Originally Posted by
Bacciagalupe
There's a big difference between doing "100 miles one day" and "80-100 miles, day after day, for weeks on end."
There's a big difference between riding an unloaded bike, and riding one with lots of baggage and weight. The bags increase drag; the weight makes climbing harder.
There's a big difference in time between riding 100 miles and going home, and: waking up, cooking breakfast, breaking camp, cycling, finding water and food, cycling, arranging your campsite, cooking, washing up, setting up camp. (Plus the occasional laundry pit stop, mechanicals, etc.)
By the way, I've noticed that people who are planning their first tour often think "I'm gonna do 100 miles a day, unsupported!" I'm not sure, though, how many people come close to that amount.
+1
I've seen several people over the years come in here with the idea that they are going to do 100-mile-a-day tours, but I don't recall any of them coming back and telling us how their tour went. We just never hear from them again.
One begins to wonder if they got 10 days into the tour, and then caught the first flight home, put the bicycle in the garage, and didn't look at it again.