I have done a mixture of both. A nice thing on an extended tour is that it offers the possibilities of doing different things, e.g. in 2007 I did:
- A solo set of riding through Texas (one month)
- A ride from Amsterdam to Vladivostok (six months); to St Petersburg was solo and across Russia was with Dutch and English speaking cyclist
- A ride across China with TDA group of ~30+ (two months)
- A solo ride across Thailand (one month)

When I went from one phase to another, I enjoyed the contrasts. For example cycling with someone else through Russia took some adjustment because she was faster than me. Other than ~10 days where we lost each other, we camped in same place each night and generally traveled separately during the day. My brother also came to make it a trio for a few weeks. After cycling with one person I was happy to be in a group for a while in China and then just as happy to be solo in Thailand.

Everything else being the same:
- In English speaking countries I prefer cycling solo where I can interact more with locals
- In non-English (and non-Dutch) speaking countries, it is nice to cycle with someone else - both to problem-solve and to have more significant conversations than the "where are you from, where are you going" sequence I get very good at in whatever language
- If things are more complex with borders/visas or related logistics such as for me Africa or China then at least for a while I appreciate a group for trading off logistical help vs. independence
- After a while in one mode, then it is also nice to switch. An extended trip makes it easier to have such phases in different areas

I'm sure others are wired differently...

Sorry for the late reaction, it was exam season :twitchy:

To Yan:
Quite the experience indeed! I am weirdly quite looking forward to the experience, as it seems rather unique. Not sure if it is enjoyable, but I always read positive feedback over the attitude of the police towards cyclists when doing my research, so... to follow!
I was indeed not planning on cutting short but on following the route you adviced on. However, after Xining, I was planning on going to the Ili prefecture. This means following your blue route to Jiuquan, but then following the G30 to Hami, and then go to Urumqui to then join the Ili Prefecture. This route seemed to cross the least sensitive regions. Does it seem okay, or would it be better to continue following your blue route after Jiuquan until the G218, and then join the Ili prefecture through the Bayingolin Mongol prefecture?

To Tourist in MSN:
You are right, during my research I also found that most travelers used four panniers. I do think it will be fine to only use two, but time will tell :) I did, however, change my plan slightly and will indeed use anything cages to carry my cooking apparel (to avoid getting the inside of my bag dirty) and my tent (for storage space purposes), as I have those anyway from my bikepacking trips. It would be a waste to not use them :)

To Axolotl:
.
Thank you! This confirms that it is indeed possible :) And a great Idea as well to use a lighweight rollable bag. I was thinking about using a disposable, but you had a better idea. A duffel bag can also always be used later on, if necessary. Thanks for the advice!

To mev:
These guidelines were indeed the ones I intended to follow. I am not that strict on myself, so if I break something and hitchhike a few dozen miles to get to the closest city, I do not plan on hitchhiking back (^u^;)

to Tourist in MSN (again):
Seems like quite the encounter! Especially fan of the stickers, if I may be so honest :))

To Roughtstuff and mev:
I will get to know both, and will be able to judge afterwards the one who is right afterwards xp
More seriously, I think I agree with mev that neither is better than the other. Each has its advantages and inconveniences.

I think I caught up will all the replies. Once again for all of your help and I must admit I am looking forward to it more than ever now!

Like so ... :)

https://live.staticflickr.com/8164/7...40bc3988_c.jpg

Yup, that seems like a fully loaded rig to me :))

I would have slightly smaller panniers but with a framebag instead.

Are those yours?

Yes ... we travelled to various locations around the world for 8 months in 2012 with that setup, starting in Victoria, Australia where we lived.

We did a combination of camping and staying indoors ... turned out to be one of the wettest years in the UK! Our camping plans went out the window there.

For what it is worth, Lael Wilcox finished yesterday in Chicago - https://bikepacking.com/news/lael-wi...ld-record-set/

Tip of the helmet to her for the accomplishment. Her podcast was well put together and interesting to follow.

The rate she traveled was much more per day than I tour (her travels of ~29,000km in 108 days vs my longest journey of ~27,500km in 365 days is 3.5x faster on average). So also a different type of trip.

While I think one might learn some from her routing I also would avoid some areas based on her descriptions. In particular parts of Adventure Cycling Route 66 on I-40 that appeared to have a lot of debris and accounts of some tunnels in Turkey.

The bragging rights* world cycletour has become Trondheim to Cape Town then Ushuaia to Anchorage then Tokyo to Cabo de Roca.


I've imagined a 'round the world cycle tour @ ~33.5ºS: Santiago to Montevideo + Cape Town to Durban + Perth to Sydney. ;)




*If you're into that sort of thing. :)

Nods.

Josh Reid's front panniers + seat bag trans-Eurasia seemed a bit hair-shirt, although to his credit he wears a big smile much of the time. Ah, to be young!

I did a 2.5km tunnel in Turkey yesterday. This is what they look like. Two lanes per direction with a little platform on the side that is wide enough to ride on. The other direction has its own separate tunnel. Pretty good in my opinion.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7f8aef6e82.jpg

Ya, I've done some tunnels like that and they were fine. I have gone through some short ones with no sidewalky thing, poor ventilation and they weren't great, but luckily could wait for a lull in traffic and get through most before a car came.
Touch wood touch wood all ended fine.

Was that planed on a paper map? 🤭

sorry ;)))

Chuckle
That's the great thing nowadays, it's usually doable to find out online how specific situations like this can be, researching ones route.
This photo a good example

much smaller panniers, 15L ;) and in the front. yes, a frame bag and a saddle bag. if needed 8- 10L mini panniers in the back.
with these ultra big all household panniers in the back the bikes controls you, not you the bike. ;)

On my tour this past June, I met a fellow from asia doing an around the world tour. We crossed paths in Niagara, Ontario. Photo below, his bike is in the middle of the photo, disregard the part of bike on the left which is mine.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6df1a76023.jpg

I think he had more weight on his front tire than rear. An odd mix, Ostritch brand luggage up front, an Ortlieb Rack Pack on rear.

I will never understand why some people prefer friction downtube shifters for both front and rear like he had.

I am using friction downtube for the front on my rando bike, but on that bike I have a brifter for the rear. Less than 15 percent of my gear shifts involve the front. The first time I rode a derailleur bike with an indexed rear shifter, I knew I was never going back to friction on the rear.

Very curious and odd that his rear rack appears to be a type that doesn't have vertical supports going down to the rear hub area.
Strange choice.

And hey, re friction rear, whatever floats your boat I guess, but unless it's for using a Frankenstein setup and friction is the only thing that works, I dont get it also--but we grew up using it and realized how much easier and robust indexing was about 40 years ago.

I use Brouter.de for routing and Google Streetview to verify conditions. Tried them all over the last 16 months of touring. This is the best across all countries. I met a bunch of guys using paid Komoot and they all had inferior routes to Brouter.

great! but that road does not look very inviting. maybe google street view faild.

This tunnel is a new road which bypasses a 1000 ft climb on the old road.

You can choose either alternative. Go left to take the tunnel. Go right to climb the old mountain pass. Personal preference.

Actually funny enough, I met a German cyclist after I got out of the tunnel, who had just finished coming over the old road, and he was b*tching up a storm about what a pain the climb was. He wasn't too pleased when I told him how easy the tunnel was. He was using Komoot.

LOL.

Your account definitely more positive than what Lael accounted for here in her blog: https://www.laelwilcox.net/podcast/e...o-grele-turkey I think part of the difference is that the path was rough in the 4km tunnel she went through.

its maybe also the approach on what kind of road one tours ... I would never ever find myself on a road like this.

Agree. Maybe because that particular rack was extra wide for supporting the Ortlieb duffel? I have seen several extra wide racks like that on the front fork on bikes, perhaps he used a front rack on back?

I zoomed in on the rack mounts on the original photo, below.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2c67b0ed96.jpg

I also thought it looks like a front pizza type rack.
Wouldnt be my choice either.

Right, you can't cross into Azerbaijan, borders are closed. They are only open for freight transport.

You're going to find that on a round-the-world tour, some days you find the road, other days the road finds you. Anyone unable to accept this reality will have to restrict himself to more limited itineraries.

I looked at Wilcox's world record route. Any thoughts on the fact that she stayed only in first world countries and skipped all of Asia? The previous record holder Jenny Graham rode through Siberia and Mongolia, and furthermore unlike Wilcox who had a car following, Graham was completely unsupported. No wonder Wilcox was able to beat the record.

This record is not just about cycling a fixed distance fastest. The challenge of passing through difficult regions is just as much part of the record as the distance itself.

I understand that the Guiness rules are very loose and cycling through Russia is inadvisable in the last two years, but this is departing too far from the concept of the record. This is completely the fault of Guiness. They should really tighten the rules. At the very least even if they don't fix the routing loophole, split the record into supported and unsupported categories.

Compare their routes. Wilcox skipped Asia and made up the distance simply by doing some extra wiggles in western countries.

Graham still has the record in my opinion.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c412aa4cc1.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0eb3f1b68d.jpg

very interesting Yan, thanks for putting up the route maps to compare.
Yes, a hugely significant and different riding experience from the Scottish women's ride, both in support and in route difficulty.

I agree that separating into supported vs unsupported is a useful distinction.

I am more mixed on the principle of defining "difficult" regions in part because creating that definition is more awkward. On the one hand it looks a bit strange to cycle around the world but not in Asia (other than part of Turkey and Georgia). However, I cycled across Russia and wouldn't consider those roads as particularly difficult. Since I traveled they also finished paving the trans-Siberian sections all the way through Vladivostok (when I did it in 2007 there was still ~1500km of gravel). So I would consider a ride all the way across Russia (if possible) as also being part of an around the world ride - while also not considering Russia as difficult as some developing countries.

In any case these records are a bit strange and this is more on Guinness as it makes sense for riders to see the most straightforward method of matching the rules. Ideally it would be nice to include Africa or South America as well...