Originally Posted by edp773
[How many kilometers per day will you be doing on the tour?]
I would like to average 50 to 60 miles per day.
[How many kilometers per day are you currently doing?]
My miles per day are advancing to about 22 now. I am planning far in advance to get into shape. My biggest question is do I need to ride this far every day for the same time period of a planned trip ( about 500 miles)? Any suggestions on how to train or perspectives on how you train will be greatly appreciated.
You will want to feel
comfortable with 50-60 miles per day. This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to ride 50-60 miles a day for 10 days in a row before the tour, but you should have ridden a few 50-60 mile days
over various terrain, and in various conditions before the tour so that you know how you feel doing that distance. It would be helpful too, if you rode 50-60 miles a day for 3 or 4 days in a row so you get some experience with getting up the next morning and riding again.
Also, when you do these long rides, don't forget to ride with full panniers etc. on a few occasions so you get used to the way the bicycle handles with them. You might want to do a weekend tour where you cycle 50-60 miles out to somewhere, camp overnight, and cycle back the next day ... to practice with what you carry on a tour and setting up camp and all that.
But since you are still back at 22 miles, keep gradually increasing the distance of your long ride, a little bit each week.