Touring Challenges
 

What are the main challenges you face on tour? Let's say ... Top 3 or Top 5 or whatever you've got.


Challenges can be difficulties, risks, or adventures. Positive or negative. Perhaps things that might take you out of your comfort zone. However you would like to define "challenges". :)

In the past we have had these two threads, and perhaps more, describing some risks and difficulties ... the more negative side of challenges ...

http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/73...e-touring.html

http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/73...e-touring.html


They might give you some ideas for this thread ... perhaps the things mentioned in those threads are your challenges too. Or maybe your challenges are of a more positive nature.

(and rather than bumping those threads, I figured I'd start a new thread and just refer to them)

Several days in a row of rain, and several days in a row of headwinds.

My main challenge comes before the actual riding- its dedicating time to be away from work and life's obligations. And that's just for shorter multiday tours.

While actually riding?...I guess its rain. Not really a challenge, just annoying to pack up a wet tent and stuff. Im really picking nits when that is the biggest challenge, though.

One challenge for me is tour fitness.

I might be cycling quite regularly in the months prior to the tour, but invariably, it seems, in the month or six weeks just before a tour my exercise level slackens right off. I'm usually busy doing last minute preparations, and in the case of my two longest tours, those last minute preparations included packing everything up and putting everything into storage. So there was essentially no cycling going on.

And then I start the tour and discover that my fitness level has dropped right off. So I think I should be able to plunge into it with an 80 or 100 km day ... but that is just not happening.

1. Constant, steep rolling hills. I would rather do a long, more gradual or climb than a dozen steep ups and downs in a row.

2. Making sure I have access to an adult beverage after the day's ride. When I tour in PA, that can be a problem. Wine (my preference) and liquor are only sold in state run stores, which can be few and far between in the sticks. Beer is a little easier to find, but unlike many states, you cannot get it in convenience stores. It's so refreshing when I tour in places where you can buy a bottle of wine in the local grocery store, even in a small town.

3. For my tour of SD in June, I did not bring cooking gear. The challenge became finding carb-heavy meals. That was not possible some days and I felt somewhat like dirt the following days. I will probably never do anything over 3 days without cooking gear. I also like good coffee. Try to get that in a place like Edgemont, SD or Sula, MT.

4. Slowing down my mind, if you will. I am prone to worrying about ending the day late so I sometimes rush.

I’m an inactive cycle tourist, with a cross country ride, and some week long tours previously, in the 70's and 80's. In a somewhat related thread on the Fifty-Plus Forum ”What do you find hardest about cycle touring now we aint spring chickens any more?” I posted:

Probably the most common challenges reported on that thread were sleeping on the ground and finding a bathroom at night. :eek:

blowing phlegm out of your tent, dealing with a mid tour Cold, without having a Zipper to open by your head
while still in the sleeping Bag's warmth at night..

women cannot pee in a bottle like men can so have to get up if nature calls in the night.

1. Headwinds.

2. Crosswinds blowing shockwaves from oncoming trucks into your path.

3. Heat (and humidity!)

4. Gaps (not to be confused with passes, the climbs up to gaps seem to be much steeper!)

As I recall, Sula had very good pancakes. And pretty good ice cream the afternoon before that.

Totally forgot humidity. Mega challenge for me.

Gaps, too. When I did the Northern Tier we went off route a bit and did Brandon Gap instead of Middlebury Gap in VT. Brandon was the one hill on the entire trip I thought I might have to walk some of.

Yes. The pancakes at Sula weren't in the morning. I also got a good sandwich to take with me up Lost Trail/Chief Joseph. But don't try to get beer, ice cream or anything else after 5 p.m. Last year I arrived at 5:04 p.m., 4 minutes after closing time, to find the place dark and shut up tight on a Friday evening in mid-June. I did manage to find one of the owners in the residence next door who told me to pick a campsite and pay in the morning.

1. Dip**** car drivers
2. Weather - extreme heat, rain or cold
3. Broken bike
4. Fitness
5. Railroad tracks

Number 5 is on the list because it is the one fresh on my mind. I almost crashed, and tweaked my rear wheel while commuting.

1 Getting started on a tour

2 Coordinating Food needs, storing/ replenishing.

3 Finding a shower

4 Finding places to camp out

I only have two tour challenges; getting enough time off to tour, and coming back from a tour once it's finished...

Everything else is just part of the adventure :)

Not getting enough time off work to tour. :(

Having to reroute everyday because the original plans don't go according to schedule. I don't ever use routes set in stone. I'm quite flexible. I always create my own route and end up changing it quite frequently when I don't make a stop or things go wrong on a trip...like right now.

I don't know if I could say heat/humidity but something down south got me big time. I was fine riding along in southern FL/AL/MS/LA but once I started to head north for the next several days by 1-2PM my butt was getting kicked everyday. It was like the sun/heat was just zapping my energy. I would have to take a 20-30 minute break every hour just so I could continue at all. Once I got further north I've not had that problem since then. Like I said down south I didn't have the problem either. I'm not sure what was causing the trouble. I would love to know.

Everything else is pretty easy to take care even when stealth camping. Granted I haven't had to deal with extended rain...yet. Last year and this year has been exceptionally dry. This year I keep getting myself right behind storm fronts and escape it all together. Since I always look for someplace with an overhang for camping out overnight when rain is forecast I don't have to worry about packing up wet. The only time I packed up a bit wet was when I got nailed by baseball diamond sprinklers that were sprinkling WAY further outside the baseball diamond than I expected it to. I've camped out in the rain several times this year but it's always been with an overhang to keep everything dry.

On the more positive side ... :)

I/we have often incorporated challenges into our touring and travels.

For example ...

-- On my second trip to Europe, I toured, but right in the middle of it all, I rode the Paris-Brest-Paris 1200K.
-- During my 3 months cycling in Australia, most of that was touring, but toward the end of the first month, I rode the Great Southern Randonnee 1200K.
-- On my second trip to Australia, Rowan and I did about a week-long tour to Wilson's Prom and back, and included a century (100 mile ride) on one day of the tour because we were working on a Century-A-Month that year.


There have been several other situations like that as well.


Doing events mid-tour can provide a purpose, a reason for going to a particular area. :)

Do you like to take on a challenge mid-tour?

Oh, yes. We took a day off in Canon City and rode the railroad through Royal Gorge, then went whitewater rafting in the afternoon. (The water was too high that day/year, so we had to go up to the next section above Royal Gorge.) Well worth it, although I was more tired after that "rest day" than I was before it!

Weather is the most consistent challenge for me with regard to touring. Weather conditions can make or break a tour. We have very hot, humid summers in the Southeast, so I do very little touring here in the summer months, unless it's up in the mountains. Rainy days also can make a trip miserable, although I have been amazingly lucky in that regard on my tours. I don't mind cold weather, as long as I have the proper clothing and gear. Wind can make a tour much more difficult but can be dealt with.

Most of my longer tours have been during spring or fall, or farther north if during the summer. Summer weather is generally very pleasant in northern states of the US, assuming you don't get caught in severe thunderstorms or extended rain. When I tour in the South, it's almost always in spring or fall for longer trips.

Easy, all those goddamn people asking me how far I've gone and offering me pb+j sandwiches!
;-)

The logistics of getting to the location where I'm going to ride and then, how the heck do I get back to my vehicle or home?

Mountains: local area can be hilly but it doesn't prepare one for mountains where climbs can take almost 2 hours.

Weather: a couple of tours have been during record heat, 35 C, combined with sunny skies it is a bit fatiguing.

Bridges: so many don't allow cyclists so one has to use taxi or else go far out of ideal route.

Amen to that... Frame of mind is important. I think the white matter between our ears can make even the most difficult challenge a positive experience with the "adventure" aspect. In the first 3 days of my very first tour I got two flat tires and lost almost all my money on the side of the road and had to send for a wire transfer. I couldn't help but smile and think, "it can only get better from here".

1. Anticipating where I'll sleep that night. For me, touring with a strict itinerary is not really an option, and along with that comes the question... Where are we sleeping tonight? There are a lot of places in the Western US where this isn't really a concern at all, however.

2. Humid heat.

3. Massive headwinds.

4. Finding bathrooms in cities (specific to Europe).

I just finished touring PCH from Canada to Los Angeles with my girlfriend and we unfortunately had plans immediately after our trip and had to be in LA on a certain day. So we took about 10 days when we reached San Francisco, but took zero rest days besides those. I usually go hard for a few days then take a rest day, so it was really hard to stay positive mentally and my body felt so exhausted after 30 days straight. I also feel like I want to go back to many of the places we passed through to take a few more days to see them thoroughly.


I would highly recommend scheduling a rest day every week even if you don't need it physically.

Another challenge for me is city cycling ... cycling through cities, finding amenities in cities, etc. I try to avoid cities if at all possible, but have discovered that if I have to include a city in a tour, I end up having to devote an entire day to dealing with it.


Give me small towns and countryside any time. :)

Rural areas are great, sure, but increasing # of big cities are great for cycling. DC & neighboring areas are awash in bike lanes & the wide streets always helped even before. BikeShare program is ridiculously successful, one sees thousands of tourists etc using it. There are restaurants/hotels galore. With a phone it's easy to find a free bathroom. If one is crossing DC as part of a tour it's fairly easy whether using bike paths or roads. Actually it's probably safer to go straight thru DC than veer around where roads are faster & often no-shoulder.

OTOH big cities could be really irritating while car-touring in Germany etc. AutoBahns have great signage but city navigating can be rather confusing (navi is big help), parking can be near-impossible, speedy German drivers become impatient w/slow lost tourists etc. Sometimes one can drive for kilometers w/o even finding a place to pull over & check map.

Bike boxed and checked , had my last of my NL Guilders (pre Euro monetary union) Passport and travelers Checks pocket picked in
Shiphol AMS airport from my Backpack, between the check in and boarding .. Next Tour All that was put in a Money Belt

and I had to do a Little stripping off of my rain gear, etc. in Irish Bank lobbys to access my money belt to get my Debit card out
to buy Irish Punts or NI/British Currency.

International touring money/ATM/CC issues can be a real hassle though hopefully things getting better. At Amsterdam train station it turned out that their automatic ticket machines didn't accept US credit card so I ran into station to buy ticket from office. Office was nearing end of work shift w/4 folks standing around yakking & 1 agent slothfully dealing w/customers. Missed the train so had to book a flight instead. Later learned that Amsterdam train office is notorious for surly service.

Keeping the beer cold. Making sure I get the beer before I get to the campsite. Buying enough beer so I don't have to go off on a beer run while cooking dinner. Buying the beer 30km away from the campsite because the map doesn't show any facilities nearby. Getting to the campsite to discover there is a supermarket and 3 convenience stores nearby. Starting the day hungover with a climb straight up. Weighing myself at the end of a trip and discovering I haven't lost any weight because I've drunk so much beer.