezing environment.
Step 1: Purpose for Bike Touring
There are lots and lots of reasons why an individual can set off for a faraway destination on a bicycle knowing it would take days of riding and camping before they get there, and back. Maybe yours won’t take all those days of riding and camping to rest; a trip to the museum, or stadium, or to the art gallery across the city.
Bike touring will take you in style to wherever you wish to get to. Make clear the purpose for which your bike touring is intended. One big reason why I go bike touring is to enjoy myself. It can involve commuting to work, or just for exercising and keeping the shape.
What makes it even more brilliant is the way you can achieve all these by riding a single speed or fixed gear bike because it will provide you with effective cardiovascular exercise with fun. You build up fitness while at the same time you experience breathtaking landscapes first hand. Not to forget the ever-thrilling adventure. You can do it solo, or in a group, depending on the purpose of the activity. You can decide to follow a road to where it will take you or where it ends, whether it would be 1000 miles away or just seven blocks away.
Step 2: Calculate Cost
If you are bike touring for vacation, consider how you will eat and where you will spend the nights when you’ll be resting after cycling. Prepare a budget that will cater for your stays in hotel rooms and eat meals at fantastic restaurants.
Though you can make the adventure complete by carrying a camp set so that you campout and cook your own meal. Most bike tourists prefer this second option because it’s cheaper and more fun that way. Consider the cost of acquiring all the vital equipment needed for the tour.
Step 3: Who Can Practice Bike Touring?
It is an activity that is envied by people of all personalities, ages, and fitness abilities. People of all walks of life, in all parts of the world, enjoy riding bicycles for short and long distances to commute to work daily, or for vacation and pleasure. Depending on your experience and skill level, you should always know your limits as far as bike touring is concerned. Any person can go bike touring; just know how you can achieve the most out of it safely, while you still get enjoyment out of it.
Step 4: Intensity or Complexity of the Tour
Don’t force a big ball of food down your throat. It may choke you. Beginners should start with lighter tours and duties, with short distances and less or no days to be spent in tents. Know which roads to use for your bike touring events. You will find roads that meet your desires and suits your bike touring capabilities, though you should also keep note of those that are still too complex for you to ride on.
Step 5: The Right Bike?
I don’t know if there is anything like ‘right bike’, but I’m sure there is a bike best-suited for each type of bike touring. As long as your bike is in good condition and you have back up for it staying in great shape long enough to get you back home safe and sound, then you have the perfect bike right there.
There are bikes that are better suited for certain terrains and distances more than others. Select your bike carefully, basing your choice on the distance you intend to cover, and the terrain you are about to take on. The quality of each of the bike’s parts and features will determine the success of both the process and the outcome of your bike touring.
Look at the frame, tires, pedals, gear system, saddle, handlebars, and balance, to see if it will take the pressure. The bike should also be able to carry the entire luggage intended for the journey, including tools and spare parts.
Step 6: Safety and Comfort
Though there are a few safety concerns worth keeping note of, bike touring has evolved into a much safer activity in comparison to how it had been in the past. There are lots of safety and camping gear designed to keep you safe while riding or when taking rest from a spirited day of rhythmic pedaling and enjoying the scenery of nature’s transpiring.
You need efficient cycling shoes, shorts, and goggles. Today, there are more deserted roads with little or no cars to spoil the fun or to make you worried about your safety. There are more contemporary bikes with more innovative features.They are designed with your safety in mind. That doesn’t mean there is room for carelessness and negligence. We now have bikes with steadier designs, better wheels, helmets, weather jackets, gloves, reflectors, and more.
Step 7: Map and Where to Go
You can always pre-plan your trip, even though detours for unforeseen circumstances can guide you to places you never even thought of. You need a detailed map or you can use handlebar GPS.
Final Verdict
With all these considered, your first times as a bike tourist will be fruitful. With a beginner’s guide to bike touring like this, you can figure out how to go about your bike touring intentions without spending too much, or leaving out the important things.
