taylorr317

Hey everyone, so I am planning on biking across the United States (From Michigan to either Seattle or San Francisco). I am hoping to begin my journey sometime this summer, maybe early or mid June. I would like to camp out every night if possible.

I have very minimal biking experience. The furthest I have ever ridden a bike is to the next town over and back (maybe about 25 miles total) on a $100 mountain bike from Walmart.

What I am looking for on here is advice. Advice with everything.

What kind of bike do you recommend for someone on a budget? (not looking to spend more than $1000).

How should I train for something like this?

What gear should I take?

What challenges will I run into on my journey?

Any recommendations or advice with anything would be helpful.

Pretend you're giving a novice a 10 minute presentation on everything he will need and need to prepare for for something like this.

Thank you.

nun

Your enquiry is a bit open ended. Go to crazyguyonabike.com: Bicycle Touring: A place for bicycle tourists and their journals and search on "Northern Tier". Read the blogs there and then come back with any questions.

bikemig 

You don't need to overthink this. Buy a basic touring bike from your local LBS. At under $1,000, the fuji touring is your best bet. If you're willing to go a bit north of $1k, get the REI randonnee.

For training, just figure out your daily mileage and then make sure you are comfortable riding that distance.

Pannier front and rear are probably your best bet. There are all sort of arguments back and forth over lightweight touring set up but you aren't really going to go wrong with a 4 bag set up. You can always lighten your load as you learn what you need and what you don't need.

Other than that hit the sales for your tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad etc.

You'll need a good cooking set. There are lots of good choices out there but a trangia cookset is an excellent choice. There's not much to go wrong using alcohol, fuel is readily available, and the thing works in pretty bad conditions.

It's good to do some reading but you don't need to overthink this either.

Machka 

1) I'd recommend starting earlier if you can. Like early or mid May. Give yourself some time to do this.

2) Start riding.

If all you've got is a $100 mountain bike from Walmart, read everything you can about bicycle fit, set the bicycle up as best you can, and ride.

Commute to and from work or school during the week. Ride in the evenings. Ride up hills. Ride in various weather. Go for longer rides on weekends. Maybe start with a 25 mile ride this coming weekend ... and a 30 mile ride the next weekend ... and a 35 mile ride the following weekend. Start doing some back-to-back rides where you ride 30 miles on Saturday and 30 miles again on Sunday. But do take 1 or 2 days a week where you rest or go for a walk or something ... don't ride every day.

3) Start making a list of the things you'd like in a bicycle ... it might start with things you don't like about your current bicycle. Then start looking around at the options available to you. Check out the bicycle shops in your area ... ride to bicycle shops in the next town. Ask questions. Look for things like the ability to mount racks so you can carry stuff.

4) When the weather in your area is decent, load the bicycle up with gear and do some overnight camping trips. Cycle out to a campground maybe 50 miles away, stay overnight and cycle back. Doing that will help you sort out what you want to bring.

Aidoneus

I have absolutely no bicycle touring experience, so I think that I can offer you the best advice! Find someone or a small group with experience to join, at least for the first 500-1,000 miles. There are several sites you can look for partners. You could start with Adventure Cycling Association. Also, you might join WarmShowers (free) to look for other riders and to find people who will let you camp in their yards and/or shower in their homes along your route.

San Francisco or Seattle, you don't care which? Are you returning to Michigan? How long are you free? Will you have enough money to eat for the trip, or will you need to stop off to earn more money on the way? Will you be able to cover unexpected expenses, mechanical or medical? (I was traveling with a young women one summer who developed a bad tooth infection, which ended her backpacking trip.) Unless things have changed drastically, Yellowstone always needs to hire more workers by July. Just stuff like maids, kitchen, and laundry workers.

Just my inflation 2 cents.

katzenfinch

Machka’s advice is good. Get a bike that has braze-ons for fenders and racks, or get a used bike that has those things. Panniers, front and rear, and a handlebar bag for the things you want on the go. Lights. Really good tires. Cheese, nuts, and dried fruits are you friends. Stop at local markets to get what you need each day, but have a backup if you don’t find any local markets. Two spare tubes and one spare foldable tire, and a patch kit. Frame pump. Credit card, just in case.

gpsblake

I rode a Walmart bike from South Carolina to Abilene Texas in 2005 and plan on a big tour this year on a Walmart beater. The frames are built like tanks. It can be done if you have a little bit of knowledge on how to tune and adjust a bike.

More important is being able to ride while comfortable day in and day out. Do a couple of long rides, fully packed with your stuff. A weekend shakedown tour would be best.

Many threads on that subject here. My personal preference is enough stuff to be comfortable at night but not the kitchen sink. I fit everything on one rear rack with panniers.

Boredom, winds, big appetite, some soreness, but most important STAYING DRY when it's wet or cold. You will always want to have dry clothes to change into after a day's ride.

Stated above, do a shakedown tour over a weekend and ride on a wet day. Bring something to entertain yourself like a radio, book, tablet. Remember, even if you bike 8 hours a day, that's 16 hours of downtime each day.

Miele Man

A $1000.00 budget? Is that just for a bike? Do you have a tent, sleeping bag, groundsheet, sleeping pad (closed foam cell is inexpensive and light) plus cook kit and stove?

What do you intend to do off the bike when you stop for the night?

Cheers

Happy Feet

There are books written on the subject and this thing called google. You should do some research and refine your questions a bit instead of asking people to write everything they know about touring.

Passively asking others to do the work is not a good sign for bike touring... unless you want to go tandem

Aidoneus

Like I said, he should find someone willing to guide him. LOL

BTW, I swear I get this weird vibe that the OP is a teen running away from home...I hope that fear is unfounded.

MixedRider

Start biking more now! Train, Train, Train, rest, Train... 25 miles is my daily training ride on weekdays!
When you have a 3-day weekend:
1. Learn to change a flat tire
2. Find a town within 40 to 50-miles.
3. Make a hotel reservation for Saturday night at town
4. Backpack with clothes for overnight and bike clothes the next day (plus other supplies like food/water, flat tire changing stuff, rain gear.).
5. find at least 2 milestones to stop at on the way for food/water/bailout.
6. Let a friend/family know what you are doing
7. Check weather
8. Go for it knowing you have a hotel
9. ride home sunday, same route
10. let friends know you're home and safe
11. determine if you want to do more of that or not.
12. that Monday, reflect on how you feel physically and make a training plan accordingly if you decide you want to do more.

ironwood

Oatmeal, preferably steel cut.

pdlamb

I've been wanting to take another tour without working so hard. You want to take a stoker?

treebound 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDjGvmJZsdA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3dKU2V32sk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj8QlD3SFqo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9QKIBrIATE
(pay attention to your health and body and current state of things)

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...icycle+touring

Could be, or it could be someone who just retired and wants to do something, or could be someone escaping from Detroit, or could be a recent college graduate living a dream, or could be almost anything. Sometimes weird vibes are accurate, sometimes not, but with only one post so far all we can do is watch to see if he/she returns to type with us.

Whatever the case, I wish the OP healthy success with wherever life takes them.

Tourist in MSN

Camping gear, if you are near an REI store, spend some time talking to their staff about sleeping stuff, cooking stuff, tents. Depending on store they may or may not have good staff that know about bike stuff for bike touring. Plan on spending a few hours there on a day when they are not too busy (if on a weekend, a day when the weather is terrible, etc.) so that they have plenty of staff. Weekdays during the work day like early afternoon, they often have plenty of staff available.

If you have mechanical apptitude and feel that you want to learn about bike mechanical stuff, consider a Windsor Tourist. I have never seen one but it is my understanding that they are the best value for a low cost touring bike, but it comes in a box and you would have to do some assembly. I just checked, it says sold out, you could ask them if they plan to get more in.
Save Up to 60% Off Touring Bikes | Commuting | Commuter Bikes | Windsor Bikes - Tourist

Both San Fransisco and Seatle would allow you to take Amtrak to Chicago, but I have no idea how you would get home from there. One thing I really like about taking Amtrak home from a bike trip is that you can get a ticket a few days or a week before you get on the train without paying an arm and a leg like you would with an airline - airlines on short notice are absurdly expensive. It can be pretty boring for two days on a train, but if you are low on budget, that is not a bad option.

I stayed at the hostel in the photo for three nights while sight seeing in San Fransisco before I rode Amtrak home.

C_hepp

I was in the same position as you were. Unfortunately I won't be able to make the trip this year, so I will hopefully be doing some shorter tours this summer. For a touring bike under 1000, you can try to get one used, or buy the fuji Touring bike. I bought one used, found it was way too big, discovered the fuji Touring bike, and decided to get that one. It's an amazing bike. Took it out on its maiden voyage today and it was great.

Happy Feet

YES!!!

oh I'm sorry, I read stroker instead of stoker... darned reading glasses. Uh, no I'm ok riding alone

TheLibrarian

Many of us started riding in the depths of some hopelessness or other dreams and had the intention to ride off into the sunset on a grand tour. 2 years later I still havn't gone but learned a fair amount and thankfully my life is a bit better. I'll give cycling some credit for giving me a hobby. I still havn't even done an overnight at the cabin 7 miles from my house, with a cabin and beds in it, water pump and pizza delivery. I also need to train on the erie canal trail for 4-5 days. I get vacation days now too so maybe this summer. Then I've decided i just dont like riding on roads especially in the north east. Maybe if I got dropped off in Pennsylvania or even ohio or something. There's a lot that goes into it and it will take longer than you think and cost much more than simply buying a plane ticket to california but can be done. I've ended up mostly mountain biking now and intend to fly out to Moab or Sedona and just ride around in circles.

To give you some useful advice there are specific touring bikes made to be comfortable on long distance and carry your stuff. You can also take a guided tour for a few grand where someone will carry your stuff in a van and maybe even set up your tent at the end of the day and have people to ride with but we all know thats not what we wanted. Probably nicer though.

travelinhobo

I don't give advice to anyone who hasn't bothered to do their homework first. There are lots of sites which cover all your questions. Use them. Also talk to as many people as you can as you'll get different advice for the same topic. The great thing about bike touring is that there are no rules. I just proved that with my 13 week tour of southern CA in which I used a large basket instead of a handlebar bag, I wore jeans instead of biking shorts (I do prefer biking shorts) and I toured the first 2 weeks without a tent (among other things). $1K is a lot to spend on a bike for touring. Any bike that has 2 tires and goes, works. Keep that in mind when you're looking at bikes in the shop. And remember... just like a car salesman, the bike salesman also have a quota to meet to Giant and all the other bike manufacturers. Buying used is suggested. And you're not doing a cross country tour. It's a half-cross country tour.

Ridefreemc

...and come back and respond to all the posters who have taken the time to write up a response for you.

Jseis 

~4,000 miles Seattle to NY in 60 days via mostly Canada. 6 of us sorta trained as we played a lot of soccer, hiked, rode maybe 50 miles a week. Started slow (35 miles a day) finished strong (100-125). Slept on the road 50%, in campgrounds/hostels/RV parks/rest areas other 50%. We ate and ate. Fruit, peanut butter, bread, nuts, chocolate, ice cream, etc. Two of us did all the wrenching. Built our own panniers (plastic waste baskets hung on commercial racks) but the handle bar bags were store bought & very important. Didn't have headlights/blinkies. That was a mistake. Had early helements (MSR). Takes a leap of faith. I wouldn't go alone as it gets tough physically and emotionally. In '76 the entire trip including return airfare cost me about $700. I rode a $220 bike (Motobecane Grand Jubille which...I still have) and I built our tent. So maybe $1000 total in '76 dollars or $4,000 today. We were bike packing mostly. I'd say today it'd be more difficult to camp on the road as much as we did.

It'll leave an indelible benchmark on you forever. Sally forth!