mev

I essentially use a variation of padding, with the exact format slightly different depending on length of the trip.

I enjoy sleeping inside with bed & shower but at least have minimal camping equipment to give me some flexibility;

On a one-week type trip, I will have looked up towns that have motels - even though I don't make reservations. From this I can work my time as a "likely schedule" and a "minimal schedule". The likely is my rough expectation of where I would stop if everything was going well and the minimal is at minimum distance I would cover to make my return flight. For example, if from town A the next town was 45 miles and the one after that was another 45 miles, then I might have a minimal distance of 45 miles and a more likely 90 miles. The distance after that was another 60 miles, then both the likely and minimal might be another day... the next result is a distance of 150 miles that I would cover in 2 - 3 days. I'll make my return reservation based on 3 days, but start out trying to ride it in 2 days.

On a month or more trip, I will have done less specific looking at reservations and instead have more of a "mileage budget". As long as I am doing X miles per week, I'll make my end destination in time for the flight. I'll set the overall budget based on something I either can comfortably meet or have a fallback option (e.g. Amtrack or car rental) if over that month+, unexpected things happen. However, on a month one also has some more time to play with either way. When I am feeling "behind" my budget, I might be more inclined to push a bit extra, when I am feeling "ahead" of my budget I'll have more excuses to take a rest day or shorter day here or there.

To put it together, this July I made a cycling trip from Abilene, TX to Minot ND with ~3 weeks cycling and ~1 week other:
-- Ahead of the trip, I did a rough lookup to see the largest gaps between towns with motels. I used this to pick my equipment. No gap was so large that it was 100% guaranteed to camp - so I brought minimal camping gear as a backup, rather than expecting it to be a complete camping trip.
-- My return was on Amtrak and I didn't actually buy my ticket until a week before I arrived in Minot, i.e. during the trip. The reason was I wasn't 100% certain of the effects of two different weather tradeoffs (1) hot July temperatures in southern bits, meaning I might prefer to make shorter days with afternoons in air conditioning (2) southerly tailwinds that made it easier to ride longer distances. By delaying buying the return ticket I could see how that went. I also knew if worst came to worst I could have a fallback (e.g. rent a car to drive from Bismarck to Minot).
-- As the trip unfolded, I did have one night camping. The reason: Onida SD had a hotel, but it also had an ethanol plant under construction and the rooms were full of construction workers. I didn't learn that until I arrived. I also had more days where I went further than I otherwise would have "locked in" to be conservative.
-- I did arrive a day or two early in Minot, even buying my ticket the week before. However, I then went to visit the North Dakota State Fair, Scandinavian Heritage Center, etc.
-- I also had a handful of days where I went online the night before and made a reservation for the next town. Mostly because it was the "obvious" choice with a larger than expected gap after that.

The way I look at it, it is a bit of a tradeoff between the peace of mind that a handful of reservations might bring vs. lower stress that not having a fixed itinerary might bring. I err on the side of (1) having done some advance research on alternatives but (2) not locking in those alternatives until it unfolds (3) having minimal camping gear or backup plans that keep open options. In my experience, occasionally I'll need to go to a backup plan but much more often I've got extra flexibility to adjust to conditions.

manapua_man

...I plan out my routes ahead of time and pack accordingly.

The only really consistent thing is that I have are a pump/patches etc. leatherman, extra water, and some light foul weather gear. If I'm going way out into the middle of nowhere I do have an epirb but that is on the boat a solid 99.99% of the time.

jargo432

Simple, Just ask yourself, "What would Macgyver do?"

fietsbob

I went for Overbuilt wheels, when I found a 48 hole Phil Wood Freewheel hubshell

PW Co put an axle assembly in it, and I built the wheels , had a Specialized -Sansin 40 hole front..

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Happy Feet

I have found the best solution for what to do in a remote setting is to develop those self sufficient skills day to day by fixing/dealing with issues whenever you can. Being able to "MacGyver" stuff is as much an outlook as a knowledge base and if you spend most of your time paying other people to solve your problems day to day it's a pretty big leap to have to do it yourself in a remote setting. One reason I like building bikes and employing the KISS principle with them is that, in the field, there isn't much I haven't already encountered.

Then it's just a matter of trusting the universe that you will be able to handle things when and if they pop up.

ricrunner

I have a back that easily pops disc's occasionally and this happen on a big outback OZ trip, when I was away from home about two weeks in. I was not far out of Birdsville QLD and limped into Birdsville, had dog in trailer with me as well, it took all day to make it, once there, got park manager to put up tent, fed dog, I painfully cooked for myself, then hit the sack. Stayed in bed there for 7 days until I could me properly. Had dog on llong lead so he could do his business, had to crawl around on all fours to go to toilets and make food. Luckily park manager kept me in food from his store. Very lucky. Still worries me today (this happened 2years ago), when I ravel, but bring walking stick and sat phone now so I can ring wife if not near a town if it happens again.

alias5000

a touring recumbent might possibly be a relief on that front?
Sounds like a pretty nasty story.

saddlesores

i got something similar, but weird. really weird. when the back goes out, hurts like hell to walk or stand up straight, but no real difficulty riding a bike.

nowadays i carry a blister pack of tramadol.

Cougrrcj

My last 'solo tour' was almost 40 years ago - looooong before cell phones. Yes, I had a catastrophic failure of my rear wheel in the middle of rural Nowhere Indiana when I wasn't paying attention and drifted off the side of the pavement (a 5" drop) and the subsequent attempt to get back on taco'd the wheel... The nearest 'LBS' was a 20-mile hitch-ride from a passing motorist. I had to buy a new wheel. I had been doing what we now would call 'minimalist' touring, with only two changes of clothes, no tent, no sleeping bag, no mat... Heck, my tour was only ~500 miles each way and a week rest in the middle... what more did I need??? Ah the innocence of youth!


On a side note, my niece's boyfriend had a near-life-ending accident earlier this year when riding his off-road motorcycle in the wilderness of the extreme northern Idaho panhandle ... Normally, he leads these types of tours, but while he was out on a solo ride he wrecked badly -- breaking his shoulder blade, collarbone, several ribs, knocked unconscious, etc. The trail he was riding doesn't see much use, and he was lucky that someone else came by an hour or so later since he was still unconscious. A few hours more and he would have been bear- or cougar food!

indyfabz

Tourist in MSN

I spent maybe an hour this morning working on my plans for my next solo trip next year where at one point I will be about 100 miles from the nearest well stocked grocery store. I really hope I have better luck than you on my next trip. Sounds like a major bummer.

MarcusT

Your biggest threats are: Exposure, thirst, then hunger comes in a distant third.

Hondo Gravel

Tourist in MSN

I am planning a trip there for next year. You convinced me to carry a spare tire, along with the two tubes, patch kit & tyvek I usually carry for tire booting.

Thanks.

Shimagnolo

The ultimate communications for any remote area on the planet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_Communications

Of course this assumes you will be conscious and able to make the call.