Touring - mountain mileage vs. flat mileage

I'm going to be touring from Chapel Hill NC to Orlando FL. I live in Boone NC which is in the mountains and have been getting in about 30 miles a day just commuting and riding for fun. I usually have 20lbs. or more of gear on me. The 30 miles take me about 2 hours or a little more and I stay mostly on the Blue Ridge Parkway. How much easier will it be to ride flat miles? I'm giving myself about 2 weeks to do 700 miles. I think this should be plenty of time. Any suggestions? Thanks.

well.. 700 divided by 14 days is. . 50 miles a day... on mostly flats? and youre used to riding 30 miles a day in the hills? you should have no problemo. . If you stay on schedule. miss a day and then you have to make up for it.. I would of course get out there and try to do 50 or 60 miles a day two days in a row before you leave to get a feel for it.. Plan on a big mileage day or two during the trip and you can have a bit of slack on the other days.

enjoy and let us know how it gies!

~STeve

Personally, I find flat distance harder and slower than mountain distance. I think it's 'cause on the uphills I'm more efficient because wind resistance is much less than flat, and on the downhills I tend to tuck a lot better than on flats, so wind resistance is down again. Overall it just means less wind resistance, and I also suspect that psychologically, the varied riding on the hills gives me a mental boost and I enjoy my riding more, so I just go a smidge faster.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that maybe you shouldn't assume that hilly miles are any harder than flat miles...

Good luck on the trip. You'll have a blast.

What is the wind like on the fairly flat 700 miles you are planning to do? Is it anything like the wind you currently ride in? I'd watch the weather in various places along the route for a while ... and particularly keep an eye on that wind.

I live in a very flat place, so flat in fact, that your 700 mile route sounds hilly to me. But I also always ride in wind, and I've gotten used to it.

I have ridden with people from mountainous areas who haven't had the joy of riding for 100+ continuous miles into a headwind so strong you can't get your speed up over 10 mph, and they complain bitterly about the teensiest of breezes even if they are into it for just a few miles. For those who aren't used to it, wind is demoralizing and daunting. There's no peak to reach, no slope to coast down, it just keeps relentlessly blowing, and all you can do is to shift into an easier gear, spin, and resign yourself to the fact that you're going to take longer to get where you're going than you thought.

However, even if riding on flat ground might not be easier than riding in the hills, 50 miles a day is certainly do-able. Even if you can only manage 10 mph, you're still on the bicycle for only 5 hours a day.

As a part of your training, you might consider doing at least one set of back-to-back 50 mile rides each week until you go. That way you'll be more comfortable with that distance, and with doing it multiple days.

All the best! :)

Also take into account the temperatures as in Fl. its currently well into the 90's and humid making midday and afternoon riding very tiring and dehydrating .You will want to get early starts and limit time riding in the heat of the day .I just did a weekend tour in SoFl and road 70 mile days including the afternoons but spent much time off the bike usually around showers,water and food and still was pushing mild dehydration once or twice.
As far as the question I think a 30 mile base translates into being ready to do 50 mile days and while mtn milage is generally more demanding than flat miles they will develop differing muscles so mtn training where you use more hams might not translate directly to flat where quads are used more.But if the 30 mile days are no sweat than i think you are ready though a 2 week w/o a break schedule might be pushing it particularly in the south during summer.

Thanks for the posts. I didn't even think about the wind. In Boone we have some odd weather and there is usually at least a 15mph wind. Yeah, I've been upping my milage to 40 miles or so a day (alternating between 30 and 40 depending on where I need to be that night).

And that is another thing. I'm in the mountains so it gets cool at night. In Florida I remember it just doesn't get cool at night. Not like the mountains anyway. I've decided to give myself an extra day or 2 just to have days off. I'm definately bringing the extra platapus bladder. Also I may just leave my 20 degree sleeping bag at home and just bring a liner cause I doubt I would freeze to death even on the coldest nights in the south. Thanks for everyone's help. This is my first tour so everyone's advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.