i aint no troll. did you go to the bike swap today, kiwi? i got some good deals.

I don't get it. Bicycle touring is about doing it not about being impressive to others or raising money. I always thought the notion of touring for charity was kind of hokey any way.

That said when the subject of our TA comes up folks are invariably interested. I seldom see eyes glazing over when I talk about it. It is ordinary enough that often people will know someone who has ridden coast to coast, but they still remain interested.

As far as journals being interesting. They aren't interesting just because someone rode across the country. They are only interesting if you know the riders, they are well told stories, or they contain information that you are interested in.

+1.

No, bike touring hasn't become "boring." It's become more popular, which means some 'elite' tourers feel their uniqueness is threatened. It's not an uncommon attitude here in the People's Republic of Touring.

Did anyone visit the website of the "Bike Touring Pro" in the video? It's hard to find content on it that's not a pitch for some product or service.

Bicycle touring isn't boring.

The concept of people thinking they should be able to get money or special personal attention for everything they do that they consider an adventure is boring.

All excellent points. I saw the point of the video as being more of a rhetorical question for the lady who submitted the original question to him.

Pete, when did ya'll hold elections here at the People's Republic of Touring? :)

Hmmm, I must have missed them.

Now I remember why I don't like forums. Who needs crap like this?

I don't think there are elections here. All the 'elite' are self-appointed.

My suggestion for learning how to work on a bike. It can be a little bit intimidating to learn on a good bike that you don't want to screw up. Instead get a cheap old bike to practice. Watch craigslist or garage sales for 1980s road bikes. You can often get decent ones for $30-$40. Use the internet (Sheldon Brown and Park Tools) or get a copy of Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance from your library or bookstore. The bicycle tutor also has some very good short videos.

Practice with your old bike to:
A) repack bearings in hubs, bottom bracket and headset
B) replace cables and housing for brakes and shifters
C) true wheels
D) install tires and fix flats
E) replace brake pads
F) clean and lube chain/drivetrain

There are probably a few things I'm forgetting with this list. You can learn a lot just taking apart an old bike and stripping everything off piece by piece.

There are a few areas where new bikes will be different than the 80s road bike. They will often have brifters instead of separate shifters and brakes. But a lot of it is the same.

When you are all done with your old bike you can sell it for a profit.

Its funny how often this issue pops into my head. I did a world tour 1998-2000. I love to tell stories and share stories about it with people. I love to do that...i can see their faces, tailor the details to their interests, etc.

I have often been urged to 'write a book about it!' But I never have! And the reason is exactly what you say in your sentence. Two aspects....

(1) Don't READ about my trip you ninkinpoop! Go out and tour on your own. Live your dream, don't read about it.

(2) More subtly, I have a reluctance to share the emotional aspects of touring with strangers. I am a guy who lives low on the hog and very much a solitary person. The joys and sorrows and sinew of my world tour are one of my few true, true possessions, and I am not sure I wanna share them with others in such a broad brush manner.

So yes, I have my website with alot of pictures...and some, but by no means an exhaustive, series of stories and events. But i don't think a 'world tour book' will ever be in the cards.

To some extent also these 'reality' shows have overblown travel. There is too much 'been there done that' attitude to traditional travel by TV and magaziens these days. The only thing they want to publish and televise is "underwater orgies with coelecanths off the coast of south africa!" type stuff.

The best way to see this is to withdraw from the media for a while and then see what a freak show these mags and TV shows have become. I don't have a TV, nor do I obsess with cell phone access, yadda yadda. All the trappings of the attention deficit generation have passed me by. Try it for a month or two and see what happens.

roughstuff

I'm just a young whippersnapper, but I had no idea that bicycle touring was ever interesting (to non-tourers) in the first place, or even that it was supposed to be.

I thought it was just something you did, and the rest of the world, media in particular, be damned.

Maybe some newspaper company needs to lay the foundations of a new traditional race, the "Tour de Tour" perhaps.

man, that's one ugly avatar to be a young whippersnapper :)

I do think bicycle touring somewhat fascinated the unwashed in the early days, and they are the reason behind the question. Especially those who live on/near the established cross country routes.

I almost didn't bother because the name kind of put me off. I mean what is a bike touring pro? I did go look though and it wasn't very interesting to me.

::Wow, leave a draft for and hour and post it without looking at the new content...::

The YouTube question came about because someone couldn't garner media interest in her "charitable" cross-country tour. (I think this has been covered a couple of times already on this forum, also on an Appalachian Trail forum to which I belong :)) I don't think that bicycle touring has become boring... perhaps the notion of "riding for a charity" has become passé. There's just too many people clamoring for attention, jumping up and down waving their hands saying "look at me, I've put a [not so] unique spin on something that I love to do, and I'm so much a better person for doing it". It could be biking cross country, hiking the AT, or holding a national jello-wrestling contest -- doesn't grab much attention because it's been done to death.

I budget $xxx per year for "charitable donations". I've donated to causes that were brought to my attention by BF members... i.e. Alex's Lemonade Stand (Stacey), Tour de Cure (Solveg), Epilepsy Foundation (neilfein) and the Valley Players of Ligonier (our local theater group, in memory of Sheldon Brown). Two of the charities I would have donated to anyway - I have diabetes and epilepsy. It's nice to be able to put a person/face to a cause. Only one - Neil's - was tied to a tour. I didn't think the tour was dependent on the fund-raising, nor do I think it was "hokey" in any way. It was a nice way to bring attention to a cause Neil F. feels passionate about, and brings attention to issues he deals with on a day-to-day basis. I gave because Neil asked... not because he was touring.


+1 - I'm always up for a well-written story, photos are nice too. Too often journals are merely " Woke up this morning, got packed up, had breakfast, started riding at XX am, went XX miles, had dinner, went to bed at XX pm." Tell me about the places you went, people you met (or how you're handling the solitude), your impressions of an area -- bring me into "your world" and you'll have my attention.

Judy

I think it still does. On the TA people put us up because they were interested in hearing about and being part of our tour.

Best answer yet!!

I've watched a couple of the "Bike Touring Pro" videos and the guy does a good job of making touring sound boring. I'm sure he's well meaning and has a lot of experience, but his advice is pretty prosaic and his delivery in not very inspiring.

Mr. Airwick -

I am very concerned about you.
I am fearful that you is going to burn in hell for posting this.
Either that - or get your tail feathers scorched.
That's why asbestos pants seats are suggested for bloggers.

But - of ample size -
Take a look at the diaries on the Nevada stretch of the Western Express.
Nearly everyone rides from Fallon to Austin to Eureka to Ely to Baker.
Few even bother to explore Great Basin National Park -
Where you can sit among bristlecone pines - the oldest living things on Earth.
Fewer still bother to camp in between the towns and enjoy the Nevada desert.

Yes, US 50 across Nevada can seem intimidating -
But what do you really need? Just water.
You can easily carry enough food for two or three days.
If you have a water filter, then you can stay alongside a creek
in the Desatoya Mountains or at Illipah Reservoir.

Heck, with other campers at Illipah -
You could beg water and skip the filter.
(Although that might be taking chances)

Along with others, I agree that biking across the country is a personal adventure.
It's been done many times before, but it will always be a first for each person.
I just wish that more people would take the road less travelled.

J

just prescription drugs..........

Boring. It's my main means of exploration. Boring. Weird. I'm bored when not on the bike.

See, that was all I was saying, you just said it better. :)

No worries about Airwick and me,...... our mansion is now in the painting stage and soon the flowers boxes will be installed under the windows. I do hope we are given casement windows, my favorite, jamawani.

You sound like one of those idiots on this planet who unfortunatley takes great pleasure in **** ing people off. Quite why you feel the need to bully this lady vja4Him who clearly enjoys her cycling and has taken her time to write something here I don't know but for one thing you are a loser. Could it be that you have you achieved very little in your own life? Get a life of your own instead of spoiling others'.

Give me boring rather then the opposite. A famed British climber was asked by a matron "Oh please do tell me of one of you adventures." He replied, "Madam, I never have adventures, I plan too well." He did not plan well enough one day on Mt. Everest.