tarwheel 

I understand completely. When I was in college, I hiked the entire Long Trail in Vermont one summer. I had been backpacking for years, so I thought I knew what I was doing while packing for the trip. After the first week of hiking, I quickly realized that I had packed way too much gear for hiking day-in-and-day-out. The first town stop we made for supplies, I mailed home a big box of gear including my down sleeping bag, fishing gear, and other stuff I don't recall right now. It made a huge difference, and I lowered my back weight from about 60 to 40 lbs. However, I later regretted sending back my down bag after a cold front came through (it was July).

cyccommute 

I carry AAA state maps to plot my route (I don't want to carry a bunch of battery eating, expensive electronic gear) and I send those home when I'm done with them.

I also subscribe, within reason, to the 'it's better to have it and not need than need it and not have it' philosophy.

staehpj1

True, but on a long tour it isn't so bad to 'want it and not have it' since you can always buy it or have it shipped from home. This assumes it is something you can live without for a few days. If is something that is an immediate life safety concern, you need it, but if it is something you might be more comfortable having you just want it.

paul2

I've only sent stuff home on one tour. That was in India. My friend, who had been living there for six months, said to bring my camping equipment. It quickly became apparent that there was no place to camp in India, so I mailed home my front panniers, tent, therma-rest, pots, stove, and utentsils.

cyccommute 

When I say 'need', it's not a comfort issue

arctos

Needs and wants at home are often quite different from those on tour. Confusing nice to have with need to have further complicates the situation.

I need to be dry,warm, fed and hydrated. Once those are covered most other things are extras often not worth their weight except as psychological crutches depending on your own comfort zone. Touring is not an episode of a TV survival soap opera. It is a way to comfortably travel self-contained carrying what you need to enjoy the new experiences passing in front of you. Less is still more in my experience.

John Nelson

I would imagine that many people skip the shakedown tour because they don't have time, or they don't get their act together until the last minute. So although it's possible to do a major tour without a shakedown, it's still an extremely good idea if you can swing it.

Machka 

I don't buy the "don't have time" excuse. If you're going to do a lengthy tour, you're going to be out riding your bicycle 5-6 days a week as a very important part of the preparation, and you're going to be doing longer rides a couple of those days each week (on the weekends or days off) to get used to the bicycle fit, handling, setup, and the nutritional factors of riding longer distances. So why not just do a longer ride out to a camping place some distance away with the bicycle fully loaded, and a longer ride back home again the next day.

Sure it's possible to do a long tour without a shakedown tour, or several, but why? Why would you want to put yourself through that sort of discomfort?

Chris L

Well, I've seen plenty of tour journals that contained the phrase "I will never do this sort of thing again", and I'd be inclined to suggest that the majority of these came from the "no shakedown tours" bunch. One of the main benefits of a shakedown tour (apart from sorting out the what you do/don't need and the "how do I get the tent up" issues) is finding out whether or not the experience suits you at all. Now that may not be relevant if you've done some overnight hiking or whatever, but I think a lot of first time cycle tourists haven't.

Besides, shakedown tours can be rewarding in and of themselves. I've discovered several places that I never would have even considered visiting otherwise on various shakedown tours, and even as a seasoned cycle tourer, I still like those shorter tours for that very reason.

I think the reason a lot of cycle tourists don't do these sort of trips is because they're totally focussed on the "big trip", as if it's their one big adventure in life. The shakedown tour, much like a lot of other forms of preparation, becomes nothing more than an annoyance for these people.

staehpj1

Really? I don't recall meeting a single rider who did a big tour saying that. I also don't recall reading that in journals. I don't doubt that folks have said that I just doubt that it is all that common.

On the other hand I guess if I had done a bunch of overnight tours first I might have lost interest quickly. They just don't appeal to me much at all. I'd rather ride an unloaded road bike and do day rides if the ride isn't going to be a week or more. I might not have discovered that if I had done the short tours first and lost interest.

An exception would be if I had the opportunity to ride with someone I really wanted to ride with and a couple days were all we had. I would probably jump at the change for a overnight tour with my two TA companions. That would be kind of a reunion though.

I agree that some kind of shakedown is important for someone who has no lightweight camping experience. There are lots of skills that come with that experience whose absense would make the trip pretty challenging. On the other hand it is certainly possible to do it the hard way and learn as you go.

Everyone is different, but to me really short tours are not my cup of tea at all. For me, Rivendell's notion of the S24O is about as desirable as "camping" in the back yard. I am not saying others shouldn't do them if they enjoy them, they just aren't for everyone. I like riding and I like the feeling of life on the road, but If the ride is shorter than a week I'd just as soon not bother with making it into a tour.

Machka 

And there are a lot of people who lack any sort of camping or outdoor experience at all who get this urge to do cycling tours. There are also a surprising number of people who have either not set butt on a saddle in years or ride occasionally, who suddenly want to start knocking off 80-100 km a day.


Seems to me you've got some other odd ideas about what a "real tour" is and is not. You're the one who discounts hub-and-spoke tours, for example, if I'm not mistaken.

Short tours ... like a long weekend or a week, can be a great way to explore your local area. When I lived in Alberta, Rowan and I did a 5-day tour from Red Deer into the Rocky Mountains around to Banff. It was a lovely tour and a wonderful way to see and experience the mountains. I came over to Australia in 2008 and Rowan and I did an 8-day tour down to Wilson's Prom (one of my many favorite areas of Australia) and back. In both cases, we didn't have much time to spend on an extended tour, but we did want to see the area by bicycle. Both tours were well worth it.

Even if a person has some camping and cycling experience (and especially if they don't), I strongly encourage people to go out and explore their local areas on short tours. So often we set our sights on touring other countries and places (which is great too, and I encourage everyone to do that too), but we forget about our own backyards.

staehpj1

What I said was "I like riding and I like the feeling of life on the road, but If the ride is shorter than a week I'd just as soon not bother with making it into a tour." That has nothing to do with what is or is not a "real tour", but merely what my preference is. To me packing and hauling stuff is a bother if it is only for a weekend. I'd rather ride a sportier and unladen bike for that and go home at night. That is just how I feel and I never said others should share that preference. It may be an "odd idea" but as I said it has nothing to do with what is or is not a "real tour".

Actually I think they are a great idea and don't think I discounted them. I thought of them as a great alternative to touring, but I am fine with including them under term "touring" since the community here seems to prefer to.

People can define touring as tightly or loosely as they choose. Touring can be defined as "Travel, as on a bicycle or on skis, for pleasure rather than competition." So by at least one definition pretty much any riding that isn't racing or purely utilitarian is touring. I have always thought of touring in a bit more narrow terms. Perhaps too narrow, but anytime I go for a spin on a bike I don't consider it touring.

foamy

No shakedown, no weekend tour—just a gradual loading up on day rides. Much like some others, I backpack and have a fair idea of what's nessesary, but it still didn't keep me from packing some stuff I didn't need (but thought I wanted). It's not a big deal.

"I don't have the time" is not so much the excuse as "I don't have the inclination." It all works out fine. No problems. No discomfort. Just some stuff that you figure if you're not using it, you may well send it away.

This time last year:

I miss the road.

rpk0925

I would be one of those riders who swore he would never go on a long tour again after doing my one and only long tour (WI to CA) back in 1989, but here I am so many years later attempting to give it another go.

In my experience back then, it seemed like the tour was 80% work and 20% fun. But my case very well could have been the exception rather than the rule. There were 3 of us ... 25 or so in age. None of us were athlete types or knew the first thing about touring (or even bicycling for that matter). We just got this thought in our heads of "Wouldn't it be neat to pedal across the country". Simple as that. We quit our jobs, bought our bikes and gear all from the same bike shop based on their recommendations. FWIW, we all rode the same style bike. I forget exactly the model, but they were Treks. So anyway we had zero experience going into this, which most likely was a huge reason I felt it was all work and little play. (We also didn't have the luxury of the World Wide Web in those days, so we really were on our own).

I think another HUGE contributing factor (maybe moreso than the lack of experience) is that the 3 of us quibbled quite a bit during the entire tour. As an example, one person may have wanted to see something along the way that the 2 others weren't interested in, so it ended up that nobody saw it. I guess it's safe to say the personal chemistry wasn't right.

So now this past summer (29 years later), I got it in my head to try touring again, except this time solo. Unfortunately I don't have the time to be able to go long distance anymore this year as I'm still in the process of buying gear (the tent being the biggest stumbling block so far ... but that's another story). I do still have hopes of doing a few shorter local tours though ... before this summer so quickly ends, as Wisconsin summers tend to do. I would prefer to go on a long tour, but time and personal situations may not allow that.

Boy did I drift OT. Sorry. When the topic enjoying/not enjoying a long tour came up, it just hit me in a way that I needed to respond.

staehpj1

I can understand that sentiment 100%.

Great picture, where is that? It reminds me of the area of Togwotee Pass.

foamy

Yep. It was a (one of many) great day to be riding. I think I was very fortunate.

BigBlueToe

I've sent home stuff twice. Once was on the third day of my first "big" tour - the west coast from Seattle to Santa Cruz. Previously my longest tour was three days, and I hadn't toured for many years. I spent a lot of time planning and was very well-prepared. It turned out I was too well-prepared and was carrying a ridiculous amount of weight. After sending home a box of stuff I was still carrying too much weight, but some of it was a too-heavy tent and a too-heavy sleeping pad.

The second time I sent stuff home was on a tour where I was experimenting with pulling a Bob trailer, and climbing several mountain passes. After struggling and suffering up the first two passes I needed to lighten my load. Unfortunately, this time it didn't work out so well. I sent home some items that I needed for comfort, and was unhappy when they were gone.

I went back to panniers after that and on my next tour I had my packing list pretty dialed in. I didn't have to send anything home, and felt like there weren't too many changes to the list I'd make for next time.

Live and learn.

Mr. Jim

Totally agree, one writer stated (I forget who, might have been Bruce "Wingfoot") that you could conceivably start hiking the AT with an empty pack and pick up everything you needed to finish from abandoned gear.

paul2

My first tour was a fairly long one. Before the tour I got a book on how to do bicycle touring (this was in the days before the Internet). I actually followed the books advice, and so I didn't have to send anything home. It probably helped that there wasn't the Internet, because I could follow one recommendation, instead of posting a message and getting all sorts of conflicting advice, and getting more confused, and end up carrying everything that everyone thought one needed.

I did no shakedown tour. All I did was load up the bike and ride it once around the block before boxing everything up for the plane. I had a very successful tour.

If you don't cycle and/or don't camp, then a shakedown tour is a good idea. If you do lots of cycling, and have done plenty of camping, then a shakedown tour isn't necessary, because cycle touring is pretty simple. But it can't hurt.

capejohn

This is a great picture.

Like going on vacation, we sometimes tend to overpack. Pannier space is really at a premium.

On touring:
Lots of people see themselves on tour when they read things like crazy guy. Fantasizng can be fun but the the reality of touring can be very difficult. Personally I enjoy a week or two, either supported or unsupported. But cycling is a means of transportation and not the reason for touring. For me, it's seeing the places.

John Nelson

I've looked at a number of different books on bicycle touring. They all have a pack list in the back. In my opinion, these pack lists all have way too much stuff on them. If I packed according to those lists, I'd be sending a lot of stuff home.

To all of you who have said that you have sent stuff home, I (and I think many others too) would be interested in exactly what you sent home.

Roughstuff

On my two year world tour https://www.cyclingscholar.com I carried all the stuff I needed, and only replaced it when it wore out.

Part of what you are seeing goes back to the Bikecentennial days, which used to tell Eastbound riders to 'send home their mountain/winter woolies from the Pueblo [colorado] post office.' In particular, if part of your trip is in the mountains, and then ya hit the dry, hot plains, it may be a prudent move. Similarly, if it had been possible and convenient, I would have foregone raingear in the dry desert regions of southwest asia, and sent it ahead to pick it up when I was southeast asia during the rainy season.



roughstuff

tgbikes

I have sent boxes home several times, It's a family joke, gets some laughs at home and the post office. I get a kick out of the looks on peoples fasces (the non exertion croud) when you explain what you are doing, after all there SUV has two pedals just like the bike. I did wright myself a note as i packed the last box, hoping to rember how i felt at the time.

staehpj1

I don't remember everything and this list is far from complete, but between the three of us we sent home the following on our first tour (TA):

• PocketMail device (decided that since it didn't work with our cell phones and pay phones were scarce it was more trouble than it was worth)
• GPS
• Deck of cards
• Maps we were done with
• Extra items of clothing we decided we didn't need or were finished with once out of the Rockies
• Our second pot (we decided we could get along with one)
• Pedal wrench (needed to assemble bikes at the start)
• Books we were finished with
• Stuff we bought along the way
• Water filter
• Outer bag when out of the mountains (one of us was using an inner and outer sleeping bag)

meyers66

Hi, A few years ago I read the intro to this book Apartment Therapy and found it useful because I tend to plan a lot. I'll paraphrase: The author was touring in Italy with all his gear. He meets another European cycle tourist with maybe 3kg of gear. They discuss this and the European answers I bring my money and credit card along with essentials. Anything else I need I can buy on the way. It forces me to interact with the locals.