Originally Posted by
indyfabz
I wish I could have taken a short trip before riding across the country, especially because I had never camped before. Alas, I was too busy with things like moving out of my apartment, and I didn’t get my racks and bags until about 3 weeks before my train ride out west. I did manage to take one 62 mile ride fully loaded, during which I missed being killed by maybe 100’ when some kid veered off the road, hit a telephone pole and flipped his car onto its roof in the lane I was riding in. Another motorist punched a hole in a side window with a Club (Remember those?) to vent the smoke that was building up inside. The kid seemed okay, but I couldn’t help thinking it was a bad omen.
We do see a surprising number of threads here on BF with someone planning their first tour and it being a rather major trip..1000 miles or more without planning any practice runs. Then there's the occasional guy (avid biker) and wife/GF (casual biker) jumping into a tour without a shake down trip or two. (yikes) Such a "plan" is ripe for a failure-to-launch after a few days or a staggered start. A couple/few short trips of 2-3 days along with some objective observation of what gear is really needed(hopefully it rains for a day or two on one of the trips) REALLY helps in making the actual tour much more pleasant.
With respect to your cross country..wow. Never camped before..interesting way to start. Sort of jumping in the deep end. Determination can go a long way in any effort. I've camped my entire life..it was the day after day riding 50ish miles that I wasn't familiar with. That part was surprisingly easy.
The accident in front of you would give one pause. A while back I had a texting young girl drift off the road about 10-15 feet in front of me. She pulled back on the road as her tires hit the gravel shoulder and woke her up. Had I left my house 10 seconds earlier..that might have been a bad moment for me. Sobering. I ride with a helmet rear view mirror now and watch approaching cars for a sign that they're giving me some room. If not I start considering plan B.