Originally Posted by
Wildwood
Sorry, self supported for more than 1 night is too slow for me; but maybe, if the landscape were flat. I appreciate van support so as not to carry the 'nice-ities' to make the journey more enjoyable. Primarily, better food and sleeping. [I do enjoy multi-night wilderness backpacking]
As a younger man, hotel and credit card touring with 2 other friends was good in California.
At 60, I did cross Washington - Neah Bay (western Olympic Peninsula) to Spokane with the family van for support, and a generous daughter.
Another backpacking couple here. It's now not hard to get everything on the bike down to 25 lbs. So total bike + gear of 45 lbs. That's not bad, really. Bigger cassette. My wife and I tour with a total of 44 lbs. over the bare tandem weight, so 80 lbs. between the two of us. We can toddle right along, and have relatively luxurious accommodations compared to what was available years ago.