campylover

I was stationed in West Germany and in 1982 I did a 3 day tour from Nurenberg to Bamburg and back. Road to my 1st duty station in Illishiem, then to Bamburg and back to Nurenberg. My bike was a Miyata Grand Touring(1000) with Cannondale panniers. Had a great time. Still have the frame! 126mm spacing,5 speed freewheel. What a bike.

Simon Cowbell

The backroads of Big Sur in "85. We met some guys from Marin at the North end and we rode gravel South for two days. One of the guys had a new Jeep CJ and at the last minute decided to sag with it instead of riding. There wasn't enough room for everybody's gear, but there was room for beer. I was riding my 2nd forest green Fisher Montare. We slept in a Megamid and cooked on a Whisperlite. I used my Lone Peaks on a lowrider with my bedroll on the back rack, which was, and still is, my preferred setup for mtn bike touring. Someone's rear pannier came off on a rugged downhill. I remember it rolling past me like a runaway wheel before vanishing over a cliff. Good times.

zoltani

My first overnight was actually to a hostel. I went from San Francisco to the hostel at Point Reyes. It was a nice trip, and was the spark that ignited my love of touring.

staehpj1

Never done an overnight tour. I think the shortest was 10 days, but my first tour was a Trans America in 2007 with my daughter and one of her college room mates. They invited me along on their after graduation tour. Good times!

Bekologist

Wilderness solo three day tour, 1985, on a early Miyata (?) cheap as all get out mountain bike, upper peninsula tour across the yellow dog plains to L'anse Michigan and return on two lane state highways. I mail ordered the most basic set of panniers from Campmor, strapped my camping gear to the bike, and set off into the woods.

Riding in running shorts and jogging shoes (pre-SPD!), i encountered torrential rainstorms, water sluicing down the road, having a pannier jump the rack on a heinous downhill.....truly an epic first tour.

Later that year, in the autumn, me and a buddy rode mostly backroads and logging roads Marquette to Copper Harbor and it was sublime.

LeeG

'70. San Pedro to Costa Mesa on a 1967 Schwinn Collegiate 5spd. After that in '73 riding up the coast of Ca. on a '71 Nishiki Olympic. For some reason my memories say it was an International but it couldn't have been after looking at the stats.

aroundoz

1983-A loop starting in Seattle, to Vancouver Island, a couple of the San Juans, Whidbey Island and back to Seattle. I was riding a Fuji S12S and both my friend and I were carrying all of our gear in full size external frame backpacks. We must have looked ridiculous but unfortunately, or fortunately, no photos. Our butts were hurting so much from the weight of the packs that we ended up mailing the backpacks home. That's what started it all for me. I look back and realize I have turned into way too much of a gear head. Sometimes going into something new and not having a clue is a recipe for an excellent time and some of your best memories. Not saying I would ever carry a full size backpack again.

Aushiker

G'day

Waterous Trail in 2007. Used a entry level Giant Boulder SE mountain bike





Andrew

BigBlueToe

I don't remember, but it was in the mid-70's, and it was somewhere in the Bellingham, Washington area - Whidbey Island, Lopez Island, southern British Collumbia. I remember all the trips. They were wonderful and I was hooked on bike touring for life. I just don't remember which trip was the first.

Machka 

Ummm ...

Well, I've been doing hub-and-spoke tours since I was a child. My family travelled with bicycles. We'd stop somewhere for a few days and cycle out in different directions from there to see the area. I've been doing that ever since ... in fact, Rowan and I did another hub-and-spoke tour last weekend.

As for point-to-point tours ...

In 1990, my father and I rode 50 miles to a neighbouring town. My mother and my first-husband met us there ... my mother drove my father home, and my first-husband and I camped overnight. The plan was that I would cycle home and he would drive, but a huge wind storm blew in overnight, and so I took the lift home. So that was almost an overnight tour ... it had a cycling component and an overnight component.

In 1995, I cycled from Jasper to Banff over 4 days (3 days of cycling). I was supported by my first-husband ... he drove a van and leap-frogged me the whole way.

Then I think it was 1997 when I did an overnight MS150 tour.

That was just the beginning!

RB1-luvr

my first was in 1985 on a 1980 Peugeot (more racing geometry than touring) 12speed that I managed to fit fenders and racks on so I could ride from Central Connecticut up to Canada around Lake Champlain. It rained 5 of the 7 days were gone. It was still fun though.

indyfabz

I assume you mean the first time you took a bike tour that was more than one day.

Mine was Seattle, WA to Bar Harbor, ME to Philadelphia, PA to Ocean City, NJ

The week before I caught a train to Seattle I took a 62 mile day ride to familiarize myself with riding a loaded bike. During the ride, some kid went into the grass, lost control of his car, hit a telephone pole and flipped about 50' behind me. Had I been a little slower, that might have been the end of me.

The night after the first day of riding was the first time I ever slept in a tent. I was with a group of 13 people. I learned quickly that a tent provides no protection from loud snorers. When nature called in the middle of the night I also learned that raccoons can be real pests.

QueueCT

1981, panhandle of Florida for a week. As a fantastic carryover from the 70s my high school offered a week in March/April where regular classes were suspended and the students could take an intensive version of a class that wasn't offered in the regular curriculum. Usually poetry, weather science, etc. In addition, some trips were offered and one was a "bike camping" trip. We had meetings at night on what equipment we needed, how to set up camp, proper riding form and cadence on rollers (since there was snow on the ground), etc.

About 25 students went on the trip and we went from Tallahassee through Panama City to Pensacola and back averaging 50 miles per day. I even experienced my first right hook, going over the hood of the car. Fortunately, just a scraped back and shoulder. Anyone who says FL is flat should ride the northern panhandle where you go up and down the same 200 foot hill all day. I still use the Cannondale panniers that I bought for the trip and it was a great introduction leading to many tours down the road.

Booger1

L.A - Santa Barbara - L.A.,1974....4 years later I bought the bike I still ride.

Doug64

1974-- A loop from The Umpqua Valley in Oregon, up the Oregon Coast and back home. I couldn't figure out why all the other cyclists were heading south-duh!

Oops! I forgot about the Trout Lake, WA; Maupin, OR; over Mt Hood to Portland, OR.
Stayed at the old Maupin Hotel. It was my first and last 2-day CC tour. It was March, no planning, no motels, no brains, and snow over Mt Hood. Same bike, but earlier in the year. Fortunately, I was a lot younger and in good shape. Unfortunately, I did not get any smarter, because I'm still at it.

Peugeot PX10 with 52/45 chainrings, and a 5-speed 14-28 rear cluster.

Scottrod

1982 - Joplin, Missouri to Anderson Missouri ( My aunts house 72 miles south ) Took off SW, skirted the east shore of Grand Lake of The Cherokees, and then east into Anderson. 72 miles, three states ! Missouri -> Kansas -> Oklahoma -> back into Missouri. Spent a couple of days there with my aunt and her granddaughter. Middle of summer and hotter than blazes but I was either too stupid, too young or having too much fun to notice! Rode my Ross 10 speed with some eastland saddlebags and a Kirtland Tour Pack handlebar bag.

skilsaw

1969. Victoria, BC Age 15. Unsupported. A buddy and I cycled 10 miles to the nearest provincial park. Camped overnight then rode home the next day. I was riding my first 10 speed. An Apollo. Can't remember the model. A great sense of accomplishment.

escii_35

Dad and I flew into Heathow (pan am), put the bikes together and rode up the Thames camping at one of the locks.

First night solo camping was at Potholes State Park, day three of my first cross country trip. Zero training ok bike and junky camping gear. Memories....

yifeng vivi

haven't the experience of overnight, it must be a nice and cool tour.

Machka 

You've never toured?

staehpj1

I am not sure what the OP meant, but to me "overnight" implies only one night, so probably quite a few tourists have never done an overnight tour by that interpretation. I know that I haven't.

Machka 

Based on what the OP said, I would presume that he meant multi-day tours rather than single-day tours. If you read his first post, he says, "I did a 3 day tour from Nurenberg to Bamburg and back".

campylover

Sorry, not just 1 overnight but when you did more than one day tour...

10 Wheels

My First tour.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...League-City-TX

BigBlueToe

Hm, I interpreted it as the first time you rode a bike somewhere and stayed overnight there - could be a one night tour, or the start of a long tour.

Whatever. Cheers!