Chris L

I have to say this is killing me! Well, maybe not, but it's not a feeling that can't be ignored. I just booked my airfares for my tour in November, and already I can feel the nerves building -- even though I haven't even finalised my route yet! I mean, after I get to Bright I've still got a few days free -- do I head North towards Falls Creek and onto Wodonga? Or do I head south, through the centre, possibly through Mansfield and getting the V-Line train back to Melbourne somewhere in that vicinity?

Alternatively, I could use up those couple of free days earlier in the tour, and just head straight to Wangaratta from Bright, and get the train back there. And what about other things I find along the way? There are just too many options -- but in a way it's a good problem to have I suppose. I know for certain there will be yet another area that I will resolve to one day revisit when I have more time (The Grampians, Bruny Island, Strahan, the stretch between Mt Gambier and Adelaide have already been placed on that list in the last two years).

Sometimes planning a tour is almost as much fun as riding it, but there are really altogether too many options, too many decisions to make, each one of them giving a feeling of excitement. How do others deal with the anticipation? Do you have a set itinerary and stick with it? Do you dig up a guide book and let that decide? Do you just go there, armed with only a brief knowledge of the area, and let instinct be your guide? Let's hear your tales.

wfin2004

Hey Chris L- I have always said that the feeling of anticipation is almost as good as the moment to anticipate.

jharte

Earlier this year I planned a solo 550 mile tour from Hartford, IL to Councel Bluffs, IA. I gave myself plenty of time to do the ride. Bought a map. This was the first lower leg of the Lewis and Clark trail. I had VERY high expectations of the route, the map, the Katy trail. The whole thing was "planned to a T". Trying to follow the map, I got lost 4-5 times. The street signs had changed. Buildings moved or taken down. I really didn't leave myself much flexibility. And...I was very dissapointed for the first couple of days. After that, I decided to just enjoy the peace and harmony of the tour. I actually cut my tour short (435 mi). I surprised my family by showing up at their bowling tournament! What a great ride! I still plan, to a degree. For me, if I have planned enough time for my ride, the tour will mold itself. It's still exciting to think about it the several days before the ride!

acantor

A combination of careful planning AND serendipitous discovery is my rule for touring. Before going to a region for a bike tour, I read up about the area, talk to people who have been there before, study maps, and decide on a route. Yet once in the saddle, I allow myself to be led by my whims.

After days of planning for a week-long trip through Alsace (in France), I arrived by train in a mid-sized town, prepped my bicycle, and dropped into a tourist office to pick up a regional map. As I approached the counter, I glanced at a low shelf and spotted a colourful brochure. I picked it up, started reading, and knew instantly that I had to change all of my travel plans.

The brochure described the 2000 years of Jewish presence in the region. Alsace has a long Jewish history. The first Jews probably arrived with the Roman legions as they made their way up the Rhine. Many settled in what is now Strasbourg. In 1170, a Spanish Jew traveling in Europe described the flourishing Jewish community in Strasbourg. Much of the Strasbourgian Jewish population fled in 1348, at the time of the Plague. Jews were accused of poisoning the wells, and angry crowds burned them alive. Legislation was passed banning Jews from living in the city. Consequently, these Jews settled in nearby villages, becoming farmers, cattle traders and secondhand clothes dealers. Their rural existence continued for more than 500 years. In the late-1700s, France became the first European countries to grant Jews full citizenship, and over the next 150 years, Alsacian Jews began to leave the villages for better opportunities in the cities of Europe. By the early 20th century, the Jewish rural communities were still vibrant, but in decline. During the Holocaust, the Jewish population of Alsace was decimated. Few Jews remain in the villages of Alsace today.

Although the rural Jewish communities of Alsace have all but vanished, it is still possible to hear echoes of the past. The local language, “Alsacien,” has about 200 words that derive from Hebrew and Yiddish. Alsacien absorbed these words during almost 2000 years of Jewish presence in the region.

I knew nothing about this history before I arrived in the tourist office. The brochure listed villages that have connections to the Jewish past and present in Alsace. In a flash, I decided to change my entire agenda so I could visit some of these historic sites. Over the next week I cycled along narrow, winding, hilly country roads to sleepy villages and towns. I saw ancient Jewish cemeteries, grand synagogues, schools, and mikvahs (ritual baths). In Bouxwiller, I spent an afternoon in le musée judéo-alsacien (Museum of Jewish Life in Alsace), which is housed in a synagogue that the Nazis had converted into a munitions factory.

Had I not planned the trip, I doubt that I would have been ended up in that town in that tourist office. I think it’s important to stay flexible on bicycle tours. You never know where you might end up, and what you might learn!

Alan

Rowan

After PBP last year, I had a blank canvas, except for the knowledge I was heading north into the theatre of WW1. In the end I did a 3,300km loop across the top of Europe to Holland and back to Paris. I just set a course each day that looked OK and set off, using small scale Michelin maps. I got lost a few times, but once I got over the PBP blues, I was fine.

Adventure is what happens along the way. Planning and adventure are, in my mind, inversely proportional.

Chris L

Interesting point, however, I don't think a certain amount of basic planning necessarily reduces the adventure of a tour. After all, when selecting a destination, there are things I want to see along the way -- The Great Ocean Road and the Grampians in 2002, places too numerous to mention last year, and this year it will be Wilson's Promontory and the Great Alpine Road. I still have the option to take detours, of course. And I still have the option of returning some day in the future for anything that I don't get around to seeing this time.

And of course, no amount of planning can prevent a broken chain in pouring rain behind Maydena.

Nomad

Sounds like fun. Bright is a great place. What is your planned itinerary to get to Bright in the first place? Where are you starting from? My wife and I have done a bit of riding around Bright, but we have always wanted to ride the road from near Milawa through Whitfield and on to Mansfield. We've driven it before and seen a few bikes on it, and the scenery is great, but we've never got around to it. From Mansfield it would be (I think) a two day ride to Lilydale on the edge of Melbourne (on the suburban train network). We've ridden from Lilydale to Alexandra on lake Eildon. This is also a very nice ride over the Black Spur. Not sure how many k's a day you do, but it would probably have to be treated as a 4 day trip (I think). I can't remember how far it is from Bright to Mansfield.

Hope this helps

Chris L

I'm "officially" starting from Phillip Island, although I'll probably ride to the ferry at Stony Point via Frankston and the bay ride I keep hearing about from Melbourne. After that it's Wilson's Promontory and eventually onto Bairnsdale, before swining around on the Great Alpine Road. A couple of days in Bright, then onto wherever there is left in the two weeks I have. I was half tempted to take a bit more time off work, but I'm trying to save my leave for New Zealand next year.

Juha

Exactly. Methinks planning is half the fun, executing is the other half, and making heaps of ad-hoc adjustments because things are not going the way you planned is the final 50%. This must be why I like bike tours...

--J

Nomad

You'll find there are some rail-trails you might be able to use in South Gippsland as well as from Bairnsdale up to Bruthen. Mount Hotham is a beautiful place to ride to, though I haven't approached it from that side before. Keep an eye out for the march flies though (perhaps they won't yet be a problem). New Zealand is worth saving some leave for too.

Csson

Most of my multi-day tours have had some kind of deadline, usually including a plane or ferry ticket home at a specific date. This leads to quite heavy planning, helped by the fact that I enjoy looking at maps (I have a big map of Europe on the wall to the right of my computer desk), in order to cover as much as possible in a given time. Me and my touring friend often have a basic preliminary daily itinerary at least a couple of weeks before a tour based on a 1:1 000 000 map. This, combined with reading up on the area, is helpful (rather than inhibiting) when it comes to spontaneous ideas along the way since it's possible to keep the big picture in mind. And when knowing a lot about an area, it's easier to judge if a detour is worth it (which they often are, even if they don't appear to be).

To me, planning is a big part of touring. I have several tours in a semi-planned stage in areas that I like to visit. A dream is of course to get out the door and ride away without a deadline, but I believe I still would plan at least several days ahead. Planning is fun (to me).

/Csson

Travelinguyrt

Planning is a great way to start the engine. I got gobs of fun planning my first Euro trip, just completed
But the totally unexpected things that happened along the way blew my mind
Went to the Normandie, WW2 invasion beaches and it was the hilite and most emotional point of the 2 months, met with and talked to French and Brits on the beaches and at the US cemetary at Courville who reduced me to tears with their effusive thanks to me as an American, for the 1000s of fine young Americans who gave their lives on those beaches and to Americans in general who poured our national treasure into helping end the war
Started the Danube bike way and on the second day meet a Spanish writer who invited me to detour from my planned route and join him for several days climbing in the Italian Alps and generously invited me to join he and his family next year to ride with them in Spain. If you have never visited the Valle D'osta NW italy in the shadow of the Alps give it a try and do some of the hiking. Mind Blowing
Spent a week in Prague and the Czech Rep instead of only 3 days because of the help given in a LBS, the countryside is worth a month.
Schedules are fine to start with but I'm never going to allow then to rule me completely
My dream is to get off a plane in New Zealand with my bike and just ride, no schedule.
Then get on another one and head to China, do the Great Wall route thenfollow Marco Polos route west as far as I could