View Poll Results: What was your age on your first loaded tour?
0-20
23
40.35%
21-25
10
17.54%
26-35
9
15.79%
36-45
6
10.53%
46-55
4
7.02%
55+
5
8.77%
Voters: 57. You may not vote on this poll
Age on first tour
02-17-06, 09:07 AM
#1
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Age on first tour
The poll on age has brought another question to my mind. How old were you when you did your first loaded tour?
I was 33 when I did my first tour, eleven years ago.
I was 33 when I did my first tour, eleven years ago.
02-17-06, 09:10 AM
#2
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Oh God, I rode my Schwinn Varsity to a different state for a weekend
long rock show in 72 or 73. I forget which. I was 21 or 22. After I loaded it up with army surplus tent, bag, and pots and stuff I couldn't lift the bike.
long rock show in 72 or 73. I forget which. I was 21 or 22. After I loaded it up with army surplus tent, bag, and pots and stuff I couldn't lift the bike.
02-17-06, 11:31 AM
#3
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I clicked on 26 to 35 because I did 2 short (3-day) tours during that period. However since age 57 I have done two 18-day tours in Europe and three 4 or 5 day tours here in Canada. Planning 2 more tours this year, age 61.
02-17-06, 01:42 PM
#4
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I did my first LOADED tour in 2003, and I would have been 36. But I did my first sag supported tour in 1995, and I would have been 28 then.
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02-17-06, 01:47 PM
#5
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I plan to do my first over-night loaded tour this year, I am 49... so I selected the appropriate option as if it has already happened. 
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02-17-06, 01:58 PM
#6
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I bought my first bike (since high school) in 2002 and that summer started my first self-supported tour when I was 58. I had planned to go across Canada, but my dream had to be finished in '03. Managed 4,000 km. Calgary to Ottawa that first year. I'm a super-Clydesdale, too. Not too shabby for a big ole fat guy! I'm 3/4 thru my next mega-tour: from Gulf of Mexico (Corpus Christi, TX) to the Arctic Ocean (Tuktoyaktuk, NWT).
02-17-06, 02:30 PM
#7
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my first loaded tour was a weekend type thing last summer, and my big one around the world is this summer, and ill be 18.
steve
steve
02-17-06, 03:22 PM
#8
Videre non videri
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Originally Posted by dgregory57
I plan to do my first over-night loaded tour this year, I am 49... so I selected the appropriate option as if it has already happened.
02-17-06, 04:28 PM
#9
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I must have been 16 or 17 (1980 or 81) when I did my first week long tour. I made my first mistake then: no panniers or rack. Carried everything in a backpack.
02-17-06, 05:15 PM
#10
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Originally Posted by clayface
Carried everything in a backpack.
I hate having a backpack just for the 7 km to school...
02-18-06, 12:38 AM
#12
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18, Livermore CA to near Eureka CA. Learned a few things on that trip.
(1) Plescher racks are not meant for loaded touring.
(2) Sew-ups are not meant for loaded touring.
(3) Having a sleeping bag, a ground pad, and a decent sized stuff sack all on top of a Plescher rack is not the optimum way to load up a bike.
(4) Tractor-trailer trucks passing you close by create two distinct blasts of wind - the first tries to blow you off the road and into whatever ditch, fence or other unpleasantness is next to it, while the second one tries to suck you under the rear wheels of the trailer.
Five years later, when I went coast-to-coast, I took care of #'s 1-3 by having a good Blackburn rack, clinchers, and panniers, and I kept #4 in mind at all times, especially whenever I herad that distinctive noise of major diesel engine coming up from behind.
(1) Plescher racks are not meant for loaded touring.
(2) Sew-ups are not meant for loaded touring.
(3) Having a sleeping bag, a ground pad, and a decent sized stuff sack all on top of a Plescher rack is not the optimum way to load up a bike.
(4) Tractor-trailer trucks passing you close by create two distinct blasts of wind - the first tries to blow you off the road and into whatever ditch, fence or other unpleasantness is next to it, while the second one tries to suck you under the rear wheels of the trailer.
Five years later, when I went coast-to-coast, I took care of #'s 1-3 by having a good Blackburn rack, clinchers, and panniers, and I kept #4 in mind at all times, especially whenever I herad that distinctive noise of major diesel engine coming up from behind.
02-18-06, 10:52 AM
#14
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I did my first tours when I was 13 with friends who were 12. We had to call our parents every day (no cell phones at the time) and give them a very detailed itinerary. I am still surprised that they let us do it... it did take quite a long time to convince them though. My friends and I basically 'trained' the whole summer (that was part of the deal with our parents) and were able to leave for a 2 weeks trip (actually a 4 days long trip back and forth between the city where we lived and the house my friends' grand mother).
I did my other long trips (more than a week long) at age 16, 24 and 29.
I did my other long trips (more than a week long) at age 16, 24 and 29.
02-18-06, 02:25 PM
#15
Senior Member
My wife and I are in our mid 60's and climbed on bikes for the first time in 25 years last June. We are planning our first tour to start in April of this year. It will be a credit card trip, covering approx 500 miles in several overnight and long weekend segments.
02-18-06, 04:22 PM
#16
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My first major ride was The Ride Across Minnesota (TRAM), I was 16. I rode a mountain bike, with nobby tires and wore soccer shorts! Yikes.
I turned 25 halfway through my first loaded touring trip. We started in Washington and were heading towards Maine. My birthday occured somewhere in Minnesota.
I turned 25 halfway through my first loaded touring trip. We started in Washington and were heading towards Maine. My birthday occured somewhere in Minnesota.
02-18-06, 05:42 PM
#17
nothing: lasts forever
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so...wait, would the information from this poll, combined with that of the other age poll tend to loosely indicate that the age at first tour is rising? or maybe it's just that there are more old people on the forums period?
02-18-06, 06:30 PM
#18
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Originally Posted by Ken Brown
I clicked on 26 to 35 because I did 2 short (3-day) tours during that period. However since age 57 I have done two 18-day tours in Europe and three 4 or 5 day tours here in Canada. Planning 2 more tours this year, age 61.
