djb

I can only speak for myself, but given that my 2 in slicks in the photos earlier measure out to 45mm on my rims, I personally find 38 to 42mm to be perfectly fine for riding on gravel stuff of the kind of stuff you'll be riding on. I rode 28s on all kinds of dirt and gravel with no issues, but like Ive mentioned, wider is just more comfortable and easier generally.
How much weight you have on the bike makes a real difference, but again, in the end you just have to ride your bike with gear on diff surfaces and see how you feel.
Getting better bike handling skills only comes from doing it, no reading blah blah from us dudes will help with that.

have fun

str

On a multi thousand mile tour... that means several month or more? even more reason to relax and roll.

staehpj1

Maybe if you get into the 4000-5000 mile range. Coast to coast US on the Trans America is between 4200 and 4300 depending on your options. Folks I know and folks I met generally took 8-12 weeks We were 73 days. That wasn't pushing real long days, but it also wasn't taking rest days other than some short mileage days. Most folks had some back to work deadline. Some had a flight home that they had to be there for. I much prefer to avoid having any such deadlines when I can, but still like to ride every day. I was getting into without pay time by the end of the Trans America, but was going to take whatever it took.

My 2300 mile ride from San Diego to Pensacola took 31 days. Other rides were generally in the range of those paces. It is my habit to ride evey day, but I take time to talk to the folks I meet and have fairly often received hospitality from local folks or met other riders and struck up friendships. I manage to enjoy the local food and the people. I don't tend to want to spend much time hanging around in camp. I don't tend to take days off unless they are to do something specific like whitewater rafting or a particular hike. I did once take a full week in Yosemite, but more often I might take only half days off (a half day might be a 30 mile day) for the whole tour.

Everyone probably can agree, but has a different idea what that means for them.

imi

I generally like to ride as fast as I can… however slow that may be. But I like stopping for micro pauses and smelling the flowers too 😊

pdlamb

That's why I bike tour, perhaps with the added qualifier of too many humans, and that's probably the case for most of us on this forum.

The how I tour, though it's much less well defined than, for example, business travel, still has some element of planning involved. On a short tour of a week or so, it's useful having an idea of how far I can go each day to arrange a shuttle or to plan a loop. And I ride like the old steam locomotives, which could pull enough fuel for long runs, but had to have well defined water stops (to generate the steam, or to keep the body functioning). So in some parts of the country (or the world), how far I can go in a day is critical information because it gives a basis for figuring how much water I need to take; is it two hours or six hours between water stops, or do I need to carry water for two or three days? Longer tours have the same water concerns, in addition to the (long-distance) transportation logistics to which others have alluded. Food is a secondary concern, but still important. I can survive without food (it just slows me down to ride hangry), but it's good to know how many days it'll be to a resupply point.

For planning purposes, I have a fair idea of how long I can ride each day back-to-back-to-back, but "how fast can I ride" is part of the calculations that go into planning.