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Solo Bike Trek?
Agentflit
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm thinking next summer I want to take a really long bike trip, for at least a month if not more. I figure I'd start on the west coast of the US and see how far east I can go, while finding places to stay via couchsurfing.com. I have a pretty good bike and know how to maintain it, and plenty of outdoor/camping experience. I figure by next year I'd need to be in good shape and have money for food etc.
I don't have any specific plans yet, but I was hoping I could get some general advice from anyone who's taken long bike trips (or any advice form anyone). Where to go, how to travel, how crazy I am, whatever!
I don't have any specific plans yet, but I was hoping I could get some general advice from anyone who's taken long bike trips (or any advice form anyone). Where to go, how to travel, how crazy I am, whatever!
Agentflit on
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How many miles a day were you planning??
Light weight camping gear, decent maps, and travel light. I'd suggest you start doing a few over-nighter's now in the planning stage so you can shake out what you do and don't need. Also, prepare to spend 20% more then you expect. You don't want to be 500 miles from home and realize you are broke.
Other then that.. just make sure the bike has panniers and everything like that. Map out bike-friendly roads and places that interest you.
Just for kicks, check out the ultracycling club, some guy crossed Canada in 13 days...
one guy on Genmay did Oakland to Buenos Aires, and posted a trip log: http://www.genmay.com/showthread.php?t=670243
basically rode his bike, worked when he needed cash, slept on the beach, etc... awesome IMHO
I think the biggest thing is probably going to be figuring out what gear you need to take, then working out how to carry it.
He said if he did it again, he would definitely bring one more person. His reasoning was that when he was done for the night, he was so exhausted he just wanted to sleep, but he had so much more work ahead of him to prepare for the night (set up the tent, find wood, start a fire, cook food, eat food, clean up camp, go to sleep). He said a second person would make all that so much easier and also provide some company along the way.
But you should also make sure you have spare tubes, patch kits, spare chain, and so on. Or map out bike shops along the way so if you do end up breaking two chains in a row, you know where you can get a new one.
You should probably have at least a multitool,chain tool, SRAM master links, brake and gear cables, brake pads,spare spokes, and decide whether you want to carry a cassette tool and chain whip in case you break a drive side rear spoke.
That's on top of tubes, patches and at least one folding tyre.
I have an old mountain bike but it's pretty light. I dunno, I might consider looking at new bikes but I don't want to blow a bunch of money on something I don't need. I really have no idea how many miles per day I'd do...maybe an average of 50? Maybe more? I don't think I will be in a hurry.
I figure I'll tune up the bike before I start, replacing the chain and so on. And yeah, repair stuff is essential, I already have the basics but I should pick up a multi tool and more replacement parts. Every bike should have at least a patch kit attached, I learned that the hard way.
That ride, I got a flat and discovered that our hand pump didn't work, and my wife shortly thereafter fell on her bike (it was rainy, which helped cause the flat, and she was going slowly over a portion of rail that went diagonally across the path, which caused the fall). For the flat, we were lucky to be within a 10 minute walk of a bike shop! For the fall, she was in pain on her hip and her wrist for the remaining 2 hour ride back to the car.
It was when we were at the bike shop that we were seriously considering calling a friend and seeing if they could come pick us up, but we stuck it out (plus one of our cell phones had died and the other was very low on battery).
In other words, we were woefully underprepared for a 70 mile ride over a single day, and it felt like everything bad that could happen did happen. What's worse is that if you're set up to do a certain number of miles each day, that means your schedule is tight and you can't just stop and "go home" for the night. You're out in the middle of nowhere and need to make sure you can handle that with your equipment. Which is also why it's best to have two people, because you can have one person carry food while the other carries basic equipment.
Lots of people do long bike trips, but they typically get bikes that are set up to last for long periods of time, so your old mountain bike may not be up to snuff. What's the longest you've ridden on it so far?
One thing you'll want to buy for sure is a bike computer, so you know how far you're traveling. I would suggest you get it now while you practice to see if it's even feasible. If you can't do 100 miles in one day, and then get up and do 100 miles the next day, for a week, you're not ready for the trip.
I'll keep in mind the idea of traveling with someone.