mccallum.aaron

Hello everyone to start off my name is Aaron, me and 2 friends all in our early twenties are planning a bike trip leaving next sept or October. We plan to leave Vancouver BC and travel down the west coast of the U.S. and through south america finishing off in Chili. All 3 of us have ridden sense a young age but never for great distances or learned to much about road bikes. This is a plea to all of you experts, enthusiasts and weekend warriors out there to share all the tips, route ideas, gear suggestions, nutrition, meal plans, or anything else you have to share with us. Thank you Aaron
To Add I am very interested in bike suggestions I am about 5 foot 10 a 150 lbs

mccallum.aaron

also any ideas on daily budget for the trip would be greatly appreciated!

Juha

Paging nancy sv, fresh Alaska to Argentina Tour Info needed on Touring aisle.

Seriously, she's doing the A-A tour right now with her family. Check out their website at https://www.familyonbikes.org/.

--J

Cyclebum

Figure on $25/day. That's for everything, including getting back home. Unless you plan on hitchhiking. Make sure you've got medical insurance that will work in S. America.

Edit: For 3, maybe $20 each.

nancy sv

Nancy here, responding to your page...

I don't even know where to begin... Really, bike touring is pretty easy and, although the learning curve is steep, it's only steep for a couple of days. If you take a few shake-down weekend tours before taking off for your big journey, you will know most of what you need to know.

You've planned your route perfectly - the first month or two will be along one of the most popular cycling routes in the world and there will be all the services you'll need. If you find you forgot something, you won't be far away. by the time you leave the USA, you will know everything you need to know.

People will freak you out about Mexico - don't pay attention to them. Although there are some instabilities in Mexico, it's all targeted and the chance that you will get caught in the crossfire is very, very small. Mexico has some of the kindest, most generous people in the world and you will love your time there.

As for a budget, I have tons of info on our website - browse through here: https://familyonbikes.org/resources.htm We are a family of four and are living on about $1500 per month. We have budgeted $2000 per month just in case, but the only time we use the extra is if we go on an expensive tour in the Galapagos Island or to Macchu Picchu or are in an expensive country (like Argentina!) or something like that. Otherwise, we don't spend that - and it'll go toward our plane tickets home.

I would be happy to answer specific questions if you have them. Feel free to post them here or write to me at familyonbikes@gmail.com

mccallum.aaron

Thank you all so much for all this information so far! Nancy your website and your trip look amazing, just looking at it makes me so excited about the trip i want to leave tomorrow! but alas i must wait, although the longer i wait the better organised we can be. Does anyone have any suggestions on bikes, or other gear?

nancy sv

What bike you need will depend on how many dirt roads you plan to take. If you want to do a lot of dirt, you'll need a bike that can handle it. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of great bikes for that are available in the USA - Europe,yes, but not in the states. I'm really not sure what's there, but be SURE you get 26" wheels - I am riding 700c and it was a big mistake.

As for the other gear, get the best quality you can afford. Don't let lack of money prevent you from going, but you will be a lot more comfortalbe and have fewer problems if you get good gear. I'm not sure how much time you are planning, but we have been on the road for 2.5 years so far - our gear has taken a beating and looks pretty worn, but is holding up well. If we had taken off with lower quality, I'm sure it would not have tolerated the abuse.

A huge purchase for you will be your panniers - you'll be living out of htem for quite a while. A lot of people swear by Ortliebs because they are waterproof. We found we don't really like our Ortliebs and really prefer our panniers with pockets so we can organize our gear more easily and have certain items easily accessible. It will depend on you and what you think you will like. Take a look at Ortliebs, Arkel, and Jandd - those tend to be the major three available in the USA.

mccallum.aaron

Nancy thanks again for yet another very informative post. Your website is amazing and very informative as well and me and my 2 companions have made it a nightly ritual to scour your website for another tidbit of information to help plan our trip, do you have any suggestions or hints for traveling in south america? we are trying our best to learn Spanish as 2 of us are canadian and the other from france we dont have any spanish but im sure we will have lots of time to learn it on the road.

HandsomeRyan

Probably a budget-buster for a trip like this but if money isn't a problem-

Surly Troll Frame



With..

Rohloff Speedhub

mccallum.aaron

wow those are some pricey parts very nice though ill place those on the wishlist !

nancy sv

I don't really have anything that is South America specific - touring here is no different from touring anywhere else. I would strongly encourage you to take some classes at a language school in Mexico or Guatemala - wish I wouldhave pushed hte issue for my husband and kids. I am fluent in Spanish, so we didn't really think it necessary, but now I know it would have made the journey much, much better.

Be sure to use 26" wheels, be prepared for all seasons, and go!

nancy sv

I should add this about a sleeping bag... When we left, we knew we would be passing through very cold temps, so got very warm sleeping bags. Made sense at the time... However, the very warm sleeping bags are pretty miserable when you are passing through very hot areas.

I now have what I consider to be the perfect system. I have a summer weight sleeping bag - it's not very warm at all. Then I also have a thin fleece "sleeping bag" - I just went to a fabric store and bought a couple yards of fleece and then sewed the bottom part into a bag. When it's very hot, I use the fleece only. When it's very cold, I use both of them layered together. I can adjust the system to whatever temperature it happens to be that night - perfect!