I went on my first tour this weekend and had a hell of a time. I packed up Friday night, stayed up till 1 contemplating if I should to do the tour or go on a group ride on Saturday. Well I decided to do the tour. I left out 2 hours behind schedule and was dealing with a cross wind. Then the wind turned and I rode into a head wind for about 15 miles. I had an option to take a county maintained road and when i rode into the next country the road turned from pavement to dirt. Not road base, not gravel, but dirt. I ended up laying my bike over twice because of loose dirt. Once I got back to the pavement and got back riding and everything was going good. I got about 15 miles out and then I got a wonderful little surprise, hills. Thanks to map my ride for their inaccuracy to report the true grades of hills. Get through the hills, get to the turn for the park i was going to stay at for the night and there was a nice sign up. No campsites available. Now I had to find a place to camp at, and luckily there was a camp ground a few miles down the road. Head down there set up camp and take a nap. So I eat some supper and then decide to go and refresh the water supply I had and get a warm shower. I start walking my bike to see if the neighboring campers could watch the tent while I was gone, I twist my ankle. I go get my shower and my water and ride back to my site, 3 mile round trip. I try to get to sleep and then people start driving by my tent and everybody seemed to turn on radios. Well I get to sleep and other then waking up a few times, I slept good. Get the bike packed back up and leave the camp. Get a couple miles down the road any my ankle starts killing me. I found someone that could meet me and pick me up. So I get back on the road and ride about 20 miles before I got picked up. All in all, I did end up riding about 70 of the 90 miles this weekend. I wouldnt call this trip a complete failure but I did not end up finishing the trip.

Not all tours are "sunshine and roses" as you just found out. You probably did the right thing by discontinuing, rather than risking further damage to your ankle. I made that mistake after slipping in loose gravel while pushing my loaded bike over to a rest area, badly tearing shin tissues. Thought I could ride through the pain, but after going another fifty miles, I couldn't walk at all on the damaged leg. I had to abandon the rest of the tour, and was laid up for 2 weeks. Start planning another tour, the next one will be great! P.S.---I always carry a good anti-inflammatory such as "extra strength ibuprofen" for the smaller strains.

Not at All a failure.
You learned it doesn't take much of a problem to end a tour.

Lessons learned will pay dividends down the road for sure. Good on you for giving it a go!

Did you do a lot of training before you went on this tour? What were the biggest obstacles on your ride? Was fatigue a problem in the wind?

well put it like this your going to be so much wiser on your next tour.you really need good miles in your legs before any tour,the more you put in the more you get out of it and that's a fact.i honestly think if you have a cool head you'll get through most any obstacles ,(im still working on coolness).the best of luck on your next tour put this one down as a learning experience.

didn't finish my first one either, though for me it was weather.

I believe it was the dirt road that did me in. Riding on the loose dirt on 700X32 tires was difficult especially with the head wind. I averaged 9-10 miles an hour on the way up. I do think that I pushed a little too hard on the first day but its hard to say. If I didn't re-injure my ankle I would have struggled through and would have made it. I just couldnt risk hurting my self to the point that I wouldn't be able to work.
I am pleased that I did as well as I did. I did get out there and at least tried it.

You've gained experienced and you're ahead of me My first tour is still many weeks away.

Aw, man! It sounds like you were doing a good job, but just had one of those "one of those days" weekends ie: genuine case of a bad luck streak. I agree with you that you shouldn`t consider it afailure and I agree with whoever said you had done the right thing by throwing in the towel. A lot of forum posters here and elsewhere seem t ohave the "no pain, no gain" attitude, but I personally don`t see it that way. I overdid it a few years ago and as a reward for pushing myself too far I got a string of doctor visits, X-rays, and an MRI and was off the bike for about the next three months. The next time I started to hurt seriously I called for a ride (in mid tour, a half day`s drive for my father who came to bail me out). For throwing in the towel when it was time, I was back on the bike in another week- much better option IMO.

So you learned some and survived your first tour- are you going to try it again? And WHERE ARE THE PICTURES?!

Sorry your first tour didn't turn out the way you hoped but I bet it's still something you would do again in a heartbeat.

My first weekend tour with a group went as planned, except I tried to trim weight by skimping on sleep gear. I learned something from that! The next one was by myself with my dog. We were on a road with no services whatsoever and I ran out of food and was on the verge of running out of water because I dumped the last of the water from my dromedary bag so I could lighten my load up a giant hill. Lesson learned again! I had to call for a ride home. But I went on my next tour in the Southern Utah desert with a handful of other people and had the time of my life...learned a lot from that trip as well though no major mistakes on my part in this one.

I hope you continue to tour...you'll have a great time despite the problems.

This is why I advise doing these short tours ...

You discover how difficult gravel roads are, and why there are those of us who make an effort to avoid any sort of gravel riding.

You discover that you can't trust online mapping programs. While they may provide you with some information, they won't necessarily provide you with all the information. Paper topographical maps might be a worthwhile investment for you if you plan to do future riding in that area.

You discover that the campground you're heading for won't necessarily have a spot for you, and that you might need to have a Plan B. You might also want to plan to book in at popular campgrounds on certain weekends in the future.

You discover that camping isn't necessarily the idyllic experience that some touring reports may have you believe it is ... it can often be a very frustrating experience.


But now that you know that and have some experience, when you set off on a longer tour, you might make some changes that would make your tour a more enjoyable experience.

Yeah, that sounds like an experience. Some of my favorite rides have resulted from unexpected conditions. One ride in particular sticks out in my mind, through Tennessee backroads that turned to gravel, inaccurate mapping, getting lost, and walking the bike down some very steep gravel descents. Classic!

Hooked another one.

Ohh yeah Im still hooked. Today while making my hauls, truck driver so I get a lot of time to think, I am already thinking about where I want to to go next. I am going to keep training for my next tour so when the mood hits me, Ill be ready.

As for the pictures, I dont have a camera yet so NO pictures from this trip. I am still having to buy my touring equipment piece by piece when the funds are there, but its starting to get down to the end of the list.

After I get to the end, I get to start at the beginning again.

Good Going!! I always had to buy my wife a nice dinner when I called her to pick me up!