Originally Posted by
northeaster
I have done a few overnighters in my home state (Minnesota), but never any longer tours so far. The main thing I worry about is that I will be recognized as a vulnerable stranger far from home and either be attacked by locals just for fun, or harassed by authoritarian cops with nothing better to do. Neither of these things has actually happened to me, but this is what I would be worried about on a long tour in a remote region (South Dakota, eastern Montana). Any thoughts on this from more experienced long-distance riders would be appreciated.
You worry way too much. If you want to worry about something then worry about break down, getting sick, hurt etc and have a contingency plan rather than worry about the extremely unlikely event that you will run into an "authoritarian" cop (oh brother
).
Be respectful, obey the law and treat others and their as you expect others to treat you and their property and it is unlikely you will have any issues. But as always be aware and have some street sens. If a situation feels wrong then it probably is. For example if you try to camp in the middle of central LA you are probably asking for trouble.