Touring - Back in the saddle again

My son and I had planned to ride across the country this summer but due to unforeseen circumstances it was necessary for us to postpone our trip.
We didn't ride much this summer after the decision to postpone our trip was made. We spent a lot of the summer together fishing which isn't a bad alternative :)

We are excited to be back on our bikes working towards our goal of riding cross country...

I wanted to thank everyone here that provided so much help and support as we were planning our trip :thumb:

Do you guys have new date for trip? Best of luck with everything.

Thanks! No date set just yet.
Hope to plan some shorter local state trips next spring and build towards our cross country trip.

Thanks! No date set just yet.
Hope to plan some shorter local state trips next spring and build towards our cross country trip.

That sounds sensible ... start with a long weekend tour, build up to a week-long tour, and see how you go.

It may have been a blessing in disguise that we had to cancel our trip. I've heard from several cyclists that they had to cut their trips short last summer or were miserable as a result of the record heat across the country.

Weather is something you have to take into consideration on a tour. As I recall, you had quite a short time period for the distance you were planning to do, which would have meant long days and very few days off.

If you plan a more relaxed schedule for next year, and the weather turns bad (too hot, pouring rain, howing winds etc.) you can have a bit more flexibility to take days off or ride shorter days when you just don't feel like putting in a long day on the bicycle.

I'd recommend planning for 3 or 4 days on the bicycle, and 1 day off ... aiming to ride 5 days a week at most.

As you start training for next year, that sort of schedule is a good one for riding around your local area too. Do back-to-back longer rides on the weekend, take Monday off, do some shorter rides (maybe with hills, fun intervals, etc.) between Tuesday and Thursday, take Friday off, etc.

Great suggestions! Thanks!!

If you plan a more relaxed schedule for next year, and the weather turns bad (too hot, pouring rain, howing winds etc.) you can have a bit more flexibility to take days off or ride shorter days when you just don't feel like putting in a long day on the bicycle.

I'd recommend planning for 3 or 4 days on the bicycle, and 1 day off ... aiming to ride 5 days a week at most.


A lot of folks like to do that, but i will suggest another option. You will need to figure out what works best for you, but... I find I prefer to schedule that way to have an open ended schedule, but in practice I prefer to actually take very few if any days off. When I want to take it easy I find that I much prefer to just take a shorter easier day rather than a day off. I will usually only take a day off if there is something that I really want to do or if I am sick. I know that on our Trans America we rode some every day. I think once when we went whitewater rafting we only rode 8 or 10 miles and another time we actually lost ground when one of us was injured and had to catch a ride back to get medical attention.

There are times when I do take time off but it is to do something like seeing the Yosemite Valley, where we took a week off to hike and sight see on our Sierras tour.

Planning the extra time is a plus. A rigid schedule can suck much of the joy from a trip. I just don't see much merit in full rest days unless there is some attraction worth the day off.

That brings up another issue... To avoid a rigid schedule it is nice if you finish near enough to home that you can get transportation home on short notice at a reasonable price. It is even better if you are close enough that family and friends can meet you at the end. So if you live near one end or the other you might consider getting air travel out of the way at the beginning and then riding toward home.

When I say to plan for 3 or 4 days on the bicycle and 1 day off, I'm not suggesting that people stick to that structure, although if that works for the person, then great. We'll roughly plan for that, and then go off and ride 8 days in a row ... and then take 2 or 3 days off in a nice spot where we want to stay a while. Or maybe we'll ride 8 days in a row and then start doing a 1 day on, 1 day off thing for a bit. Or whatever we feel like doing.

The 3-4 days on/1 day off plan is a calculation tool to use to calculate approx. how long it might take to cycle a certain distance, giving a person room in the plan for days when you want to pack it in 20 km down the road because the weather is that bad, or days to recover from injury or exhaustion, or days to stay inside because of bad weather, or days when you just want to stay in an area and soak up some sun on the beach or go for a hike in the mountains or something not cycling-related.

A lot of folks like to do that, but i will suggest another option. You will need to figure out what works best for you, but... I find I prefer to schedule that way to have an open ended schedule, but in practice I prefer to actually take very few if any days off. When I want to take it easy I find that I much prefer to just take a shorter easier day rather than a day off. I will usually only take a day off if there is something that I really want to do or if I am sick. I know that on our Trans America we rode some every day. I think once when we went whitewater rafting we only rode 8 or 10 miles and another time we actually lost ground when one of us was injured and had to catch a ride back to get medical attention.

There are times when I do take time off but it is to do something like seeing the Yosemite Valley, where we took a week off to hike and sight see on our Sierras tour.

Planning the extra time is a plus. A rigid schedule can suck much of the joy from a trip. I just don't see much merit in full rest days unless there is some attraction worth the day off.

That brings up another issue... To avoid a rigid schedule it is nice if you finish near enough to home that you can get transportation home on short notice at a reasonable price. It is even better if you are close enough that family and friends can meet you at the end. So if you live near one end or the other you might consider getting air travel out of the way at the beginning and then riding toward home.

The OP is touring with a 13-14yo boy, maybe 15 when the tour starts. I think maybe the days off will be more than beneficial to father-son relationships on this crossing.

The OP is touring with a 13-14yo boy, maybe 15 when the tour starts. I think maybe the days off will be more than beneficial to father-son relationships on this crossing.

Yes ... it can be very refreshing to spend days now and then doing things that are not cycling. Fishing was mentioned in the first post ... if that's something both father and son enjoy, it could be a nice break to just go fishing once a week or something. Rest the cycling muscles, and do something different. That might also give them a chance to bond in a different way ... to talk to each other in a way that might not be possible when riding the bicycle.