hartlean

Plenty of good stories on this thread.
For me as a pre-teen & then a teen in Western New York in the 1970s, bicycling was the easiest way to reach the best fishing spots. Brook, brown & rainbow trout were fairly common then, in the Cazenovia, Cattaraugus, Buffalo, Elton & other Creeks. I started with 5-mile jaunts, but they quickly led to longer trips & eventually multi-day camping & fishing trips.
Later in the military for several years in the late 1980s, I survived just fine without a car, which probably strengthened my feeling that cycling was in many ways superior to riding cars.
Over the more than 200k kms of bicycling thruout my life, I can think of just 1 time that having a cell phone would have been that important; that was when I rode over a piece of metal that shredded both tires. Of course, being able to contact friends & family while on the road is nice (“not that you would, but you could”), but it can detract from the sense of adventure as well.
On my tour this past summer, I did try to connect to my employer’s computer system, to catch up on my emails on some important projects. However, I happened to be out of satellite coverage range. Handling those emails probably would have led to hours & hours of work, so in retrospect I’m glad I couldn’t connect.
I now carry my smartphone while touring, but only for safety reasons…checking in with my family daily. Paper maps work fine for me.

chasm54

I started touring in the 1980s. I just decided it would be fun to use a week's holiday to go somewhere on my bike. I didn't plan a detailed route, I just rode away from my front door and went where the fancy took me. That was the week I first covered more than 100 miles in a day, when I first rode more than 400 miles in a week, lots of firsts.

And you know what? I still do it pretty much the same way. I like paper maps, I don't tend to plan a route in detail, I generally don't book accommodation in advance (though when that is necessary, I must admit a smartphone is useful). For the most part, the advent of the digital age has made no difference. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that being out of the loop is one of the great pleasures of going on tour. My advice would be to leave the iPad at home and leave the phone switched off until you really need it.

Machka 

No public toilets?

No baby wipes in your handlebar bag?


The thing is, unless you tour within easy driving distance of someone who can bail you out ... the phone isn't much use.

rkokish

I started touring in the Northeast in my early teens during the mid 1950's. (That's fifties - no typo.) Learned how from a friend's older brother and the American Youth Hosteling Association (AYH). We had "English racers" with internal 3 speed rear hubs. For around $20 (lots of money to a kid back then) a local bike mechanic at a small shop just off Central Park West in Manhattan would replace the axle in that hub with a longer one, allowing him to add a 3 speed cassette, simplex derailleur (or Campy if one could afford that) and Voila, we had nine speed bikes. We also inverted our handle bars to them look more like the Mays style drop bars on real European racing bikes. Our racks were sort of like the later Pletscher racks from Switzerland (still available I think) but a little wider and made of steel tubing rather than aluminum. Like Plescher, they had a spring clip that could hold our army surplus sleeping bag and ground cloth. WWII surplus ammunition bags served a panniers. Other equipment, like canteens, mess kits, knives, hatchets, etc., were also army surplus - all cheap and serviceable. Frame pumps pretty much like today's, were already common. We usually patched flats at the side of the road, because spare inner tubes were too expensive for us. No one I knew ever threw out an inner tube until it had more patches than original rubber. We big, boxy, undependable battery operated lights that clipped to the bike after dark and removed them for use as lanterns while camping. We slept at AYH hostels when they were available, in small, cheap campgrounds when they were not, and sometimes in fields at the side of the road. Covering 40 - 60 miles a day was about average. A couple of times I did a hundred. There were not yet restrictions on where bikes could go (except for the long toll tunnels), so we just used free, gas station maps to plot our routes. I often crossed the Tri-Borough, Queens Borough, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges right along with cars, trucks and buses. Our AYH leaders taught us to cross the huge roadway stress joints at angles, as there was no consideration given to a bike's narrow wheels when the bridges were built. Even then, and even being a teenager and therefore immortal, THAT was SCARY.

Now 74, I tour on custom built bikes with my credit card, my cell phone, and sometimes even sag support. It's as much fun as ever.

Saddle Up

Yes this, I wouldn't want to be without my digital camera. I still do not own a cell phone.

nancy sv

My first "tour" was in about 1982(ish). I took four days to ride to a dam about 100 miles from home and back. It was a disaster - totally a comedy of errors. I knew nothing.

But that trip taught me pretty much everything I needed to know. I realized that I needed a good rack (my cheapo rack fell apart) and I needed panniers (I just had plastic bags tied to my rickety rack). I bought stuff at the local bike store.

My next tour was in 1988 when I cycled from Norfolk, VA to New Orleans. My gear held up pretty well and I learned a lot.

After that, I flew to Pakistan to spend a year pedaling around Asia. Trial by fire, as they say.

darkstar173rd

First tour 1967 from Philly to LA, on a Sears & Roebuck ten-speed Free Spirit. With a Rand McNally truckers map, and a ID Goldberg single wall tent. It was the first year I didn't have to go to summer school dad gave me $500. 61 days later leaning my bike against Uncle Don's house, the sisters of saint joseph were a fond but distant memory. I was 16.

FBinNY 

Congrats to you for the trip and your parents for allowing it (or encouraging it to get you out of their hair).

Sadly these days, if parents allowed their 16yr old to strike out on a 60 day cross country adventure like this, they'd be leaving themselves open to charges of reckless endangerment, or whatever "bad parenting" charges the nanny state might dream up.

venturi95

I posted the following in 2007 in this forum, when we were 14 years old (1972) my smothering mother (and Ed's to some extent) felt we were too young to travel around Michigan on bicycles. We were big and mature for our years. In the original post I neglected to mention the psilocybin mushrooms .
When I was 15 I went on my first tour with my best friend and riding pal, Ed. I had a box stock Schwinn Colligate Sport (drop bars, Schwinn gas pipe frame, steel rims, 26x1 3/8 Schwinn tires, 5 speed w/chainguard). A pletcher rat trap rack was poorly attached. I packed a lot of canned food, a crappy tent, heavy crappy sleeping bag, and 3 pairs of full length Levis. I remember - trying with all my might - that I could only lift the loaded rig about 1 inch off the ground. We had an absolute blast, there was no one there to tell us we couldn't.

WGD

I got started back in the early to mid-70s when I got a Huffy 10-speed in 6th or 7th grade. I grew up in rural Nevada and it was about 15 miles to the next town. So I would pack a lunch into my Cannondale seat/handlebar bag (I don't think they even made bikes then) and make a day of it. I read anything touring-related I could get my hands on but there wasn't much. My older brother brought home a copy of "Richard's Bicycle Book" from college, which was probably the first book I found with any information on touring in it.

When I got to college, I decided to do a tour of the UK. I talked a friend into joining me and we spent most of the summer of 1981 touring in England and Scotland. My bike was a "Tiger" 10-speed that wasn't really built for touring, but it actually held up pretty well. It had no braze-ons so I had to use those bendy metal clips to mount racks, bottle cages, etc. I was able to get most of the gear I needed from a local bike shop in Reno, including a nice set of Kirtland panniers and handlebar bag that I still have. I learned much more about touring that summer than I have since, from all other sources combined. I think I was too stupid when I started to realize that this was probably way too much for a first extended tour. My friend and I were both out of shape but that changed pretty quickly. It was a lot of fun.

I had one incident where a cell phone would have been nice but they didn't exist yet. In retrospect, I'm glad they didn't. We were riding into a grey industrial town in South Yorkshire. My front derailleur had been giving me fits and I was fiddling with it as I rode. Unfortunately, while I was thus distracted, a parked car jumped right in front of me.[Yikes!] Luckily, my frame and fork were undamaged, but my front wheel was a total loss. We were walking into town, looking for a bike shop. I was balancing my bike on the back wheel, with the remains of the front wheel bungeed to the top of my panniers. Suddenly, a passing car pulled to the curb in front of us. The driver jumped out and asked, "Do you need a wheel?" My friend stayed with the bikes while Mr. Turner whisked me away, presumably to the nearest bike shop. Actually, he took me to his house, introduced me to his wife, then rummaged through his garage until he found a wheel that would work. He said there weren't any bike shops in town but that wheel was good enough to get me to York where I could buy a new one. He refused payment and wished us both a good trip. At several different times that summer, we received similar offers of help, friendship, or just a kind word when we needed it. I'm afraid being "connected" by a cell phone or wi-fi would have isolated us from at least some of this.

Don't get me wrong. I love the internet. It allows me to connect with people all over the world who have similar interests. But I sometimes feel fortunate to have grown up when the world a bit larger.

acantor

In 1998, a friend and I were cycletouring in France. We navigated exclusively using Michelin maps. We had no ability to determine the location of the nearest restaurant, grocery store, B+B, or anything. We found everything we needed by asking people we met on the way, or by serendipity.

My friend was an early adapter of high-tech. He was perhaps the first person I knew to carry a Palm Pilot and a mobile phone. I had arrived a day before him, and I called him from a rural telephone booth in Alsace to tell him where to find me. He was driving on the Autobahn in Germany when he picked up the phone. It seemed remarkable that communication could be this easy!

One night as we watched the night sky from the patio of our B+B, he held up the phone and Palm Pilot, and excitedly explained, "With just one cable, we could be on the internet!"

And because surfing the web was an absurd idea, we spent the entire evening talking, star gazing, and watching earth satellites (including the Mir space station).

noglider 

A well-told story, @WGD!

JoeyBike

This is a shame really.

The whole experience of interacting with REAL people, in bike clubs, local bike shops, touring cyclists met at roadside, etc., is ACTUAL connection with the world. Looking at a map and using intellect, or guesses, to discover a route and the adventures that follow your decisions is connection with the world and yourself. Flagging down a farmer in a pasture or field to ask about the weather for the next few days, or the condition of roads in the vicinity, is another actual connection with the world around us. Waking up, unzipping the tent and LOOKING at the sky, feeling the wind, accessing our physical body and mental aptitude to tackle whatever the day throws at us is connection with the world and ourselves. Awakening to the sounds of thunder and tornadic winds inside of sleeping bag can now be easily avoided with the 5-day forecast, but at what price?

Technology today, held in the palm of our hands, is more computing power than NASA had landing men on the moon for the first time. For those who want every moment of their lives going according to the script, planned out in every detail, with help just a phone call away - modern technology is awesome. It will help you meet virtual people in a virtual world and effectively PREVENT us from actually being connected to the REAL world.

When I was young, before I learned any star constellations, I could lie on my back looking skyward and just see STARS. After I learned all of the constellations I look at the sky and see man-made images traced by stars. I can no longer just see the stars. This is both good and bad. Same as being electronically in touch every waking and sleeping moment of our lives.

Good luck Young'un. I really don't envy you. You will never look up and just see stars.

bikemig 

This is really cool. Thanks for sharing these memories.

bikemig 

I mentioned in an earlier post that I did my first tours in Europe. I dropped out of college and lived all over Europe from 1980 to 1982. I traveled everywhere on bike. I had never done any cycling (other than riding my bike to and from school) when I lived in the States but I knew this was something I wanted to do.

You can spend a lot of time looking and thinking about gear but bike touring is really as easy as pie. You get a bike, some bags, and some stuff to fill up the bags with and you head out to the open road. The tours I did in the 80s weren't planned. I just took off and stopped when I ran out of money to find a job. I had wool gear to stay warm and plastic gear to keep the rain off and everything went in plastic bags inside my panniers to keep it dry. I had a trangia stove which I thought was the cat's meow and it still is and I still use that same stove.

I talked to people I met on the road. That was and is the best part of touring. It slows time down so that you live in the present. If you talk to people, they will tell you their stories and you can tell them yours. You don't need a cell phone or an internet connection to live in the present.

I'm not a troglodyte. I love new gear. Light weight tents and sleeping bags are awesome. I'm good on wearing something made out of petrochemicals rather than something that once kept sheep warm. Laminates are so much better for rain than plastic. I'll take 9 gears on the back over 5 any day and indexing is fine by me. I also take a cell phone even if it is a dumb phone that I paid $25 for. I don't have a data plan (my phone wouldn't understand it) and pay by the minute.

But the important haven't changed. You get on your bike and you live in the moment.

fietsbob

I got a Cyclo made 3 cogCluster , back Then , 1 big slug of steel the thickness of the 1 cog & 2 washers where it fitted , no axle change needed .

Huret Alvit DRs fitted a Cottered Triple crank Too .. same Spindle .. 27 speed .. 3 by 3 by 3._ 3 cubed ..


A Fresh water swimming place was 10 miles Up the Valley , I rode there and Back .

Walter S

And got some swimming in one would hope

FBinNY 

Today's connected tourists who are completely self-reliant, and can use their i-pads or cell phones anytime they need help, don't know what they're missing.

I started touring in the mid sixties, when cyclists out on the open road in the USA were a rarity, and when good communication meant carrying a roll of quarters, or relying on the car telegraph. Back then cycle tourists tended to be like Blanche DuBois, which led to many of the highlights of the trip. I can't count the homes I was invited into, or the great encounters along the way.

One time three of us (late teens) were camping illegally in a city park upstate, when the cops rousted us. Sarge came along to sort things out and when we asked about a cheap alternative, he wrote down an address and directions and said we should tell the folks there he sent us.

Turns our it was his house, and his wife wasn't expecting us because he didn't get a chance to call. She was a great sport, and he showed up later to join us for a great family and new friends dinner.

Every trip I went on had stories like this, and I think back and consider that if we were better equipped, or had more info at out fingertips possibly half those encounters wouldn't have happened. I've been to interesting places, but it's the people that stand out in memories.

wahoonc

Sounds like the way I did it...

I had catalogs from a variety of places, read a few books. Met with some local people that had toured. Loaded up the bike and headed out. There were also articles in a variety of magazines including the current glossy advertising one. I did my first trans continental in 1978, pretty much followed the Trans-America route from 1976.

We used paper maps and pay phones, sent post cards home. Took pictures with film cameras and got them developed along the road, or saved the film until we got home.

Aaron

FBinNY 

I was about a decade behind you, but if you were still in NYC and touring actively, we might have had some common friends. Let me know by PM if you were still involved with AYH through the mid sixties, and maybe we can reminisce.

Walter S

Speak for yourself. I do it all the time. My main driver for bicycle touring is to enjoy natural beauty.

Your post reads like you've figured out that I don't get nearly the value from my touring that you do. I find that offensive and presumptuous on your part. You figured all that out how? From the fact that I have a cell phone??

Machka 

Have you tried touring without the cell phone? With just a map and compass?

FBinNY 

Just having a cell phone with you doesn't mean you have to use it. Also, some of us still have "dumb" phones, and would still be relying on things like printed maps. I've toured for years without being connected electronically, but I'd probably take my pay as you go cell phone with me just in case. In fact it's almost necessary these days because things we used to rely on, like pay phones are becoming extinct.

Walter S

Why stop there? I could also let the air out of my tires, not check the weather forecast first, and tie one hand behind my back so I can fully enjoy myself.

I have not "toured" with just a map and compass. But I've done decades of wilderness hiking with a map and compass. Now that cell phones are common and cheap and much more versatile than a map and compass, I don't do that anymore.

To me navigating is a distraction from what I'm looking for in the trip. In fact I like to wander about without a clear idea about what route I'm following and just go where my heart leads me. Often, the position of the sun is enough information for me. Then when I get tired of that or want to set a specific destination later in the day, I'll get out the cell phone and quickly figure that out.

Some people feel differently. To each his own. We all tour for different reasons and find different aspects of it that catch our interests.

Machka 

Oh now ... you don't need to panic because someone suggested leaving your cell phone at home.

Remember, you started this thread. You asked us how we did it. All I'm suggesting is that you try it. Try organising and going on a tour without cell phone, internet etc. ... and yes, without checking the weather forecast first. You can even leave the map and compass at home if you prefer ... just go wherever the wind blows you.

But don't worry ... you can leave the air in your tires and you can ride with both hands. We all have been touring with air in our tires and riding with both hands for some time now.