Thinking of a 5 day tour, maybe 50 miles per day. Flat terrain in the DelMarva peninsula, Delaware-Maryland-Virginia, although winds can be difficult. I might go the credit card route to get motels and air conditioning every night since it will most likely be in the 90's daily. Since this would be my first tour, and I'm pushing 50, I'd appreciate from the veterans advice on things they vowed never to do again from their early trips. Things you forgot, stuff you didn't need, etc.

Thanks in advance!

I got back into it when I was about 45, badly out of shape. I had no problem doing 50, 50, and from that point on 80-100 miles without anything in the way of training. Good news! Cycling is done while sitting down, sorta like TV. If you consider the average speed made good was 10mph, then 5 hours is nothing, what is one going to do with all the extra time? So I wouldn't underestimate how far you can go, if you are inclined to do so. Noramlly I would hit the road around 8 and have the first forty in the bag well before lunch. It always surprised me how fast it would get done. The rest of the day is a little slower, heat, shopping, fatigue... But it is easy to get a really big number by the time 9 rolls around.

I would recomend sorta a loaded touring approach if there are any nice places to camp, but keep the load extremely light. I did my earlier tours with about 35 pounds of gear including the weight of the panniers, but not the weight of water, or long term food. You always have the option of staying in the motel. I can't remember many motels, but camping can often be memorable.

My best tip: Get semi-decent equipment. I went cheap, cheap, cheap for my first tour and regretted it within a few miles!

On my first tour with my dog (only a weekend) I went to a place with absolutely no services all weekend. I had a GIANT hill to climb up the second day right off the bat. I filled my water bottles (and my dog's) from my 10L dromedary bag then dumped the rest of the water. The hill took over 1 1/2 hours to walk up with the loaded bike and trailer. I downed almost all of my water during that grueling walk. So no matter how much of a load you have to drag up a hill, never dump your water to lighten your load unless you know there's a refill waiting for you at the top.

Tiff

Don't pack too much clothing.

I sunburned my lips riding though central WA.

Ouch.

I have two from my first long ride. This was in June, hot & humid. I did not anticipate how worn out I would be off the bike. The ride was okay every day but after the ride I couldn't do much more than lay still in a big puddle of sweat. And I packed a lot of food to cook. With the heat sapping my energy the last thing in the world I wanted was to cook, so I ate a lot of meals in air-conditioned restaurants. I also bought a battery powered fan halfway through - that and a wet towel were what allowed me to sleep at night. I would rather arrange the trip so I don't have to do any of that.

baggy shorts that can catch stinging bugs, only had it happen once but it was memorable

I took too much on my first tour. That was remedied though by mailing stuff home. You really don't need much and especially if credit card touring you don't need much.

BTW, I find that for most items including the bike, inexpensive to moderately priced stuff is fine and in some cases I even prefer it. My rule is that if it is expensive AND heavy I rule it out regardless of how functional or durable it is. If it is expensive and substantially lighter while still being functional and reasonably durable I consider it despite the cost. That said most of my stuff is inexpensive.

Fixed it for you

Don't pack too much anything!

consider picking up an insulated watter bottle or 2. finishing off that last water bottle when it's 95F isn't much fun.

i keep telling myself that insulated water bottles are for wimps (still don't have any) but i'm about to break down and get one or 2. i don't need to have ice floating in my water, i just need it to be lukewarm at least.

Did the same last year climbing and descending Marias Pass in MT.

My biggest mistake on my first tour (cross country and then some) was not researching what makes up a good touring wheelset. I was carrying a lot of weight due to a lot of photo equipment. The stock wheels on my bike were not up to the task. I finally had the rear one replaced with one from a tandem because the rim had cracks in it.. When I got home I discovered that the front wheel had developed cracks.

While I carry what I want, I agree that many people often carry too much stuff. On my cross country trip, several people mailed stuff home after the second day, including a Sony Watchman TV and a blow dryer.

Also, make sure you are riding on good tires. That seems like a no-brainer, but all too often on club rides I see people riding on tires that are in miserable shape. Who wants to be changing flats in 90+ degree weather?

Finally, as another had noted, always carry plenty of water. That store you may be counting on down the road might have burned to the ground. Happened to me once.

If your stuff gets all wet, you're gonna have a bad day.
If your panniers tear/rip and dump your stuff all over Kansas, you're gonna have a bad day
If you gotta spend hours repacking your panniers in the same manner that you build a jigsaw puzzle, you're gonna get a late start.
If you gotta spend hours unpacking and repacking your panniers to find your nose hair clippers...you're gonna have a lot of nose hair.

et cetera, et cetera, et cetera

I, too, had my rear wheel replaced on a tour - had to cobble it together for about a week till I got to a town with a bike shop willing to build a new one on short notice.

Also - I did not have all day long grades in my area and maybe nothing but doing it could prepare me for all day climbing

I did not need my tent. Would have rather had a bivvy.

- Used a trailer. I hated it on my pre-tour test rides I felt like it handled poorly and was dangerous, but I didn't want to pay for a real tour bike until I was sure I liked touring. One week into the tour it flipped me off the bike and almost knocked my brains out. I should have payed attention to what I already knew.

- Waited to eat/rest/adjust clothing for "the perfect spot" - I finally learned to eat/rest when needed because if you wait for the perfect spot you might have bonked already.

- Ended the tour because my partner had to go home - I later learned that touring solo is just fine, sometimes even better than touring with someone.

Such a good point. Eat/rest whenever you need to, and whenever you want to, whenever you feel like it. But if you find a nice spot, take a rest and enjoy it even if you don't need it.

Stop and buy a couple pieces of fruit every chance you get, and eat them right away. Don't try to carry a pound of peaches ten miles looking for the perfect spot to eat them; they'll be ruined by the time you get there.

Drink lots of water, and keep munchies handy and use them. My biggest problem was keeping quality calories in my system, second was drinking enough. Also don't over do it. For me a decent days loaded tour is ~50 miles +/- 10 miles.

Aaron

+ 1 on that. Also, allow for the potential problem that if you're overly hungry, thirsty and/or tired, your decision making abilities can be impacted.

Quite recently I caused myself problems on a day ride by deciding to hold off eating until I reached an upcoming picturesque spot. Problem was, my body needed fuel NOW, not an hour from now, and if I hadn't allowed myself to get so hungry, I might have realized that.

That too. Also, if you do tour with a partner, make sure you both have similar, riding styles and goals for the tour. Two acquaintances of mine recently returned from a tour which they both hated because one wanted to put the hammer down and crank out the daily miles as early as possible, while the other wanted to dawdle and make a day of it. A 5 minute conversation could have clarified that before they set off.

plan for the weather to be unseasonably hot/cold/wet.

talking on the phone and eating oatmeal does not mix, it will be cold about a third of the way through eating it.

Repeated for emphasis. Eat, rest, adjust things as soon as you notice an issue.

Also: Overestimate your water usage in areas where you are unfamiliar with facilities. Last tour, on a 97-degree day, I held to my sure and certain knowledge that in Texas farming country, there's always a farm, gas station, church, whatever where you can top off water - or at least a stream or river where it can be filtered.

What I got was a jaunt through 50 miles of open country with heavily silted creeks behind barbed-wire fences through a single ranch property on <2 bottles. It was fairly uncomfortable and could well have been dangerous. I drank a nearly-full bottle of Deja Blue water that I found in the ditch before I got to a real source. I was expecting some long gaps between water sources later in the trip, but not so close to home.

Miles go by really slowly when you're out of water. Really slowly.

Two items to make sure you don't forget...camera...and good tool kit, more tools than the standard "fix a flat" road ride set up. Probably make sure you have a chain breaker, extra chain pins, leatherman or other multitool (just a really handy tool to have when you are on the road), and that you know how to use all that stuff.
Thing is, while on the east coast you aren't far from a bike shop, the overwhelming majority of bike repairs are really easy if you know what you are doing and it is just so much more convienent to be able to do it yourself on the road rather than the hassle of getting to a shop.
A good bike person can build an entire bike from parts in about 2 hours.

My first tour I forgot to bring pliers, and my FD cable slipped, I never did manage to get it tensioned properly on that trip.

I like to start with an easy day, preferably a half day ride.
Dont forget to stop and enjoy the view. Dont over-plan.
When I'm motelling I sometimes book before I set off that day but more usually start looking around in the afternoon. Depends on how full they are. For camping, Ive never booked ahead.
Take a good map and a small compass. Sometimes you run out of North indicators and have to go magnetic.
Stuff to leave? Footwear is the biggest optional load. Ive taken spare hiking shoes on tour. Now I only take walkable sports or cycling shoes. For me, clipless sytems are not a neccessity. Some spare sandals my be handy


I'd like to find the guy who can rebuild a touring bike in 2 hrs. Ive just spent the whole afternoon getting new fenders to work with new wheels and new rear dynamo lamp.

I really like a Camelbak for touring. With my three frame-mount bottles, I've never run out of water, even on the hottest days with no place to refill. When I know I'm going to be able to refill I only use the Camelbak and leave the bottles empty. The reason is that the Camelbak insulates the water so that it stays cold much longer than a frame-mounted bottle. In fact, if it's really hot, buy a bag of ice, fill the Camelbak, then fill with water. You'll have icy cold water for a few hours - what a luxury!

Don't carry too much. Most of us have sent home stuff we discovered we could easily live without (especially after luggin it up over a steep, long climb.) However, don't send home stuff you'll probably want. I once went a little crazy and sent home a couple of things that I really missed when they were gone. It bummed me out.

Don't feel like you have to ride a certain number of miles or you'll be a wimp. Embrace your wimpiness! From my point of view, 50 miles is a worthy number of miles per day, and 65 is awesome. I'll ride 35 or even 25 if there are reasons - a good campground without another for a long way, or I'm feeling tired, or even if I'm in the middle of a really good book and want to spend more of my vacation reading and less pedaling. It's my vacation! I often run into other tourers (especially cross-country riders) who are averaging 80 miles a day. Good for them. But I'll choose my own pace and not feel unworthy. Choose yours and don't worry about what someone else does. It's your tour and your vacation.