kyledr

Hey, I'm a beginning racer, and I'm in OK shape. I expect to put on a lot of miles over this summer, and I'll continue to train through the winter. Then in the Spring I'm studying abroad in Germany, and I want to stay for the summer to do some touring. I'm just wondering how far I should expect to go total distance, and how much per day. I suppose sometimes I'll want to stop for a day or so and not ride in order to see the city better. I'm thinking my original route is a little ambitious, but I think it'd be pretty cool. The one part I could cut out is Norway before Oslo, so instead it would start at Oslo, but I'd really like it to end in Istanbul, because I hear that's an amazing city. Here's a rough draft... I cut corners when making it, so the mileage is probably low because of that, but at the same time there's a few hundred miles of ferry riding that is marked as mileage that shouldn't, so I guess it's a wash. I don't even know if a ferry goes from Lecce to that greek city I can't read. It's a VERY rough draft, anyway, especially because I can't even read the greek words, and just picked some big ones. I'll enlist the help of a lot of people I know to pick the right cities, but I just wanted to put an initial idea down to get started. Anyway, I'm rambling... here's the map:

Oh, and to be more specific, a summer is probably 90 days. Also, I'll be carrying a light load and staying in youth hostels. I'm not exactly sure what to expect for gear weight, but I'd imagine somewhere around 40 pounds gear+bike would be good. I'm planning on using a saddlebag/saddlepack.

https://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=833137

Thanks,

Kyle

Machka 

100 kms a day is probably not unreasonable.

markf

Like Machka said, 100 km/day is reasonable. You could probably do a good bit more in Denmark, northern Germany and the Netherlands, especially if the winds are with you. If you ride 3 days out of 4 and use the 4th for sightseeing, rest, bike repair, etc., then you would cover ~6800 km, leaving you 800 km short of your projected 7600 km trip length. Bump up the daily distance to 112 km/day and you can do the trip in the allotted time with no problem, still riding 3 days out of 4.

By way of comparison, I ws covering 80 km/day in Tuscany last May with camping gear and travelling in some pretty steep terrain. I'm in acceptable shape for my age (49 at the time), but I'm certainly not a racer and I work a pretty sedentary job. So 100-120 km/day with the load you describe should be quite feasible.

kyledr

My biggest concern is burning out in a manner similar to how some people overtrain and then can't bike for a month or whatever. It sounded reasonable enough to me, so it's good to hear you think so too. Can anyone comment on whether 1/4 days is enough for sightseeing?

markf

Personal taste, like so much else in life. It more or less worked for me in Tuscany, along with a few brief stops at various sights in the middle of a day of riding. Other cycle tourists seem to treat touring as a purely athletic event, racking up the miles and enjoying the scenery as they ride but not visiting a single museum or historic sight. They seem to enjoy their tours as much as I do mine. If you feel like you're missing too much, spend an extra day here or there. If you're sick of castles, cathedrals and museums, get back on your bike. You won't be able to see everything, and you'll have to budget your time on even a 90 day trip, but try not to be too enslaved by your timetable.