How many of you did a practice tour before your long tour?

If you did, was it benefical?

If it was beneficial, what did you learn?

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Before getting into touring, I had done quite a bit of camping so I had a reasonable idea what to expect in that regard. I had also done a lot of cycling, so I was familiar with that aspect of touring.

My touring history started with several short supported tours, and hub-and-spoke style tours, which were not much different from my usual weekend rides except that I stayed somewhere else overnight. They didn't involve carrying a lot of gear.

My first tour with a loaded touring bicycle was in 2003 ... 3 weeks in Europe ... and was a combination of going sightseeing with friends (no bicycle), travelling by train and ferry (hauling the bicycle around), riding the PBP (lightly loaded), and doing a 6-day cycling tour in Wales. That 6-day tour was my official practice tour ... to see if I really liked touring.

What I learned from that short 2003 tour ...

1) Bring a sleeping mat! I thought I could save some weight by skipping the sleeping mat. Sleeping mats aren't just to ease the discomfort of sleeping on hard ground, they also keep you warmer. Sleeping on the hard ground is COLD! Doing a practice tour was worth it for this discovery alone.

2) Lighter is better ... easier to haul around when not cycling, easier to pedal around when cycling. But even so, on my much longer tour in 2004, I still wasn't travelling as light as I should have been and ended up putting 10 lbs of gear into storage a few days into the tour.

3) Change is heavy! And I still get caught with this one ... pay for stuff with bills, get change in return, and before I know it, I've got a kg of change in the bottom of my bag.