Touring - 2013 - Touring Plans = Where Are You Going?

Where are you touring in 2013? Got any exciting plans? Will it be a long tour, short tour, or something in between? Will it be to a place you've been before, or somewhere new? Solo or with others? :)



And if it is a short tour, don't forget to post a brief ride report in the Short Tours thread.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/865356-2013-Your-Short-Tours

spring festival....gettin' outa china. fly to phnom penh for a 4-week tour of temples and
empty spaces.

next summer, train to beijing, then cycle south via xi'an, chengdu, chongqing, guilin, and
back to hainan island. around 3000km over two months.

going alone, since chinese don't like to bicycle.

I have a six month leave from work and have been planning this for a while. Leave for Cairo in a few days where I'll participate in Tour D'Afrique, a supported ride across Africa to Capetown, South Africa. This finishes mid-May where I have six weeks before going back to work. Exact destination not decided yet, but one that is high on my list is to start in Quebec City and ride the Trans Labrador Highway to Red Bay NL. My blog for my trip is http://bike2013.com

Machka, 2013 looks to be an even more hectic year than 2012, but still have a central Texas tour planned for the summer with my sister. We'll be using the mountain bikes for a mostly off pavement ride. We might also have a 'nostalgia ride' in south Texas where we retrace all of the places we rode our bikes as kids.

Brad

I'm looking at Vancouver island and the Sunshine coast but nothing is set yet. I'd like to hike the West Coast Trail.

Depending on how things go, plenty that could change my plans, I'm looking at a trip to western TX and then on up to the Black Hills and North Dakota roundtrip starting shortly after the 4th of July. Also planning on spending next winter bike touring down south...why pay the heat bill when I tour instead and save money. I figure use this summer for a nice 6000 mile trip to get ready for a 6-7,000 mile 48 state trip in 2014.

I have a six month leave from work and have been planning this for a while. Leave for Cairo in a few days where I'll participate in Tour D'Afrique, a supported ride across Africa to Capetown, South Africa. This finishes mid-May where I have six weeks before going back to work. Exact destination not decided yet, but one that is high on my list is to start in Quebec City and ride the Trans Labrador Highway to Red Bay NL. My blog for my trip is http://bike2013.com

As I've mentioned, I will be very interested to hear what you think of the Tour D'Afrique. All the best!!

For a start, we're kind of doing some hub-and-spoke stuff around lower mainland BC where we're visiting right now.

Then, we fly back to Australia on January 16th, and will spend 2 weeks in Western Australia (Perth area) doing some cycletouring.

From there, we fly to the Melbourne area and the plan is that we'll housesit for about 3 weeks, during which time we'll likely do more hub-and-spoke cycling.

And then ?????????? It will all depend on what we end up doing and where we end up living.

Hoping to spend a week at the Italian Cycling Center doing day rides, including Monte Grappa. Then a week later taking 5-6 days to ride from home to my 30th high school reunion in Deerfield, MA. Also working on something shorter for Easter Weekend. That might be tough as it's early this year. Camping options may be somewhat limited.

Bogota, Columbia to Tierra del Fuego and likely back :) starting in July.

Leaving the California bay area at the end of January and heading south down to San Diego, then east across the country, through Austin, onward, then cutting up through Appalachia and continuing north to New England to spend the summer in Vermont. Riding with my sweetie on Long Haul cargo bikes, taking 4-5 months for the whole thing. In the midst of the planning process, input on route, sw desert camping, etc more than welcome. This will be my first tour away from the west coast.
291444

May: First shake down over nighter

End of May: 4-5 day tour in Jersey

June.... maybe... another tour

I'll be here , just across the river from Pacific Co WA. on the PCH and Trans Am Routes.

Riding from Nanaimo to Port Hardy, ferry to Prince Rupert with a stop over at Ocean Falls, then touring Haida Gwaii for a week or two before returning to Vancouver via the interior highways. Should be a good way to kill a month and a bit!

Might pack it up and do a mini around Armenia in August if time and money allows.

2012 saw me do the TransAm... We are looking to tour the Katy Trail in the spring...then maybe RABRAI or one of the Wisconsin rides this summer. No epics this year unfortunately.

Alaska. Riding solo. I've been there several times before, but I've never bicycled there.

Might do Hokkaido and cruise around Thailand later this year.

Planning a three-day, 235-mile trip to SD to see my step-son and his wife. My wife will meet me there . . . with the car.

Might do Hokkaido and cruise around Thailand later this year.

What we saw of Hokkaido was really nice. Rowan and I would like to spend a month or so there to see more.

We've only 4 weeks so it's going to be a loop of Northern Germany and a bit of Denmark or Southern Germany and a bit of Austria/Switzerland.
We like to see Northern Germany and Denmark as we've never been there but the beauty of the Southern hill country and the thought of climbing over a high pass might win us over.

Going cross Canada from BC to Newfoundland.

Now that I'm single again I can finally go back to Scotland and do the bike/camping tour I've dreamed about for so long. I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my 1/2 century birthday in Spring.

Preliminarily planning a 4-week Iceland tour for July/August. Will be training by doing short tours along the PCH.

Not much this on the go yet, but planning to cycle from my home in Hinton Alberta, to southern Alberta for a paintball event, then to Montana to visit my parents property and get a ride home. About 1200 to 1400 km estimate and about 3 weeks timeframe.

Firming up plans for Alaska and the Atlantic coast.

I did my first overnight right before Christmas on the Silver Comet Trail. This year my main goal is to do a couple of nights on the south end of North Carolina's Outer Banks. I would also like to get up to the New River Trail in Virginia and do an overnight on it.

A couple of short (2-3 day) shakedown/practice trips to get the idea firmly planted in my wife's mind, then a honeymoon tour through Hokkaido in June/July.

Couple of weekend trips as shakedowns in Mar/Apr, then, if I'm feeling froggy and have the time, take a 10-14 day trip back home for my 20yr reunion (600-650mi RT) in June-ish. Hopefully do a bunch of short haul weekends thru the rest of the year.

We have a couple of rides that interest our group of three. Drive from the Massachusetts south coast to Albany, NY. Take a train to Buffalo and ride to Niagara Falls to Toronto and then to Montreal. We don't know if we will ride back to Albany or take a bus or something.

The second is to drive to Colchester Vt. and ride Lake Champlain clockwise.

Preliminarily planning a 4-week Iceland tour for July/August. Will be training by doing short tours along the PCH.

Iceland? What will you be riding?

What we saw of Hokkaido was really nice. Rowan and I would like to spend a month or so there to see more.

I've cruised around Honshu a lot, Hokkaido seems like it would be fun, plus I wouldn't have to deal with as many long urban stretches.

After 5 years of putting it off, I'm off on the TransAm this summer. : )

My wife are planning a 9 day ride from our home in SW Iowa to SE Missouri. This is only the 2nd year my wife has been riding so this will be big for her. She doesn't do hills well and she agreed to going through the Ozarks???? It could be interesting! We can't do it until August or September so weather will determine a lot of her enjoyment. She doesn't do heat well either. Hmmm. At least she's finally riding!

Self contained trip, including dog, from Michigan City, Indiana to Port Austin, Mich. following the Lake Michigan/Lake Huron shoreline beginning mid-May. Starting to research a trip from Prague to Budapest for September. Probably using a touring company.

Now that I'm single again I can finally go back to Scotland and do the bike/camping tour I've dreamed about for so long. I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my 1/2 century birthday in Spring.

All the power to you!

PCH on June 8th............Anyone else headed there in june? Leaving from Seattle due to time restraint and ending in San Fran on june 29.

I've cruised around Honshu a lot, Hokkaido seems like it would be fun, plus I wouldn't have to deal with as many long urban stretches.

The parts we saw were quite rural. We were next to a city for part of the time there, but even so, it wasn't really crowded or busy, and we could cycle into the country quite easily.

If you fly into Chitose, there's a bicycle path all the way to either side of Lake Shikotsu ... that was really nice. :)



In this photo set, starting shortly after the photos of me with the big panda bear, are a whole bunch of photos we took when we were in Hokkaido.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-bb/sets/72157630063348587/

I have a six month leave from work and have been planning this for a while. Leave for Cairo in a few days where I'll participate in Tour D'Afrique, a supported ride across Africa to Capetown, South Africa. This finishes mid-May where I have six weeks before going back to work. Exact destination not decided yet, but one that is high on my list is to start in Quebec City and ride the Trans Labrador Highway to Red Bay NL. My blog for my trip is http://bike2013.com

Mev is there, and has completed Day 3 of the journey. :)

Anyone else planning to travel in Australia this year? :)


Mid-February to mid-April is probably the best time to visit the southern half of the country ... or maybe mid-October to mid-December. The kids are in school, and the weather isn't as hot as summer, nor as cool and rainy as winter.

Yesterday I booked two tickets to a Van Morrison concert......in Northern Ireland. I'm in TX. We now have several hundred miles on our new coupled tandem. So I guess we'll spend 10-14 days touring Ireland and maybe N. Ireland. Somebody has to do it.

In mid May, taking the Noon train to San Luis Obispo and riding home. Should take a week.

Leaving the California bay area at the end of January and heading south down to San Diego, then east across the country, through Austin, onward, then cutting up through Appalachia and continuing north to New England to spend the summer in Vermont. Riding with my sweetie on Long Haul cargo bikes, taking 4-5 months for the whole thing. In the midst of the planning process, input on route, sw desert camping, etc more than welcome. This will be my first tour away from the west coast.
291444

Are you planning on riding along the Blue Ridge Parkway to get up towards the North East? I do that on my motorcycle to avoid the hustle and bustle of the lower roads. There are drawbacks like lack of food, etc., but these can be planned around. At least you don't have to leave the Parkway to get gas:thumb:

Self contained trip, including dog...

On or in a trailer? I put my Jack Russel Terrier on top of my BOB waterproof bag. Cliped him in with a harness which allowed some movement, but he couldn't fall off. He seemed to love the ride (a two day overnighter).

This summer I hope to tour in Ireland -as much of the entire island as possible - with my arvon2 folder and a travelling companion :D.
My foot issues seem to have healed - as has my heart. My travelling companion suggested touring the green isle (instead of Autralia) and in spite of the "Gathering" which is bound to raise prices, I figure I should go to Ireland and do the route between Mallen H and Mizen H an all sorts of other things including Dingle.
Because my travelling lady is not robust tourer, we will also look at supported tours. Public transpo and renting a car are also on the agenda. Six weeks was the original plan, but ...

My wife and I have now booked tickets to France. We land in Paris on May 12, and will be returning home on the 29th. We'll start with some time along the Loire (I'm thinking Angers to either Tours or Orleans, depending on how much we're enjoying the region), and then head...somewhere else. I like the look of the Canal du Midi, but that might be another trip unto itself. We also talked about maybe heading for the Netherlands for a bit. Who knows. I love having wide open plans.

Any recommendations would be appreciated. Does anyone think the Western Loire (Nantes to Angers) is worth the extra time? Keep in mind that we're slow cyclists, probably covering around 40km per day, so going to Nantes would add about 4 days.

I'm doing a short, couple day, tour of fake Europe here in Ontario. Paris, London, Brussels, Berlin, Dublin, Zurich and more! All within a 400km loop.

Hokkaido seems popular on here. I'm headed there in July/August and plan on riding in circles looking for hiking trails and waterfalls. There will be a lot of weekend rides and I'll probably try to fit in a week long trip in Taiwan in November/December but my Taiwan trip will wait until March 2014.

Mongolia

My dog and I will be doing New England in detail- from May until December. The idea is to use as few paved roads as possible. Most of the trip will consist of being in Northern Maine.

For a start, we're kind of doing some hub-and-spoke stuff around lower mainland BC where we're visiting right now.

Then, we fly back to Australia on January 16th, and will spend 2 weeks in Western Australia (Perth area) doing some cycletouring.

From there, we fly to the Melbourne area and the plan is that we'll housesit for about 3 weeks, during which time we'll likely do more hub-and-spoke cycling.

And then ?????????? It will all depend on what we end up doing and where we end up living.


Well ... we're off to Western Australia tomorrow. Or at least, we leave Canada tomorrow ... we don't get to Western Australia till Friday their time. :) We go via Hong Kong. Pity we've only got a few hours there. I'd like to spend several days.

We'll be going from temps about 0C ... to temps about 30C, possibly higher. That might require a bit of adjustment ... and it might require that we visit a beach. :D