by Michael McCoy, Adventure Cycling Association

Feature

Prepping for the Big Tour

An epic bicycle tour can be an eye-opener, even a life-changer. Consider my own experience: In the summer of 1974, I set out with the girl I’d met the previous winter at Grand Targhee Ski Resort (we both were working there) on a long-distance ride that began in her hometown of Bellevue, Wash. On that unforgettable trip 35 years ago, I discovered the fledgling non-profit known then as Bikecentennial, now Adventure Cycling Association. I’ve been working for that organization ever since, and Nancy and I have been married for nearly as long.

Photo by Courtesy of Arkel OverDesignsThings to do before you go: Choose a destination, pick a date and schedule time off at work, then find a friend to go along with you (optional). Find a good map, plan the route, start training, check your equipment, pack and go. Remember to take photos.

A life-changing experience? I guess so!

To prepare and train for our ride, Nancy and I purchased a pair of Peugeot UO8 ten-speed bicycles at Redmond Cyclery, along with some primitive panniers and camping gear at REI in Seattle (the only REI at the time, I believe). Then we packed up and went for a shakedown ride around Lake Sammamish. At 30 miles, it was the farthest either of us had ever ridden in one sitting. The next day we set off for the ride up and over Stevens Pass and points eastward, but as of then still unknown.

I’ve learned quite a bit since then. How Nancy and I did it is definitely not the way I would advise a person to get ready for their own epic bicycle tour today.

“Epic” is, of course, a relative term. Depending on the individual, it might mean two years, two months, two weeks, or even two days. (For some enlightening and entertaining thoughts on how to make a two-day trip approach epic status, visit Russ Roca’s epicureancyclist.blogspot.com and search for “weekend adventures.”) There’s also a large range of tour styles possible — from roughing it by cooking over a camp stove and sleeping in a tent, to light touring where you carry little more than a credit card and change of clothing. For the
purposes of this article, I’ll focus on self-contained, campground touring.

Choosing a Route

Photo by Courtesy of Arkel OverDesignsStopping to check things out is what touring is all about.

Few resources existed in the mid-’70s that helped traveling bicyclists find their way across the country, so Nancy and I devised our own route as we pedaled our way from Seattle to northeast Wisconsin. (Or, you could say the route chose us; we’d intended to bicycle across Canada, but the border guards protecting our neighbor to the north denied us entry into the country because we lacked the minimum amount of cash required. So, we rode across the northern United States instead.)

That situation has changed a great deal, thanks in large part to Adventure Cycling’s ongoing efforts to map cycling routes throughout the states and parts of Canada. It is still possible, of course, to pick one’s own way, turning left or right at that next junction on a whim or a prayer. By doing it this way you may indeed introduce more serendipity into your tour, but you’ll also have a much greater chance of occasionally finding yourself in places you wish you weren’t — such as busy, narrow roads carrying a lot of car and truck traffic. Adventure Cycling’s routes are mapped expressly to avoid such roads, as much as possible, following instead low-traffic rural roads whenever they are available.

The organization’s cartographer, Jenn Milyko, also points to the bike-routing websites active today, such as mapmyride.com and bikely.com. Google Maps and MapQuest can also be used, but they don’t come with any kind of bike-specific information.

Photo by Darren DencklauOverlooking the Henry Mountains and no cars anywhere in sight. Life is good on the road.

“I consider the bike-specific sites like mapmyride.com to be somewhere midway between Adventure Cycling’s paper maps and online maps like Google’s and MapQuest’s. The routes shown on them are user-entered, so there is a cyclist-centered value to them,” says Milyko.

She also offers these words of warning: “I believe those maps can be annotated with additional information, such as riding conditions, but I don’t often see that sort of thing on them. Their best use for traveling cyclists may be for navigating through urban areas or for any time someone needs to go off one of our routes — say, to visit Aunt Sally, who lives 50 miles off the TransAm.”

Perhaps the biggest value of Adventure Cycling’s maps is the ongoing efforts to update and verify services.

Photo by Darren DencklauApproaching Lake Powell - we didn't see an automobile, or any other people, for hours.

“Some riders, especially younger people, will jump online — or better yet, grab their phone — and download the ‘answer’ without considering the utility of a paper map. You can write on it, show it to the shopkeeper who will help you find your way to that night’s community barbecue, or use it to reminisce after you get home about the great times you had on the road,” explains Milyko.

The Adventure Cycling Route Network presently encompasses more than twenty distinct routes, totaling more than 38,000 miles. They range from what anyone would acknowledge as truly epic — like the 4,262-mile TransAmerica Bicycle Trail and the rugged, 2,708-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route — to such relatively tame routes as the Green Mountains Loop in Vermont and the Tidewater Potomac Heritage Route in the Washington, D.C./Chesapeake Bay region. Both of these are around 375 miles in length. The maps for all of the routes are attractive, waterproof, and researched and designed just for bicycle travelers. They include information not available on other maps, like the locations of bike shops, sources for food and water, and listings of overnight accommodations (especially camping facilities and small motels). Terrain and road conditions as well as weather patterns are also covered.

Photo by Darren DencklauBoulder, Utah - "only" 42 miles to go.

If you’re starting from scratch, you’ll be confronted by three primary questions about routing: 1) How long, in both days and miles, do you intend to be on the road? 2) In what part of the country or the world do you wish to ride? and 3) Do you want a researched, mapped route, or would you prefer to find your own way as you go?

The answer to the first question hinges not only on how long you want to be out there, but on how far you want to (or are able to) ride each day. This, in turn, depends on such factors as your overall fitness level and the terrain you’ll encounter on your chosen route. With a bit of bicycle-specific training, an average physically fit adult carrying less than 20 pounds of additional gear on his or her bike can expect to travel at an average pace of 65 miles per day on paved roads and still have time to stop and smell plenty of roses. With a load of gear totaling 20 to 45 pounds (more likely for the camping bike traveler), the average pace to plan for should be lowered to around 55 miles per day. If the terrain is particularly flat or mountainous, the average will increase or decrease accordingly.

Regardless of your answers to the second and third questions, or even if you don’t know the answers, a great place to start exploring is at the Adventure Cycling Route Network online at www.adventurecycling.org (click on “Routes and Maps”). If you want to ride in Europe or elsewhere beyond the borders of the United States, you should go to the equally indispensible Cyclists’ Yellow Pages. If you don’t yet know where you want to ride, and you’re looking for some inspiration and/or guidance, go to the home page and click on “Forums” or “Register Your Ride.” There you’ll find stories and tips from dozens of individuals who collectively have covered the globe by bicycle.

Photo by Darren DencklauDarren Dencklau (left) and friends on a self-supported tour through southeast Utah.

When to Ride

The weather you are likely to confront is a major concern; few things can break or make a tour like inclement weather, or the lack of it, can. That said, you’ll also want to consider certain other factors. For example, whereas a fall foliage leaf-peeping bicycle tour in the crisp autumn of Vermont may sound unbeatable, a lot of motorists are thinking along the same lines. You may find the rural roads of the Green Mountains crowded with more cars in October than they see over the Fourth of July weekend.

Obviously, the time of year you’ll be riding also relates to the geography you choose to visit. You’re not going to plan a tour of Minnesota in February; likewise, an August ride across the Arizona desert probably is not the best idea. Weather Underground (www.wunderground.com) is an outstanding online resource for conducting weather research.

Photo by Courtesy of Arkel OverDesignsFully loaded and ready for anything.

Tracking Down a Companion or Two

If I begin sounding like a stuck record in repeating the mantra “Adventure Cycling Association,” that is because the organization is the premier source of all types of information relevant to traveling cyclists. For more than 30 years, our large and energetic staff, now numbering more than two dozen, has been collecting and disseminating information about how to successfully and happily travel by bicycle.

If you’re not already planning to ride with friends or family, begin by visiting the “Companions Wanted” classifieds, found both at the Adventure Cycling website and in the pages of our member magazine, Adventure Cyclist. There you may find a compatible-sounding person planning a trip similar to yours; if not, you can post your own classified ad telling about your plans and what you’re looking for in a riding companion.

Another great option for the inexperienced bicycle traveler is to join a group tour, whether it’s one organized by our organization or by one of the many other reputable tour companies out there.

Other Ways to Get Your Feet Wet

In 2009, Adventure Cycling offered its Intro to Road Touring (IRT) course at three different locations in Virginia, Oregon, and Wisconsin. At these courses, two days of classroom instruction provided by some of our most seasoned trip leaders is followed by a four-day tour through the countryside. This gives participants the opportunity to test ride what they’ve learned during classroom sessions. After “graduating,” you’ll be ready to hit the road on a loaded tour, whether it’s a solo outing, a trip with friends, or as a member of a group of like-minded adventurers on an organized tour.

The “How To Department” on our website is a handy resource for those wishing to travel on two wheels. John Weyhrich, Adventure Cycling’s Tours Team Leader, also recommends the online publication titled Before You Go. “We have them for both self-contained and supported tours,” John says. “The manuals are a handy resource for folks new to touring.”

Planning a tour is half the fun, and you can do it at any time. So start planning, and have fun!

Adventure Cycling Association is the premier bicycle travel organization in North America with over 44,000 members. A nonprofit organization, Adventure Cycling’s mission is to inspire people of all ages to travel by bicycle. They produce routes and maps for cycling in North America and organize more than 40 tours annually. Contact them at (800) 755-BIKE (2453) or visit adventurecycling.org.