Touring - Half your body weight

Speaking of the amount of weight we feel comfortable carrying with us, I just thought I'd mention ...

Through my experiences, I have found that when I'm cycle touring, if the weight of everything I bring comes to half my body weight or less, I can tour quite comfortably. But if the total weight is more than half my body weight, that's when I really start to struggle ... especially on the climbs ... and that's when I feel like cycletouring is more work than fun. It's difficult for me to pedal all that around, it's difficult to walk and push the bicycle, and it is difficult to haul it all up into a hostel or wherever.

That total weight includes:
-- the bicycle
-- racks, panniers, and other bags
-- everything I put in the panniers and other bags

I like hauling around half your body weight too, I would imagine. Half my body weight and we have a definite custom everything on the bike situation...

I guess you're trying to suggest a workout for the heavier folks?

I guess you're trying to suggest a workout for the heavier folks?


I did say half my body weight OR LESS. In fact, less is better!


Basically what I'm saying is that if I bring any more than half my body weight on a tour, it's too uncomfortable. I see stories of other female cycle-tourists who are hauling around their body weight or more, and I really wonder how they manage it!! Either they're really strong ... or ... perhaps they are struggling like I have in the past when I've tried to carry more than half my body weight.

It's a good guideline for me ... I weigh what I bring and if it starts creeping up to half my body weight, I start reconsidering what I'm bringing.

I was just playing with that in an Excel Spreadsheet that I made up... sounds like I'm going to have to start that "Jumbo Pizza and Cheese Fries" diet. Actually it makes good sense, I know I have a tendency to want to take too much junk that I never need / use. Shows how little things all start to add up after a while.

Steve W.

I've just sat down and started to weigh up things. At my weight by this guide, I can plan on not more than 80 pounds. My LHT is about 27 pounds with racks front and rear. Add in the 6 poiunds for the Lone Star Panniers front and rear.and that leaves me about 46 pounds to work with.

I add in my home (tent, sleeping bag and pad) at a total of about 9 pounds, and that drops me to 37 pounds to work with.

I suspect that I can get under the limit easily enough, but I've never weighed everything like that before, so it's a bit of a shock. I wonder if I may consider getting a smaller lighter tent. I do like the space of having a 2 person tent however.

I wonder how many of us this winter will start laying out stuff, grabbing the baby or kitchen scale, and going "Humm, how much can I save if I don't bring this.... or only half as much of that?"

Thanks Machka, now you've given me a new thing to try and quantify.

Steve W.
Who thinks that the 5 pound canned ham isnt going on more rides... just in case it's needed.

On a tour in Colorado I stayed with a family in Colorado Springs. The lady said, "People have asked me if I am worried about cyclists stealing stuff. I say, Hardly, the cyclists who stay with me usually are paring down their load and sending stuff home." Sounds like a plan for my next tour. Start with everything the guide books say I need then start sending stuff back home. Being a Clyde Machka I think in terms of 1/3 or less of my body weight.

I will always try to have my half weight as my maximum. I will try. I will. Really.

Peace out,

Half one's body weight is considerable, I asume we are including hte bike weight?. Guys are stronger (humor me), and everything they take on a trip is going to be proportionally less heavy, so for instance how much can the person of smaller stature save on their bike weight, tent or stove weight, just because they are shorter and lighter? Weight varies by the cube of the primary dimension, like height. I could certainly see how a person of smaller stature might need that 1/2 mark, but that's tough sleding.

if half ones body weight includes that day's water ration, and the weight of the bike, i could see how some heavy packers could breach the half ones weight. And I thought my Long Haul Trucker dressed out with racks and fender flaps is like 42 pounds, not even close to mentor 58's weight. I do have two front racks on my LHT though....

I doubt i've broached the half-weight mark, even out winter bike camping. MAYBE hauling my ski gear i hit half my weight- 85 pounds- or so including telemark ski gear, the bike and a gallon+ of water with 4 days of food.

that is a lot of crap to be hauling around though, id think a general lightening up would be in order? or are you suggesting, machka, that more than half is a common weight ratio for tourers?

for all our sakes I'd hope not. that is tough sledding, a bike at half your body weight must feel like a two man bobsled if it starts to shimmy.

If you have another glance at my first post, I do mention that I include:

-- the bicycle
-- racks, panniers, and other bags
-- everything I put in the panniers and other bags


In my case my bicycle weighs 27 lbs, which leaves me approx. 40 lbs left to work with for my bags, gear, food, water, and anything else I want to carry.

It is surprising how quickly light, little, seemingly inconsequential, things can add up to 40 lbs!! :eek: When I was packing for my Australian tour, I put all the basic necessities into the bags, and still had some room in there, so I proceeded to add some "comfort" items ... after all, how much could a little pillow, a couple extra pieces of thin, light clothing, and so on, weigh. When I arrived in Australia, I could barely move the bicycle!!!! I ended up leaving somewhere around 15 lbs of those "comfort" items in Sydney so I could actually manage to ride the bicycle over the Snowy Mountains. Then I mailed home another 5 or 6 lbs when I got to Tasmania.

Through that experience in particular, I discovered that my weight limit is pretty much exactly half my body weight. Less is better, of course, for cycling and hauling purposes ... but unfortunately it isn't easy to tour in relative comfort with less (clothing, toiletries, tools, etc., all add up). More than half my body weight, however, means I'm walking and heaving my bicycle up mole hills (nevermind mountains), and am travelling on flat ground at a speed where snails are leaving me in their dust ....... and it means I'm having no fun at all because it is all work.

...

I carry over a third of my body weight on NORMAL rides. Commute and leisure. Doesn't leave much extra room for touring equipment, does it? :-p Then again, I'm a lightweight, about 125 lbs. :) I've ridden my bike pretty comfortably when the total weight of bike and stuff I was carrying on it was over 90 lbs. Just slow down on the bigger hills.

Just for fun I pulled onto a truck scale, I think it was California. The officer said I was at 300 pounds almost to the pound. I was about 225 pounds of it. We were staying in motels though, explains why so light a load. Twice along the trip, before the Leggett Hill, I mailed home things I didn't need.

Just for fun I pulled onto a truck scale, I think it was California. The officer said I was at 300 pounds almost to the pound. I was about 225 pounds of it. We were staying in motels though, explains why so light a load. Twice along the trip, before the Leggett Hill, I mailed home things I didn't need.


So your load (the bicycle and all your stuff) weighed 75 lbs. See ... that would be more than half my body weight. I'd be mailing stuff home too just so I could make it up the overpasses!! :D

So I have a physics type of question ....

Suppose you've got a person who weighs 130 lbs, and whose load (bicycle, gear, and everything) weighs 65 lbs. Person A.

Now suppose you've got a person who weighs 200 lbs, and whose load (bicycle, gear, and everything) weighs 100 lbs. Person B.


Would both people be putting out the same effort to move all that stuff down the road? Or not?

I like hauling around half your body weight too, I would imagine. Half my body weight and we have a definite custom everything on the bike situation...

Yeah. Machka probably weighs less than a breeze, judging by her pics. Half my body weight requires a truck.

So I have a physics type of question ....

Suppose you've got a person who weighs 130 lbs, and whose load (bicycle, gear, and everything) weighs 65 lbs. Person A.

Now suppose you've got a person who weighs 200 lbs, and whose load (bicycle, gear, and everything) weighs 100 lbs. Person B.


Would both people be putting out the same effort to move all that stuff down the road? Or not?

It is always more effort to move more weight. However, the perceived effort might be different if that 200lb person was all muscle versus a flabby 130lb person. Perceived effort would also be different if that 200lb person is a 5' woman who really should weigh 100 lbs.

The www.analyticcycling.com website will allow you to input your wattage and change many factors including weight to see how that impacts your speed.

I feel bad for my poor 5 yr old, who bikes to school every day on his 12" (or is it 16") bike, w/ training wheels, at about half his body weight. No wonder he seldom breaks 5mph on it...

But it's good training for touring! ;)

I carried about half my body weight on my last tour, enough to start giving my ride a touch of the 'wet noodle' feeling at times when I got too lazy to load the heavy stuff (SLR lenses, water, etc) anywhere but the top of my rack.

I just did a quick trip, and left a lot of stuff I usually carry behind - spare tire, parts, water filter, peanut butter. I didn't weigh in, but I'm guessing I cut about 8-10 pounds. It made a big difference! I'm going to try harder next time to go light.

Still over half my body weight though.

So I have a physics type of question ....

Suppose you've got a person who weighs 130 lbs, and whose load (bicycle, gear, and everything) weighs 65 lbs. Person A.

Now suppose you've got a person who weighs 200 lbs, and whose load (bicycle, gear, and everything) weighs 100 lbs. Person B.


Would both people be putting out the same effort to move all that stuff down the road? Or not?

Muscle mass distribution would have a HUGE effect on perceived effort.

I don't do any kind of lifting or cross training, so my legs are very well developed, the rest of me... not so much. :-p It's ok, I can push harder and move more than a lot of people quite a bit heavier than I am. I can't remember the last time I had to walk my bike up a hill for any reason other than a total loss of traction.

Hmmm... half the bodyweight, eh? How about 3/4?

I weigh 240 lbs. and this is my preferred way to travel:

22 bike
30 Trek Mt. Train single-wheeled pedal trailer for son
55 six year old son
30 Bell two-wheeled trailer for daughter
44 five year old daughter
5 picnic supplies, toys and water.

186 lbs. or 77.5% of my body weight. 89% if I take the 22 mos. old also.

Granted, we never go more than 25 miles this way, make frequent unscheduled stops to chase butterflies, look at interesting bugs, collect leaves and generally explore stuff, and, yes, we do slow down a lot going up hills (but I still never get to my lowest gear, undoubtedly because I have such a fine stoker behind me), but I can't think of a finer way to travel. They ain't heavy. They're my kids.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l100/graystrickland/Trek620/PICT0197.jpg

Hmmm... half the bodyweight, eh? How about 3/4?

I weigh 240 lbs. and this is my preferred way to travel:

22 bike
30 Trek Mt. Train single-wheeled pedal trailer for son
55 six year old son
30 Bell two-wheeled trailer for daughter
44 five year old daughter
5 picnic supplies, toys and water.

186 lbs. or 77.5% of my body weight. 89% if I take the 22 mos. old also.

Granted, we never go more than 25 miles this way, make frequent unscheduled stops to chase butterflies, look at interesting bugs, collect leaves and generally explore stuff, and, yes, we do slow down a lot going up hills (but I still never get to my lowest gear, undoubtedly because I have such a fine stoker behind me), but I can't think of a finer way to travel. They ain't heavy. They're my kids.
...


Now THAT'S cool! :) Keep it up!

They ain't heavy. They're my kids.

SoonerLater, you are in a different touring category altogether!

By the time their combined weights reach 7/8th's of your body weight, they'll have their own bikes and will be pacing their old man.

Thanks for sharing this one - added a certain sweetness to my afternoon.


Woody

21% for me using The Matchka Formula:

Bike,racks,panniers: 30#

Equipment,water,food: 20#

On my first tour many decades ago I vividly remember stopping at the first post office to mail back 20# of excess gear and clothing after climbing the first pass. My bike had become an unstable noodle while climbing and descending with that load back then. The grades grew steeper on the rest of the trip but all were rideable with a feeling of stability and control whether going up or down.

One benefit to carrying less is reduced chance of wheel problems. Most recently I have not had to retrue or replace the wheels I used on the Divide Ride on this all rigid cross bike carrying me the Clydesdale as well.

Less IS More in my experience. Now If I could only apply this idea to me!:D

HEY! WAKE UP! Snap out of it! this is the touring forum! weighing everything? spread sheets? percentages? wattage? come on, leave all that stuff to the anal retentive tech weanies in the track and triathlon forums. those guys are so constipated they've got to work out each bowel movement with a #2 pencil. (ha ha, get the pun?)

mark my words; startout with this kind of talk and before you know it you'll be bringing along a scale to weight the results of your bm's, entering the data into your cycling computer and uploading it into your p.c. for more spreadsheet analysis.

throw some stuff into your panniers & go out and have a nice ride, for cryin' out loud. relax!


(hey, by the way, nice pic there, soonerlater. keep it up)

"bringing along a scale to weight the results of your bm's"

HAHA!!! This brings back memories.
Last summer camping on the Natchez Trace met a gut that was planning an Atlantic crossing in his 27' sailboat. Was living in a small travel trailer that he had calculated had the same interior room as the boat.
He was on a very strict diet, practicing for this sea-going adventure.
He was measuring and weighing EVERYTHING. Including that which I quote above.
Interesting guy....

HEY! WAKE UP! Snap out of it! this is the touring forum! weighing everything?


If you've ever had to fly anywhere for a tour, you've got to know how much your stuff weighs!! Some airlines have weight restrictions, but even for those that don't, carrying it all around the airport is a huge pain!

When I flew back from a trip to Europe in 2003, I had about 90 lbs of stuff with me. I landed in Toronto which was the connector airport to my home city, and had to go through customs. I headed over to get a cart, only to discover that they required a particular Canadian coin which I did not have in my collection. So I had to carry all 90 lbs of stuff through the whole customs area. For a girl my size, that was quite a task!!

I've been in other situations in train stations and bus stations where all the carts had been stolen and not replaced, and I had to drag/haul everything from one end of the station to the other.

These experiences are all a part of touring, and believe me, when you are in those situations weight matters VERY much!!


And then when I get to the riding part of the tour, I'd like to enjoy the ride, but if I have too much stuff on the bicycle, and have to push it up every little hill, and it takes me literally all day to cover a relatively short distance ... I cease to enjoy myself. However, if I have a comfortable weight on the bicycle, I can ride the distance and enjoy it! :)

I was just leafing thru Bicycle Magazines book on Touring, and their basic recommendation was that you should be able to pick up the bicycle with everything loaded on it and be able to carry it for 100 yards without putting it down or dropping it. If you can't, according to them, it's too heavy.

Steve W.

I was just leafing thru Bicycle Magazines book on Touring, and their basic recommendation was that you should be able to pick up the bicycle with everything loaded on it and be able to carry it for 100 yards without putting it down or dropping it. If you can't, according to them, it's too heavy.

Steve W.

Is that without strapping it to your back? If you have to carry it one handed, that could be a problem if you have fairly weak wrists. Not easy to throw your bicycle over two shoulders, but if I had a convenient way of carrying it, I could march a pretty heavy load 100 yards. One handed im in trouble do to balancing so much weight on one side could cause muscle strain and such.

I was just leafing thru Bicycle Magazines book on Touring, and their basic recommendation was that you should be able to pick up the bicycle with everything loaded on it and be able to carry it for 100 yards without putting it down or dropping it. If you can't, according to them, it's too heavy.

Steve W.


I would also suggest that a person should be able to carry their loaded bicycles up a flight of stairs too. I was faced with doing that on a few occasions while traveling in Europe.




And no, Adiankur, they aren't suggesting that you carry the bicycle one handed. You can use both hands ... like if you were going to lift it over a log on the road, or onto a train.

Matchka,
I read this thread a week ago and it has been in my mind ever since. Now that I have a heavy touring bike I must spend even more effort weeding out unnecessary stuff.
Thanks for the thought.

^^^ That's what I thought at first, but then I realized that I was going about it all wrong. I'm going to be training with a double cheese large pizza each night, toppped off with a quart of ben and jerry's finest for desert. Come touring season I shouldn't have any weight limitations about how much gear I can carry and still meet the standard of 1/2 body weight, and it will be so much nicer in the camp when I get my 48 plasma TV from the back rack. Heck, I might even be able to bring 2 tv's with me. :)


Steve
Who thinks that there may be SOMETHING wrong with his plan, but can't put a finger on it yet

I would also suggest that a person should be able to carry their loaded bicycles up a flight of stairs too. I was faced with doing that on a few occasions while traveling in Europe.


That is a really, really good measure. I've had to do that several times too.

Also you mentioned about carrying the 90lbs of stuff in the airport. It isn't so much the weight as the awkwardness for me.

Two panniers, the main tent bag, small backpack, the tent poles, wait, where's the belt pouch gone? Oh I'm wearing it! What about the bar bag?!

That is a really, really good measure. I've had to do that several times too.

Also you mentioned about carrying the 90lbs of stuff in the airport. It isn't so much the weight as the awkwardness for me.

Two panniers, the main tent bag, small backpack, the tent poles, wait, where's the belt pouch gone? Oh I'm wearing it! What about the bar bag?!
Hey, where's the BIKE!!!!!?????

I've just posted on my website (http://www.cycling-adventurer.net/bicycle-touring/pack-list.html) my packing lists for my two North American trips in 2005 and 2006, complete with weights of each item (using kitchen scales, and the bathroom scales for the bike). Bear in mind, these two trips involved touring, two ultra-distance events, and extended periods without a home base -- that is, my bike carried my home.

In 2005, I departed with 44.93kg and this year with 48.72kg, including the bicycle and *bike box*. My weight was between 82kg and 88kg... so the half-bodyweight scenario wasn't too far off the mark.

I am still working on retrieving the 2003 packing list for Northern Europe and PBP, but if I remember rightly, that was under 40kg with bike box.

Hey, where's the BIKE!!!!!?????

Oh that? The Ryanair baggage handlers are outside kicking the spokes in, it'll be in at Belt No. 8 momentarily.

Did you see the new OED entry? "/severely high stress/ n; ex. modern air travel with unboxed bicycle"

I'm going to try the ferry thing this year.