Originally Posted by
pdlamb
Starting in the spring, it's time to start conditioning your saddle interface. Progressively longer rides, preferably twice on weekends, to get you used to long hours in the saddle. When you're riding back-to-back 40-50 mile rides, start adding some weight in panniers (or a trailer) to get used to that.
Conditioning is important. The other thing that can make a tour challenging is saddle sores. I've been prone to those, but discovered over the years that the key (for me) is to spend consecutive days in the saddle training. This doesn't necessarily going more than 10 miles, but doing it every day is important.