goldleaf

Nice. Always wanted to do the C&O trails.

I am in Chapel Hill btw. Coming back to cycling after years of child rearing...

ever1ast15

Plan is to ride the 150 mile GAP starting in Pittsburg. I live in Northern NJ, so have to figure out logistics to Pittsburg and then home from MD, but this would be my first tour and I would be camping along the way taking an extended weekend to make the trip. Since it is my first tour, probably do it over 4 days so that I can take a lot of pictures and visit a bunch of the towns along the path without having to worry about riding mileage. I want to enjoy my first tour and use it also as a "shakedown" trip to test out all camping equipment. Would like to tour with more people, but don't have friends willing to do it right now.

shibbyman23

Embarking on an open-ended tour March 15th starting on Vancouver Island heading East then zigzagging my way down the Americas. No real plans or set route, although there are a few places I want to ride like: the Icefields Parkway, the Cabot Trail, the GAP/C&O Canal Trail, Yellowstone National Park (some time mid-September so it's less crowded) and down along the Pacific Coast once I reach Astoria, Oregon.

Applying for a 10 year passport next month - hope I get to put it to good use

The reason I'm starting in mid-March is because I'm going to try to do 2 cross-countries, plus down the coast this year alone. Also cycling through the Rockies/Icefields Parkway in April should be peaceful.

I'm going solo but I'm open to having some companions join me for certain legs of the tour if we are headed in the same direction/same pace.

If I make it down to Argentina alive then who knows where I'll go from there? Cycling across Europe starting in the UK looks appealing...

I'm on a pretty limited budget so I'll be wild camping about 95% of the time.

shibbyman23

Have you seen this couples chronicles of touring NZ on Bromptons? Kiwi Episode 1 @ The Path Less Pedaled

DeadGrandpa

Last year I said I was planning to do it. Then life got in the way and I put off my trip for a year. This year I'm really, really gonna do it. Starting a South to North (but this is negotiable as is departure date) GDMBR in late May, unless a companion surfaces who can't start that early. I have the maps. I have the bike and the bags. If you are of a similar mind, get in touch.

indyfabz

Avis has one-way car rental to PGH. There is one drop off location up near the Univ. of Pittsburgh. From there, it's mostly down hill or flat to Point State Park, where the trail now begins.

Also, Amtrak recently started offering roll-on bike service on the Capitol Limited. No boxing of the bike is required, but a reservation is necessary. That means that you can drive your own car to PGH, ride to Cumberland and then take the train back to PGH. Or you could take the train to D.C. and pick up another one to head north. However, you will have to search trains with checked baggage service heading north from D.C. if you head back to PGH on the train you'll need to budget some additional travel time as the train does not arrive there until around midnight, assuming it is on time. There are a couple of hotels on Smallman St., a short walk from the station.

When I rode the GAP a few years ago as part of a cross-Pa tour, I stayed at the free campground in Connellsville and at Husky Haven across from the town of Rockwood. The latter can have some loud train noise. If you are a movie buff, you might want to take a very shot detour in the Perryopolis area. Cross the Yough via the bridge to into Layton and you can see Buffalo Bill's house from "Silence of the Lambs." 6 Circle Street. If you fall in love with it, you can make an offer. It's been on the market for some time. "It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again."

jrickards

Because of limited vacation days allotted to me and plans to use many of them on a family trip at the end of August/beginning of September, my bike touring plans are limited this year. I'll be able to repeat what I had (almost) completed last year which was a weekend out and back "tour" (didn't complete because of significant headwinds both days but especially when returning home which would have turned a 5hr ride home into 10hrs, so I called for a ride after 3 exhausting hrs on Sunday following the 7hrs on Saturday, riding times, not elapsed times).

I will be riding out to the cottage and back (70km each way) for several 3-day weekends and I could try a bikepacking trip of a couple of days in the cottage area on logging roads (take a circular route around a nearby large lake to end up at the cottage).

Sorry, not exciting.

tarwheel 

In addition to the Erie Canal trip, I'm now planning a week of cycling in Wisconsin during June. It will be a hub-and-spoke tour based out of New Glarus, WI, which coincidentally has a very nice brewery. We plan to alternate loop rides on area roads with out-and-back rides on several rail trails that run through the area.

LlamaBikes

Later this year I plan on heading down the Pacific Coast, down Baja, Into Mexico and Central America with my partner. From there we will decide if we want to continue south, or turn back around and taking either the east coast up or through the great divide.

jrickards

This should be a sticky

robow

+1

Also Tarwheel, make sure you check out the "Spotted Cow" when in New Glarus, WI

antokelly

i might just finish my Ireland tour ,cycle over to galway head for malin head on to belfast home from there 70 miles from belfast.
not 100% committed to that plan yet have to sort out a few problems.
but sure no harm having a kinda plan.

tarwheel 

Hence my reference to the very nice brewery!

robow

And if you go further south on the Badger Trail, you'll hit Monroe, WI with its own Minhas Brewery. Lot of nice riding up that way and we'll be going thru there in September as we do a 4 state tour IL, WI, MN, IA surrounding the Driftless Area

Turkey222

I plan on riding down to Key West in May depending on the bank account. Stop in Charleston for a wedding as well. Hop on a plane either in Key West or Miami. Hopefully, I can get back up to 100 mile days again.

PhilPub

Touring virgin here! I've spent the last couple of months accumulating a suitable bike, rack & panniers for the job, with most camping gear and some other bits still to get. The main plan is flying from London to Vancouver in August to visit my bro, then train to Portland via Seattle, before cycling ~800 miles of the Pacific Coast - broadly the ACA route with guidance from "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" - as far as San Francisco. Around 65 - 70 miles per day with a rest day every 3/4 days, a couple of days in SF, then back to Vancouver by car/train. (Details tbc.)

This will be preceded by a week's trial replica mini-tour back home in May to test gear and hone in on what needs to be taken and what doesn't*. One-way train ride to Cornwall then cycle home to London over 6/7 days; 65 - 70 miles per day with a rest day in the middle, with a prevailing tail-wind and the sea to the right. *And to convince the girlfriend that she wants to do the full-on tour with me. I'll carry the tent.

antokelly

are u mad go solo.

raybo

In April and a bit of May, I'll be riding from Naples, Italy down to Palermo, Sicily.

Machka 

We've got a multi-modal tour in Victoria, Australia coming up soon. No cars, but there will be planes and trains and bicycles.

GerryinHouston

We'll be trying segments of the ACA Southern Tier (the Texas bit) while sussing out our gear amd procedures (we just started thinking about touring). We will start with 2-4 days credit card touring and see where this leads us.

MAK

I'm going to do the GAP/C&O in mid-May and then a week later drive out to Indiana for an ACA ride leader training tour. In July I'm confirmed to do a 10 day tour in Western Ireland.

I promised myself a spring and summer doing what I really want to do and I'm doing it.

Jim from Boston

2016 - Your Touring Plans = Where Are You Going?

My similar situation too; generous amount of annual vacation days but limited to how many as can be enjoyed consecutively...maybe two weeks long at most under special circumstances, especially in the summer.

This year I have been seriously looking at GOBA (Great Ohio Bicycling Adventure), an annual organized five day circuit in June in Ohio; I would do it credit-card style. That however would involve besides five days riding, two travel days to and from Boston, and two days visiting family in Michigan. Three riding days would be more feasible. So plans are tenuous.

Don’t cry for me Argentina though. Commuting and Road Cycling around Boston is great and satisfying, but I miss the novelty of new Roads.

Hi @Worknomore,

Workevermore here, as noted above. I’m a native of Detroit, spent time in Ann Arbor, cut my eyeteeth on touring in SE Michigan and Ontario in the 1970s, and did one tour around the tip of the Lower Peninsula in the 1980’s. Your description of Michigan cycling is apt.

Tandem Tom

Just booked our flights. We will be cycling for 7 weeks in The Netherlands , Germany, & Denmark!

Lively or Not

A big challenge for this fairly out-of-shape, mid-life former backpacker who's recently gotten into cycling: biking across Kansas (west to east) as part of an organized ride the first week in June. Kansas doesn't have many hills, but this part of the country has plenty of wind. I started training three weeks ago and hope I squeeze in enough miles to be ready. Whether I finish the ride or not, I know the experience will be a good one.

Ivo_Shandor

My wife and I and 4 friends are riding from portland OR to Boston (home) this summer. Mostly northern tier.