tarwheel 

My first tour was supported, BRAG, or Bicycle Ride Across Georgia, about 400 miles in 7 days.

It was in June, which is usually very hot in Georgia, but it was relatively cool that year. In fact, we had ideal weather, sunny and mild (if you consider highs in the 80s mild, but believe me, that is mild for GA.)

What we did right was going on a supported tour for the first one. My wife was new to cycling, and it would have been too much for her to carry gear as well as cycle 60-80 miles/day. Getting up early and hitting the road by 6-7 am to avoid the heat. Also, stopping every day for a nice lunch in small towns along the way. Great food at little local restaurants in small Georgia towns.

What didn't work out so well? Well, I was working as a reporter for a newspaper at the time. I talked my editor into letting me go along and writing stories every day about the trip. They made me file 2 stories each day, and it just about wore me out. At the end of each day, the other cyclists would go swimming or drinking beer or relaxing, but I had to go around interviewing people and writing articles. Several nights I was working on stories until 11 p.m.

surfjimc

!st tour: about 1000 miles, 13 days Mammoth Lakes, CA to Ventura, CA. Went through Yosemite and over to the coast with detours to see relatives.
Right: good attitude, no stove (for this trip), tiny but complete gear list, no plan other than destinations.
Wrong: CA road map, needed better to get through some cities
It was a magical trip where everything just fell into place. Every time I needed something, it would appear. A person with a map, company, a small road sign, etc.
My tours have become more refined over time, but I long for the spontaneity and innocence that trip posessesd. I think we can never go back after we have the learning experience. But I'll keep chasing the dragon as long as I can turn the cranks.

mev

First one I'll count as a tour was a two day 134 mile ride from Boston to tip of Cape Cod. I organized this ride for some friends while in college. My bike wasn't in the best mechanical shape, but I could usually stop myself by dragging my feet. Things went wrong about 10 miles into the ride while riding a trail through a local park. The route went down a small hill and around a bend. I made the hill but missed the bend. My bike stopped and I somersaulted over the handle bars. I landed on my back, mostly ok but on lower right scraped up against a rock.

It would have been reasonable for me to go home at that point. However, I was young, male and invincible. Since I was the leader, there wasn't anyone else to send me home. We bought some 3x3 bandages from nearby pharmacy and taped up the wound. I toughed it out, but it hurt a lot, particularly later as sweat got into the wound. It was quite hot, and I nearly bonked except for getting some bananas not far from the bridge onto the Cape. We didn't get quite as far as we hoped and so as it was getting dark we asked and then camped on lawn of a church in Barnstable. A friend helped change the dressing on the wound. Next morning we were up early and rode the rest of the way to P-town. On completing the ride and cycling through downtown Boston to home, I beamed with accomplishment at having made the ride (even if in hindsight it wasn't the wisest choice).

The "wrong" part is an easy lesson about making sure your brakes work. After that ride, I continued with a steady progression of further weekend, multi-day, week-long and longer duration rides up to 12 months long. I'm still learning as I go along...

Nota

M first bike tour took place ealier this year during Memorial Day weekend, and covered all 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Pkwy, over a 4 day period.

I had fair skies and typical temps -- for the BRP (low 50's in the early AM, with mid 70's by late afternoon) for the first 3 days, and pouring rain with chilly temps, for most of the 4 day.

All things considered, being my first tour, and lone self-supported one at that, everything worked out pretty much as I had planned. Probably the smartest thing I did was take my 70 oz Camelback, in addition to taking a 32 oz & 24 oz waterbottle. There were more than a few times when I found myself between watering holes, with no idea how far until the next one, that I had to start rationing myself to get by. Without my Cameback for extra reserve, there's no way I would have made it.

About the only thing I would have like to have had, is a rainproof hat; one that could keep my scalp dry, and deflect the runoff away from my neck. I managed to make do, by tearing a CVS bag into a rain-beanie skull cap, but it didn't shed the resulting runoff from running down my neck and soaking my jersey underneath my rain jacket.

foamy

My first tour was quite unintentional. After years of a bad marriage, my (then) wife had me leave—but she wouldn't give me one of the (three) cars. I expect that she thought that that would "keep me around," but it didn't work like that. I had had enough and was going back home to the shore.

A daypack and a gym bag with a few shirts, underwear, etc. I'd been laid off of work the week before. A mountain bike with a racing seat and 150 miles to go. My butt killed me. Took me two days, but it was the most fortuitous ride I ever took. Then I found out about panniers and "real" bike touring and the die was cast. I had been bike packing before, but had no idea about road touring. I found out.

acantor

I eased into touring. I did many day tours during my 20s, 30s and early 40s, and finally bit the bullet and embarked on a multi-day expedition when I was 42. I flew to London, UK, took the train, via Paris, to a village in Alsace, France, and headed out. I spent four or five days riding in beautiful Alsace. Then I took the train to Switzerland to visit friends for the weekend. Then I took the train to Dijon to begin three or four days of touring in Burgundy. Took the train from Dijon to Paris to London, then flew home. I was away 18 days.

What I did right:

* I researched the areas I was travelling to, so was familiar with the geography, terrain, culture, etc.

* I deviated from my plans as fancy dictated. For example, on my first day in Alsace, I completely changed my route after reading a brochure at the tourist office! There was other things I decided to explore!

* I stopped most days before I got real tired. That gave me time in the late afternoons and early evenings to explore my surroundings.

I only made one mistake:

* I did not eat and drink enough. I "bonked" on Day 1. After that, I carried three times as much water and ate more frequently.

Neil_B

My first tour was an overnight with another poster, from his home to Red Bank, NJ, 50 miles away. That was a credit card tour. From there I worked up to longer tours and cheaper accommodations.

BigBlueToe

Although I started touring in the 70's, the longest ones were a little over 100 miles. I went on a couple of week-long tours, but in both cases I was riding for a day or two, staying put for several days, and riding for a day to get back home.

My first big tour was in 1992 - down the west coast from Seattle to Santa Cruz. My biggest mistakes were carrying too much weight and not having my rear wheel tensioned and trued by a pro before I left. I had a lot of spoke problems, starting around the California border. I eventually aborted the trip a week early (I had intended to make it to San Luis Obispo) and took a Greyhound home.

My biggest misconception was that I would lose weight and travel inexpensively. Besides all the money spent having broken spokes replaced, I was also shocked at the amount I spent on food (and the amount of food I ate!) I ended up 8 pounds heavier at the end! I don't think I was fatter - I think it was muscle - but I didn't lose my little belly paunch like I had hoped. Of course, even though I spent a lot on food (and spokes), it was still a whole lot cheaper than if I'd been car camping for four weeks.