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I got a new 5spd Schwinn Collegiate 5 spd when I was 12 and rode it. A lot. When I was 14 a friend and I did a couple of long day tours to relatives homes. He had a real ten speed but I had no problem keeping up. Rode the Schwinn over parts of Los Angeles. Last year of high school I got a Nishiki 10spd with stem shifters. It was the lowest cost model with aluminum rims. Took the cheater brake levers off. Rode to girl friends house when I lost car privileges. Put on a Pletscher rear rack, cheap small panniers, handlebar bag and hit the road for a month after school was out. Resettled in SF and rode to Santa Cruz regularly to visit gf. Over the next six years I rode over parts of N Cal for one to two week trips during the summer.
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It all started in 1963, with an eager group high school sophomores who challenged each other to ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We talked ourselves into extending the trip to San Diego where one of the riders lived and we dropped one rider. Then my coconspirator Ed thought we should start in Seattle and see the World’s Fair, never mind the fair was in 1962. Then it was just Ed and I. So I suggested we make it British Columbia to Baja California, BC to BC riding the length of Highway 101.
Somehow despite all odds we made it on racing bikes of the day running sewup tires (tubulars) with TV cameras rolling as we crossed the frontier into Mexico. |
1986 Northern Tier with Bikecentenniel (now Adventure Cycling)
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Starting about 10 YO in 1962 I began riding farther from home on summer vacation days. Soon I was packing a lunch and riding all day. When I went to college in 1970 I almost immediately started overnight rides, first just a one nighter to a state park taking a different route home. This developed into 4-10 day outings and I eventually spent a whole summer touring about WI, MN and MI.
My early tours up to 10 days were on a Schwinn "Racer", 2 speed bendix automatic, wire saddle baskets with my gear packed in stuff sacks. I did forty mile days generally. In 1977 I got a Zebrakenko Storm a rack and proper panniers. Mileage increased a bit, but the tours were still slow paced with lots of stops to visit, swim, learn local history, hang out at waterfalls and sample hamburgers at crossroads taverns. |
Originally Posted by Tansy
(Post 12024145)
So, I did a search and couldn't find a copy of this thread, which seems odd, since it seems like a fun topic.
How'd you all start touring? With a friend, as a group, or did you only discover stuff like this site or crazyguyonabike existed after you'd been doing it a while? Did you basically have your act together, or did you run into a lot of problems? Also, from car touring in various places I realized the journey was as important as seeing the sights--even with the luxury of a car, touring can be a hassle & expensive, esp with passive-aggressive ignoramus tour mates. So I like solo bike touring: great way to see stuff, the physical effort is challenging but relaxing too. Amazing how the body strengthens rapidly when touring. When I went on the late-fall BRP tour I was in awe of how little traffic there was, it seemed like one huge bike path put there just for me! |
I thought about it when Bicentennial was taking place and then the bicycling article about 50,000 a mile Freddy.
Edit: That's Freddie Hoffman I am referencing. |
i started by commuting, then i just stopped working or going home between rides...
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I'm not sure that what I do can be described as "touring," as my 2 or 3-day overnight trips don't hold a candle to the rides many of you take. However, I took my first bike "adventure" as an adult right after I left the music business and found my life very quiet and boring. I also wanted to create a good memory for a friend of mine who was (and still is) bound to be in a wheelchair in his later years, so I convinced him to come along. It was slow riding with this friend, but, overall, an unforgettable trip. After that, I was hooked and I've tried not to let a summer go by without at least one bike trip that lasts at least a couple of days. I only wish my wife was a better rider so I could take her along.
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As a kid I would roam all over north St. Louis county. In college, I rode for transportation. After college, I would ride from St. Louis county to St. Charles county and ride Hwy 94 back to my side of the river. I loved how time on the bicycle didn't seem like time passing at all.
Some friends and I did an overnight trip from Pere Marquette Park to Pittsfield, IL. I bought some cheap panniers for the trip, and continued to use them for years. Enter marriage and parenthood, and the bike went away for 20 years. Then when gas started getting expensive after Katrina, I decided to start riding my bike to work and along the KATY Trail, which is just a few miles away. Then I realized the KATY actually went somewhere, and I could visit my parents in St. Louis by bicycle. And then I realized I could visit my son in Chicago, and off I went. Not sure what next year's adventure will be, but it will take a week or so around the midwest. I hear Wisconsin is lovely. |
I got interested in touring back in the early 70s when a friend told me about his cycling trip across the US. Then, in the summer of 1976, while working on a survey crew in central Oregon, I saw hundreds of BikeCentennial riders passing by; I decided I'd have to do that some day.
Two summers later I bought a bike and started riding to/from work (32 miles round trip per day), plus longer rides on the weekends. The following year, during spring break at college, I decided I would ride to visit a friend who lived 130+ miles away. I had only been riding about 4 miles per day then (to and from school), but I was in pretty good shape from running (2:30 class marathoner). So I tied a pack to my bike rack and rode to my friend's house in one day. I was kind of sore when I got there and thought that I'd never ride that far in one day again, but then 3 days later I rode all the way back home again. A year later I graduated from college and took the summer off to ride from Oregon to Newfoundland and back to Vermont. Since then I've toured in several different countries and made quite a few weekend trips. Way too much work and a family put a stop to my tours, but I've continued to ride my bike over the years. Next July I'll be losing my job, so I plan on taking some time off to ride to Alaska (or at least that's the plan). |
Id say like the Hokey Pokey ,
put your right foot down, put your left foot down , put your right root down , and you turn it all around, that's what it's all about .. |
A whole lot of things happened from the end of 1996 leading into 1997. A relationship broke up, a business venture wasn't going so well, I had a heart attack at age around 42, my car died completely. I sold the car, used the money to buy a cheap hybrid bicycle, commuted to and from work and around the city where I lived, was told my contract would not be renewed, decided to return from Perth, Western Australia, to my home in Hobart, Tasmania.
Thought about the way to do that long and hard. Looked at my bike and decided to ride. Collected a few things together -- a cheap tent, a heavy but robust propane stove, a heavy-weight sleeping bag, some home-made panniers converted from souvenir backpacks, and a handlebar bag made from a cooler pack. And off I set., and had a great adventure. The trip was cut short in Adelaide because I was required at short notice for a job interview in Melbourne -- I didn't get the job. But I eventually got back to Tasmania, remained car-free for another 11+ years, toured a lot locally, took up randonneuring, toured a lot on mainland Australia and overseas, met a great woman who was into cycling as well, got married, toured some more, randonneed some more, commuted a lot more... and here I am today, still doing a bit of touring, not quite so car-free, and thinking about getting back into randonneuring and even more bicycle stuff... |
For me, there was ZERO inspiration. It was necessity. I lived 75 miles west of my high school friends. 50 east of my dad. 100 east of an important town. I was in college and every penny counted. Bicycling was cheaper than gasoline. I also had such bad vision that I expected to lose my driver's license, soon. I took up bicycling as an adult in college and had to cruise those distances to avoid paying for petrol.
Thus, I got started into touring. Not a choice. A necessity. Last month, my lovely wife and I rode that same 203 mile FtSmith to North Little Rock (Sherwood) as a vacation trip. That was by choice. I am so glad that now my cycling is a choice. I am so glad that I can STILL do it. And, guys/dolls, it is still my preferred choice over driving. |
Hitchhiking in California in 1978, I met a couple from British Columbia at a campsite who were cycling south along the coast to San Diego or Mexico or... This was my first real exposure to bike touring.
The following year while in San Diego, a friend took off on a cross country bike tour: north to British Columbia, east across Canada, and south-east to New York City. Shortly after, I hitchhiked home to Toronto. A month or two later, he called to say that he would arrive in Toronto shortly. We spent several days together in Toronto, and it was then the idea took serious root. I bought my first touring bike almost immediately, and began doing day-trips. Another nineteen years passed before I did my first multi-day trip: 18 days in Alsace and Burgundy in France. Since then, I have done many longish tours in southern Ontario, Quebec, Switzerland, and Italy. |
I've always liked cycling but never really got into it, mainly due to work and family obligations. Then in my late 40’s with my health going south I got laid off from my highly stressful but good paying job.
With so much time on my hands I started cycling again but found myself out of breath from many years of smoking. And that’s when I made up my mind that if I wanted to reach 50yo I needed to change. After I stopped smoking I began to ride longer and longer day trips until one day while on the internet I came across a book by Anne Mustoe, A Bike Ride, and that’s when the seed was planted. I figured if an (quote; old and overweight) school teacher whose never been on a bike before can cycle around the world alone I can surely cycle from my home in The Netherlands to my other home in Greece. After a few months I came across crazyguyonabike site and a whole new world opened up. So I gathered all the information I needed and got myself a proper bike and all the gear I needed and started training, until finally in 2005 I made my first tour from Maastricht to Athens alone. I was totally blown away by the experience, I was hooked for life, and when I told the story and showed the pictures to my wife we made plans to a tour together the following year from Maastricht to Barcelona. Now we’re both hooked. |
Saved money for a year, quit my job at the time, and decided to spend a couple months in some far-off woods for the sheer pleasure of it and the momentary release from real world obligations. The bike seemed like the most enjoyable conceivable mode of transportation for the job and for what I intended to bring with me. It was.
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Impulsively!
Bought a bike on GumTree, bought a ferry ticket to France (from the UK) the same day. Left the next morning. My kit was very basic. An old backpack, a tent, some bungees and a pannier rack. Still use the same! |
Originally Posted by acantor
(Post 15079543)
Hitchhiking in California in 1978, I met a couple from British Columbia at a campsite who were cycling south along the coast to San Diego or Mexico or... This was my first real exposure to bike touring.
The lasting impression was that they were out in the middle of nowhere, seemed fully self-sufficient, didn't seem in much of a hurry, and were dressed as outdoor people. |
Originally Posted by CycleClips
(Post 15080032)
Impulsively!
Bought a bike on GumTree, bought a ferry ticket to France (from the UK) the same day. Left the next morning. My kit was very basic. An old backpack, a tent, some bungees and a pannier rack. Still use the same! Do you have any pictures? |
I used to go running for exercise everyday. I did this for 7 or 8 years and the running started to get boring so I thought that I would start biking. I've always been more of a pack mule than a race horse. I can go for a long way but don't expect me to get there very fast. Cyclotouring just seemed to fit my style.
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Got sick of riding the bus in SEA.
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Got back into riding and touring because I had free time AND little money (after the photo processing industry faded away,) and I got a job as a security guard as well as a Raleigh from a parish rummage sale.
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Originally Posted by Tansy
(Post 12024145)
So, I did a search and couldn't find a copy of this thread, which seems odd, since it seems like a fun topic.
How'd you all start touring? With a friend, as a group, or did you only discover stuff like this site or crazyguyonabike existed after you'd been doing it a while? Did you basically have your act together, or did you run into a lot of problems? **** Me, I got the idea when my friend made a passing mention of her boyfriend's strange interest - he and some friends would bike long distances and stay at hotels. She didn't say much more, being annoyed at his fixation and constant attempts to recruit her to join him. I had just enough tact to refrain from telling her what a great idea I thought that was. At the time I didn't own a bike, but I ended up storing the same friends mountain bike in my shed over the winter. Come spring, on my way to her nearby house to return it, I found a bike path I had lived on most of my life but was unaware of, and followed it on a 20 mile ramble to a little town I never knew existed. It felt so strange to bike out of the suburbs I've lived in all my life, and I did it after not having biked more than a mile or two since I was in junior high. The only downside was having to turn around and take the same trail back home. After that I started to seriously plan some bike camping. I wasn't aware of all the resources available, or that the term 'bike touring' even existed or was so prevalent. I recall telling people about how sometimes people would bike to hotels, "But it would probably work with camping, too.". Two years later, I'm planning on a tour of the United States and (probably?)Canada with no end date. Crazy world. |
BTW - It is interesting to see how many of us were touched somehow and eventually inspired to tour by the famous 1976 Bikecentennial event! I wonder if the organizers had any idea how many of us would be inspired by their famous ride!
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Right on! That event really got me thinking, for the first time, about touring . Didn't do much about it until later , but it got me thinking. My Dad and I did cross town and did a little countryside touring , and I learned to ride on roads and in traffic.
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