In no particular order
- Don't listen to the old farts that tell you that you have to ride steel. Aluminum touring bikes are strong enough and, no, they aren't all that harsh to ride
- Don't take too much stuff but don't take too little. Be willing to edit your load as you go along. The post office will send your stuff home if you don't need it.
- Don't worry about your bike breaking. They usually don't. Just make sure it is in good order before you leave.
- More "Tour". Less "de France". If you find yourself pushing for 100 mile days while riding past the World's deepest hand dug well because you have to "make miles", you are "de Francing", not touring.
- Make everything on your bike as maintenance free as possible. Replace loose bearings with sealed ones.
- Chains: If you are spending time cleaning chains while touring, rethink your lubricant.
- Laundry: Bicycle clothes aren’t lingerie. They can be machine washed and dried. Life is too short to wait for clothes to dry
- Laundry II: Life is too short to do laundry every night. Carry 3 days of riding clothes plus the one on your back. Do laundry about every 4 days.
- Be flexible. Take detours. Don't be so locked into a route that you miss the World's largest ball of string (kind of part of the "de Francing" thing)
- Point A doesn’t matter. Point B doesn’t matter. The points in between A and B are what matter.
Last edited by cyccommute; 01-04-26 at 12:59 PM.