edp, I'm not sure I quite understand your last post...if you're asking whether or not you need to ride 50-60 miles a day for 10 days straight to be in good enough shape before your tour, I'd say that your don't HAVE to, but you'd know for sure that you're in good enough shape to do it and that would be really nice.

If you can ride 50-60 miles a day for a few days on top of your daily life (work/school/whateveryoudo) and you aren't completely dead and drained, then it's my opinion that you'll be fine for your tour. This assumes that your life consists or activities that take energy other than biking.