Machka 

Have any of you done "hub and spokes" tours?

These are the tours where you set up your headquarters in a particular location (the hub), and then each day of the tour, you cycle out a different direction to see different sights, or ride particular roads, etc., (the spokes), and then return to the hub at the end of the day.

I've signed up for a short tour like this in August with one of the local cycle touring clubs.

I haven't done a tour quite like that before, but I find the idea appealing both for this tour, and for possible longer tours in the future. You'd get to see lots of things in a particular area, instead of just passing through the area. And you wouldn't have to worry about where you're going to spend the night ... you'd return to your already set up campsite each night.

Neil_B

I'm planning a variation of that a couple of nights on my next big tour, a week-long trip in August. I'm camping in one location two nights, and riding out and back one day.

valygrl

My friend did that from Bergamo, Italy. His trip sounded amazing. Multiple days of 100+ miles and huge mountain passes.

58Kogswell

I am about to do some cycling somewhat like this. I have not done it before.

I don't have a solid block of time to actually "go" anywhere, although I wanted to ride from Minneapolis to Denver and then I would have to ride back. That takes longer than I have.

Instead I will drive my pickup truck with my bike to a Minnesota State Park where I will set up camp. I can then ride out in different directions each day making loops that will bring me back to my campsite.

Minnesota has lots of small towns and I think I can plan to have lunch, or some convenience-store version of it, each day while I am out on my loop. After a few days I can then go to another state park and do the same thing; there are lots of state parks. There is not much driving involved in this and it will be convenient to have what I want (pillow, radio, etc.) rather than just what I need all carried along in my truck not on a bike. I expect to cook evening meals more than I do when I am on tour.

I would not do this while traveling self-contained on my bike since I don't trust leaving my belongings in camp all day while I am out riding. I will take my tent down each morning and stow my stuff in my truck.

I don't consider this bike touring. For me it is a way to ride my bike in places I have not ridden before and to camp each night and get away from life's usual routines. It has some of the advantages or benefits of bike touring but it is obviously not traveling self-contained. I know that I can do the same thing in Illinois where I am also familiar with the state parks. I consider state parks a valuable resource.

This is a very tame and less adventuresome version of traveling by bike. I am not proud of how easy I am making it for myself but I am happy to have come up with something I can do for 3 or 4 days at a time that approximates bike touring, i.e., riding on rural roads where I have not ridden before. For me it is an adaptation of the kind of "base camp" version of hiking and climbing I did when I lived in CO. Base Camp Bike Riding.

Icycle

My wife and I have done a very lightweight version of hub-and-spoke touring. We drove with our tandem up to Healdsburg in Sonoma County, California. We rented a room at a B&B for 3 nights, and spent 3 days riding the tandem around wine country, returning to the B&B each afternoon. It was nice to have a solid base camp that we could get settled into, and when we were out of the road, all we needed was the minimal stuff needed for day rides. It's a very good approach to touring in an area with rich and varied cycling options.

Machka 

What's wrong with making it easy? There's absolutely nothing that says that cycletouring has to be difficult.

Plus if you are compelled to make it more challenging you can ride longer distances, or ride over more challenging terrain.

The event I've signed up for has, as their first day, a ride up the Highway to the Sun in Montana (I think that's what it is called). From what I understand, that's a fairly challenging ride. Then the other two days are easier.

sirpoopalot

dt swiss spokes and shimano mtb hubs

Gordon P

I once stayed at Youth Hostel in France that was a centre for cycling. I was really impressed with how well it was set up because a French map company recognised it as a cycling centre and had a number of cycling routes of different skill level, terrain type and even listed it on a cross-country cycling route. They had a cycling shed, a repair shop with tools, a tire pump and a knowledgeable staff member who knew bikes and the region. They also rented bikes and guests were allowed to use the neighbouring recreation centre for free! It was such a great place and I would love to set something like that up!

valygrl

It's "Going to the Sun" - when is the event?

Machka 

Along those lines .... Rowan and I stayed at a lovely campground in Ieper, Belgium for a few nights last summer, and on one of the days we were there, we did a cycle tour of WWI gravesites and battlefields on one of the many Fietsroutes in the area. We could have stayed a couple weeks to cover all of them, and each one had a set of detailed maps - a map for car drivers, a map for cyclists, and a map for walkers. We got the cyclist map, of course, for the route we did.

Machka 

Yeah, that's it.

The event is over the August long weekend ... August 1st to 4th. We're doing the Going to the Sun highway on the Saturday.

58Kogswell

I hope it is a great ride for you. Thanks for starting this thread.

AbueloLoco

I did something slightly similar in May. As background, I live full time in an RV. On the way from Texas to Ohio, I rode the Katy Trail in Missouri. I would leave the vehicle I tow (a Miata FWIW) at the "finish" of the day's ride and then drove the RV east to the day's "start" and then rode the bike back to the car and drove the car and the bike back to the RV and spent the night. The next day I left the car at where I camped and drove the RV to the next spot and rode back. It was about 5 days. I was staying in my own bed every night and using my own bathroom, etc. I started getting some questioning looks from travelers going the other way when they saw me two or three days in a row going past them in the other direction. (the bike was a bit unique too, a Bike Friday). I pretty much rode the trail in daily sections from east to west but starting at the west end of the trail.

I don't think I will do it this way again though as I ended up driving the vehicles the same mileage twice each day as well as riding it on the bike. I figured it cost me 60 cents a mile in gas alone, but I wanted to do the whole trail and I really didn't want to do the ride twice by going out and back each day or leave the RV someplace and camp on the bike and needed to get everything to Ohio. I do hope to do some hub and spoke touring like described in the thread this winter in the Southwest. I think a few days or a week in a spot and then move the rig down the road for a few more days would be fun.

Machka 

In addition to my club tour in Montana, Rowan and I are thinking of doing this sort of touring later in August too.

We might pitch camp in Jasper, AB, for example, and then head out in different directions from there each day. There's a lot of beautiful scenery in that area ... canyons, waterfalls, lakes with little beaches, spectacular viewpoints from the tops of the mountains, hotsprings, etc. etc. Lots to explore.

Machka 

Well, I did my first Hub and Spoke tour this past weekend with a local cycling club ... and I really enjoyed it.

First ... the photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/1430288...7606589046925/

Second ... the story, in brief:

The hub of the tour was a campground near West Glacier, just out of Glacier National Park in Montana. Apparently I've been there before, but I have no memory of it. I think I was quite young.

The plan was to do the Going to the Sun highway on the first day, but after driving over it on the way there, almost all of us decided against that idea. There is a lot of construction and gravel going on. Instead, one of the club members and I did a century (162 kms) out to Marias Pass and back, and other club members did short parts of the Going to the Sun highway. One rider did the route from West Glacier to St. Mary and back as planned.

That evening we had a wine and cheese and exchanged stories of our day.

The next day, most of us decided to do a ride out to the Hungry Horse Dam and along the Hungry Horse Reservoir. It was a lovely road - very quiet and scenic. A couple of us went into the town of Hungry Horse as well. In all, I covered 90 kms that day ... including the 10 kms where one rider and I got a bit lost.

That evening we had an excellent supper put on by the campground cafe ... much nicer than I would have expected!

The final day we packed everything up and drove to the Apgar Transit Centre, then cycled from there ... just 40 kms. We all packed up and went our separate ways, and I opted to drive over Logan's Pass again, and stop to get lots of photos.

I really like the Hub and Spoke idea. I like traditional Point A to Point B touring as well, but the Hub and Spoke idea has lots of advantages too ... not the least of which is that it allowed me to see quite a bit of that area of the world.

cyccommute 

I've done several with my family. Kinda tough to get a 10 year old to ride 50 or 60 miles while carrying their gear We've done it mostly on rail trails (Wisconsin, Michelson trail in S.D., etc.) It worked very well and even gave us opportunity to take breaks from riding. Combine them with overnight stays at a hotel, motel, B&B, etc. to get further along the route than just an day ride.

oldride

I'm planning something similar for next summer. I will visit 3-4 National Parks (in the Rockies) and setup a basecamp and then day tour the parks and surrounding areas. I will then pack up and move (driving) to another park. This way I will see more of the parks than riding through for a day and I will be able to do some hiking.

onbike 1939

For me it was not about making it easy, but about losing that feeling you get when you are heading for a particular destination. There's something about travelling on a bike that way that is very special although I'm now at the point where age is going to decide the type of touring that I do.

staehpj1

The closest I have done to this is living on a sailboat for a week and doing rides from various ports. It was a really good time.

robow

I think it's great for 2-4 day getaways. Especially if you're in a more remote area that's not easy to find lodging at reasonable intervals and your companion won't camp out unless it's a Holiday Inn.

Machka 

Well, I found it pleasantly relaxing. I didn't have to bother with packing up my tent etc. in the morning. I could just get up and go. I could go whatever distance I wanted, in whatever direction I wanted ... I wasn't tied down to making it to the next campsite. And when I returned to camp, I could just grab a shower, then relax with a book and sandwich without all the fuss of setting up the campsite.

Gordon P

I was looking up some info on hub and spoke tours in France and the FUAJ Site - la Fédération Unie des Auberges de Jeunesse International (Hostelling International) lists under services which hostels are cycling centres. LOC - Location de Velo. Also, the Institute Geographique National map # 906, shows both road and MTB routes. It also shows long distance routes like the Paris – Brest and Paris – Bordeaux and shows local Hub and Spoke routes.


Institute Geographique National
https://www.ign.fr/rubrique.asp?rbr_id=1&lng_id=FR

FUAj
https://www.fuaj.org/

Machka 

A few (more) comments about Hub-and Spoke tours ...

1) I said the tour I did in early August 2008 was my first hub-and-spoke tour, but I was mistaken. In thinking about it, I've been doing hub-and-spoke tours since I was a little girl. My parents often brought bicycles with us on vacation and we'd stay in a particular area for a while, and cycling out in all different directions. It was great!!

2) Hub-and-spoke tours are an excellent way to ease into the world of touring. You can get some experience with camping (if that's your preference), or stay in other accommodations (if that is your preference) ... and get some idea of what to bring. You can also get experience with getting up each morning for several days in a row, and going out and doing a fairly lengthy ride. It's one thing to do a short commute to and from work, or the occasional short ride after work, and a longer ride on the weekend, but it is a different thing to keep getting on the bicycle again, day after day to do a ride of 75+ km.

3) You can include your family in a hub-and-spoke tour ... for those of you who have mentioned that you feel you can't tour because your partner and/or kids don't ride much. Pick a spot in a good location for cycling, one which will allow you to do rides in various directions. Pick a spot with attractions for your partner and/or kids to entertain them while you are out cycling, and everyone is happy.

4) It's a great way to get to know an area. When I've done Point A to Point B tours there has usually been a moment where I have wished I could just stop and explore a certain area, but time restrictions etc. prevent that. The hub-and-spoke tours allow you to cycle all over a certain area.

5) Hub-and-spoke tours are also a good way to get a tour in during a time when camping and other accommodations are scarce. In this part of Australia, and for hundreds of km around, almost all the campground and other accommodations are booked solid this weekend (Easter). We found one place in the general area where we wanted to go that had space available for us. If we were doing a Point A to Point B tour, we'd have been pitching on the side of the road ... which wouldn't be the first time, but I don't like doing that for more than 1 night in a row.

We're enjoying yet another hub-and-spoke tour this weekend.