Originally Posted by
undisputed83
I have never toured before.
We can tell!
Originally Posted by
undisputed83
Usually its people who are a bit more well off than me.
Well off? How much does it cost to load a few things onto the back of a bicycle and ride out to the campground of a neighbouing town? You don't have to be rich to do some weekend tours!
Originally Posted by
undisputed83
The longest ride I did was 145 miles last year. I went from Westbrook, ME to Orono, ME. I did 145 back to back days the first time. The second time I rode up to Orono in a car with my girlfriend because she goes to school up there. Then rode back the next day. That particular ride was my quickest of the three. Took me 10:35 to complete it. I don't plan on covering that much ground on any single day of that tour. And I know it will be a different ball game with the gear I'm carrying.
That was one back-to-back trip. How are you going to feel doing that day after day after day? Since you are not planning to do the longer tour till 2012, I would suggest getting out there and riding a century a month (perhaps as a part of the CAM challenge in the Long Distance forum). I would suggest riding back to back centuries fairly regularly too.
And spend a week doing a 10-hour-a-day tour somewhere.
If you want an inexpensive 10-hour-a-day tour, do a hub-and-spoke tour of your local area. In other words ... each day for 6 or 7 days, ride out a different direction from where you live ... ride out 5 hours and back 5 hours. Then stay overnight at home. Load your bicycle up with the kinds of things you might take with you on a longer tour so you can practice with how the weight handles. Also, make notes on how much you spend on food each day ... and add $20 to the total for nightly accommodation. That'll give you an idea of how much you might spend in a week, which you can multiply out for the length of your trip.
If you feel a bit more adventurous ... ride out 10 hours, camp overnight somewhere and ride back 10 hours, stay overnight at home, then ride out 10 hours in another direction, camp overnight somewhere and ride back 10 hour, then ride out 10 hours in another direction, camp overnight somewhere, and ride back. That might give you an even better idea of how much things cost.
And a hub-and-spoke tour of some sort would be a great way to really get to know the area where you live. Enjoy!!
(PS. My tours usually run me anywhere from $30/day to $50/day. So that would be $1350 - $2250 for 45 days and $1800 - $3000 for 60 days ... plus airline fees.)