Originally Posted by
jmio
I'm lucky to be put in a situation to where if I take off a friday from work I will have 7 days off, I'm looking at venturing out from my home town in different directions 3 days out, 3 days back. 6 day tours, at least once a month. I have a hardtail mountain bike that i'm going to throw a rack and some panniers on for now. it's a new trek 6000 that is my pride and joy. I'm going to order some new tires and wheels so I'm not constantly switching tires out from my trail setup to tour setup. Any decent priced deals out there for some good 26' touring wheels disc compatible ?
Now back to the original question, how long is everyones average tour? I wish I could tour across the country right now, but have 1 year 8 months left on my contract at my trauma center. I am thinking of taking a sabbatical then and doing a northern tier route. I think if I was to do 10-15 week long tours in the next 1year and a half I will be ready for the real deal cross country trip.
I have 20 thousand saved up as of now, How much do you think it would cost to get dedicated touring bike, nice racks, panniers, and cost of travel for the northern tier route? I will definitely be stealth camping!!!!
thanks for the help and advice!
We've done several 2 to 3 week tours (Oregon Coast; San Juan Islands; Canadian Gulf Islands), and we did not train as extensively as you are planning. Usually our first 4 or 5 days involved some moaning and groaning with sore muscles and butts, but it ceased to be an issue after that. We packed pretty heavy because of camping (tent; sleeping bags; clothes; camp stove; etc.) so our daily mileage wasn't all that long. Usually rode 40 to 60 miles a day with lots of stopping, photographing, and sight seeing. Our bicycles are not fancy, but have good components. We use panniers, front and back, and sometimes pull a Bob Trailer for the camping equipment, and we always carry extra tubes and tools for emergencies. We've not rode across the US, but some of my friends did with an organized tour. They loved, so it is on my bucket list--less the tour company. Good luck. It will be fun.