Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Cape Vincent, NY
Posts: 1,392
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac Expert, 2002 TREK 520, Schwinn Mesa WINTER BIKE, Huffy Rock Creek 29er, 1970s-era Ross ten speed. All my bikes are highly modified(except the Tarmac) yet functional, and generally look beat to ****. .
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Have you been training on your touring bike? Fully loaded? (If you'll be riding a loaded touring bike)
On my last tour, I found out real quick that just because I could ride 100 miles on my regular road bike like it was nothing, that doesn't mean that I could ride the loaded touring bike the same distance, in twice the time! Even though it was all fit up for me and stuff, I found that you have to ride a loaded touring bike differently. The bike "shimmies" a little, so that when I stand up, I can't sway from side to side the same as I would on my regular bike. Plus it's just a lot heavier, and my knees take a beating from it. I ended up having to come home and cut my tour short the first try, because my knees were shot. The second try I purposefully went very slow for the first couple of days, and averaged about70- 80 miles a day. By the end of the tour I was doing around 100 miles a day, including one day of 148 miles.
I would say that 100 miles a day should be no problem if you're in shape for it, and certainly shouldn't be a problem if you are touring "light". I would just recommend training on the actual bike, with the actual load, that you will be touring on, before you make plans based on average daily mileage. And, like everyone else mentioned, weather conditions, terrain, and how well you sleep/rest/eat/recover will play a big part.