Originally Posted by staehpj1

It is nice to see the OP post back. All too often we hear from folks once with a question like this and never again.

I disagree. I crossed KS a couple times and Colorado once and I am not sure exactly what all my averages were but I am pretty sure they were at or above 70 each time for that section. Depending on the rider's age, fitness level, level of commitment, and so on it could be difficult or it could be a cake walk. For some riders it might leave them wondering what they are going to do with the rest of their day in some tiny KS town.


Your call, but if it was me I'd want a semi nice bike with gears. Not necessarily something expensive, but not complete junk either. Maybe something in the $600-1200 range when new, possibly bought for half that used. That said it isn't an absolute requirement.


I am not one to plan daily mileage and stops preferring to stop when I feel like it, but my recollection of KS and CO are that motels were not all that conveniently spaced. I realy don't recall them being anything like every 30 miles in a lot of places. Being on a US highway may help, but often on US highways a lot of businesses have closed. This may be more so after the Covid social distancing. Businesses that were barely hanging on may not open again. So you should probably verify the locations of possible stops if you do not have the ability to camp. Some may no longer be open.


I don't know US36, but I like highways with the US designation in general. Obviously not all are suitable, but I have found that many suit my style of touring very well with a good balance of services, not too heavy traffic, and minimal navigation required.


The hours can get long in those little towns. Most that I stopped at have a little park with a picnic pavilion.


I really don't think that 70 miles is all that likely to be a problem for you, but it is hard to tell, everyone is different. Also some days you feel better than others. By the way when I say 70 mile days that usually means some are 60 and some are 80. Some might even be 50 and some 90. That is just the nature of touring. I know there are days I feel like riding 30 miles and stopping and days where I ride and ride. One tour across KS, OK, and NM, I did a 142 mile day to finish up in Santa Fe including a fairly easy mountain pass on well graded road that day. I was 58 at the time and carrying 30 pounds of camping gear so at 20 and not carrying camping gear I think it is unreasonable for folks to assume it is a bad idea for you to attempt 70 or 80 mile days.

All that said I'd advise being as flexible as you can in your daily mileage plans. Allow yourself to stop at 30 if you want to some days. Allow yourself to push well past 70 some days if feel like it that day. Just be careful in the very beginning the very first days are the days you don't want to push too hard. You might stop for the day at 10 AM, hang around in town, get bored, and go out again at 3 or 4 or 5 and ride another 30 or 40 miles. I know that I do that some times. You may even find that works well as standard procedure.

I try to avoid having a fixed end date on any tour if possible. I prefer to not have the pressure of having to be at the end on a certain day. The weird thing is that while I don't want to be pressured to have to get there, but when not pressured I ride more miles than I need to and get there days early most times. Having more time than you need is a good thing. Same applies to a budget. I make sure I have more money than I need and still spend very little. It is good if you don't have to be a slave to a budget or a schedule IMO.