anto I sent you an email

"I go camping, and carry everything on my bike."

That's It!!! Use that.

well met george tonight really nice guy salt of the earth ,we are going camping thursday hopefully the weather will hold out .

This is like listening to someones mobile phone conversation.

Irritating.

Hint: Click on sig. and send private message.

eh ok then message understood.

Hi c3hamby have you anything better than "I go camping, and carry everything on my bike."
camping gear
george

This thread reminds of a bit by Dennis Leary: "Do we need a two-and-a-half hour movie about the Doors? No, we don't. I can sum it up for you in five seconds, OK. I'm drunk. I'm nobody. I'm drunk. I'm famous. I'm drunk. I'm f%$#ing dead. There's the whole movie, OK?"

you didn'y actually sit through that movie did you.

No. Do you see my point? Sounds like someone in need of some attention.

Quite . I drive a 'bus all day, and people get on the 'bus on the telephone, and get off the 'bus on the telephone, and quit talking to those next to them .

That wasn't me. I was quoting somene earlier in the thread. But if you have something better, please share.

I'm not sure that the problem is other people not understanding what you are doing. I have talked to people while I was on my bike in the middle of a tour and people didn't understand what I was doing. It's not that they didn't understand that I was going camping cross country and carrying everything on my bike. They got that part. The part they didn't understand was WHY. I was talking with a truck driver in the middle of an interstate who thought I was homeless, and didn't believe me when I told him I had a house and a job. He thought if that were true I would have a car following me.

If they truly can't comprehend what you are saying, then either work with a speech therapist or get new friends that have better comprehension of your language....

I think the problem described here is that people in general have very little exposure to the situation of bicycle touring . They fail to comprehend the reason for the act, not the description of it . New friends or a speech therapist probably won't help that . A little publicity in the local media probably will .

I agree with you. Most of my tours would be classified as 'self supported tours' because they were done without support vehicle or group assisting me along the way. On some of my longer adventures, including one planned this year, the ride would be best described as 'fully loaded bike tour' in that I have to carry all supplies and gear necessary because there are no facilities of any kind available for many days at a time.

I know that the touring I have time for now is just a weekend trip, on those I don't buy anything on the road, I carry all that I will need on the bike. But to travel across the USA when I retire, I know that isn't going to be possible. I have to go to stores to replenish food drink supplies, maybe get a something for the bike, sleep in hotels on occasion only because I may want to relax and get a nice hot shower, etc. I'm not sure if anyone has ever traveled across country without having to stop at a store to replenish at least food and drink. I'm not even close to being an expert of living off of whatever nature grows, can't carry a gun to hunt game with, so it's to the store for food. I do have a small emergency water purification (not just a filter) pump I could draw water with from any source if I needed water badly, but food is a different story. I do plan on reading material about getting food from nature, but I don't want to have to scrounge for food while riding a bike across America. Of course one could always dumpster dive...no thanks! not my style of cuisine.

Not intending to mislead anyone....I'm not suggesting that I carry absolutely everything needed from the start to the finish of some of my lengthy tours, but I do carry enough to make it from one supply depot to another, which can be several days apart. When traveling through most of British Columbia, The Yukon, and Alaska, good, pure water is easy to get, but should be purified or boiled for several minutes if it has passed through swamps or muskeg (anywhere it's likely to have beavers etc.) Riding through southern Canada, or most of the popular cycling routes in the States can be done with the expectation of daily or semi-daily facilities available.

Yep I think thats what I will call my tours 'self supported tours' why didn't I think of that gee lads thanks
george

Fully loaded is riding with, tent, pad, sleeping bag and cooking gear, but I wouldn't be considered "fully loaded" by this website

http://www.pbase.com/canyonlands/fullyloaded

as I travel with a saddlebag and handlebar bag rather than 4x panniers. You can be fully loaded with 50lbs of gear or 15lbs of gear, it's what you carry not the weight.

http://wheelsofchance.org/2009/08/19/touring-taxonomy/

I was doing a thread search for the definition of "self-contained" touring. If I couldn't find one already posted I was going to start a thread myself to ask for the definition. After reading all of the "agreement" on the definitions in this thread of what such terms mean I'm glad I looked before leaping. I'll bet if I keep looking for more threads on the subject there is even more "agreement" about it on this forum.

FWIW, the responses relate to various degrees of loaded bicycle touring. When self contained is used to describe a type of camping activity, it includes bringing toilet facilities and not discharging anything into the environment (sewage, grey water etc).

Guess I found a use for that 4th pannier .

I hope its waterproof.

Oh I get it. "Fully loaded" is what you are before you need to use the toilet facilities you've brought along.

I thought you just held off on going for a month or two? Maybe we could simply recycle it thus not need to carry so much food along: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD9Ua7FuzyA

BikePacking. Piggybacks on Backpacking which is generally understood to be an activity where one carries one's kit. Your overnighter, is an overnighter, but you could call it something like Ultralite BikePacking.