Originally Posted by
gauvins
Casual observation suggests that touring is indeed dominated by the retired crowd. I doubt that the economics of touring plays that big of a role (a decent bike is not much more expensive than a smartphone). Youth is attracted to more extreme activities, so you are probably more likely to see under 30s day riding mountain trails while their parents are on rail-to-trail tours.
You obviously don't read these forums enough
The actual cost is not that much, but time is not as free to the younger generation as it to the older. I'm 30. While going out and buying a Trek 920 or Co-Motion and loading it down with top of the line bags and racks wouldn't be much of a financial constraint to me (not that I ever would, because my mind is way too programmed to buy the cheapest adequate option), the simple fact remains that I have two weeks of vacation a year. I am lucky enough to even have paid time off, quite a few of my friends are still in positions where all their vacation is unpaid time off, making the opportunity cost MUCH higher still.
While I liked the bike tour I went on, and am working on doing it again in the near future, it also does not mean it is the only thing I want to use my limited time off for. SO, at absolute best I get two, one week tours a year, as there is little chance of making my vacation consecutive weeks. More realistically, as I also need to take into consideration of what the fiancee wants to do with her limited vacation, it means I'll probably get a bicycle tour at best every 18-24 months or so.
Doesn't really mean I am less interested, it just means I have less opportunity. If I were in my father's position, who has been working for thirty years longer than I and who gets anywhere in the vicinity of six to eight weeks off a year? I'd be looking at far more opportunity.