italcyclist

I am writing to inquire about the monetary cost of long - distance bicycle touring. I am considering riding my vintage steel frame, 25 inch, Univega mountain bike from Texas to California or to upstate New York, and while I am realistic as to the cost of such a trip (occasional hotel stay, bicycle repairs, etc.) I am still unsure of the actual cost. I imagine the numbers can fluctuate greatly.
While at my local bicycle shop I met someone who told me that I should consider saving approximately $5 thousand for the trip. He placed a high monetary figure because of the possibility of a bicycle frame replacement in the event the frame breaks. Other considerations: new handbuilt wheels, decent camping equipment, etc.
I am a 59 years old bicycle commuter, and this a goal (dream) I've had ever since I was in college.
I look forward to your (pl.) information, and thank you.

10 Wheels

Best to do some practice week end touring.

You will learn much about everything involved with touring.

One can tour on any bike.

What you eat, how far you travel each day and how you spend each night make huge difference in $$$.

Fred Tipps average 26 miles a day on $60 bike, camping all the way from NM to FL 2200 miles.

https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h.../FredTipps.jpg

Ken did in style:

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?...c_id=4767&v=FI

I met Ken in Marfa Tx, in a $100 a night hotel.


https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...urOldFarta.jpg

He was carrying 80 lbs of gear.

https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...de/74miles.jpg

jputnam

The equipment suggestions sound excessive -- if something major goes wrong, you could get a brand new bike adequate for a cross-country tour for under $1,000. If you have a frame failure, you can probably find a similar vintage mountain bike for $100 or less and move across any parts that are better on your old bike than the new one. No need for custom-built wheels, just have a good shop tune and tension your factory wheels.

To my mind, the real variable is how much civilization you need along the way.

Riding solo from Seattle to Los Angeles, I spent most nights in a bivvy sack, often without even paying for a campsite. I doubt I spent $500 the whole way south, and most of that was for pie at diners ;-)

Riding around Ireland for a 1,500 miles or so, I spent many nights in hostels or B&Bs, ate in restaurants, and probably spent five times as much for a shorter ride.

italcyclist

Hello, JPutnam:
I received your message, and appreciate the insight. Regarding wheels I bought a set off of Amazon, and I was told the single wall wheel wouldn't hold up to long distance touring. I am also considering buying a trailer (I do have large rear Axiom panniers designed for long - distance touring), and if I decide not to go with a trailer the savings would come in handy.
Your response would be appreciated.
RD

lanahk

Can't speak to the cost of touring (but planning to replace a frame seems to be a little over-the-top), but I'd recommend staying away from single-walls. While I'm sure there are some decent ones out there, the ones I've seen don't do well under the weight-bearing of a large guy with a load of equipment. Beef up the wheels and put some good touring tires on.

LeeG

The likelyhood of a frame breaking is very low compared to accumulating excessive expenses from lack of preparation and experience. It's not possible to give an opinion about your wheels without specifics of the load they're carrying and the type/size of tires. The last place I'd want to go for lowest cost is the rear wheel.

fietsbob

Was pre 99. but I found my cycle trip expenses
in a camping and Hostel tour of Ireland and Scotland less than staying at home ,
since I stored my stuff, and so did not also have rent and utilities to keep up.

[included a frame repair in Killarney, Ireland ]

acantor

If you are not camping or cooking, it's easy to spend $100 a day on just the basics. It's not hard to spend more, and you probably will. For example, assume it's 5:00 p.m., and it's been a hot, tiring day. You pass a B+B for $85 a night. Should you check in, or continue on, as you originally planned, for two hours to a cheap motel that will cost $50? (Plus tax, plus breakfast). I know what I would do!

Costs add up quickly over 40 days, even without the need for emergency repairs. $5000 sounds reasonable to me as it gives a cushion.

If you plan to camp and prepare all your meals, count on $30 - $55 per day: $15 - $20 for camping, $10 - $25 for food and drink, and $5 - $10 for miscellaneous (tourist attractions, laundry, replacement parts, replacement clothes, tools, toiletries, medication, etc.) So in the extreme cheap case, that's $1200 for 40 days, but I would suggest budgeting $1000 or more, just in case.

italcyclist

I agree on good wheels, especially the rear wheel. Though the wheels I'll be using will be 26" wheels a good set of wheels is pretty much commonsense. Thank you for your input.

italcyclist

A Cantor:
I didn't realize that touring can be so reasonable when camping and cooking. I know I have to stay in a hotel/motel at least one day a week, but camping is the most appropriate, and affordable. Budgeting for $1000 sounds good to me.

staehpj1

Those numbers are a bit high to my way of thinking, but it might vary with the route and will obviously vary from rider to rider. The following is my perspective. Please don't assume that everyone would be happy on what I would spend, but it demonstrates what is possible. Also realize that I am not on the cheapest end of the scale some people do with a lot less than I do.

Edit: I misread, my bad. Changing food from $30-55 to $25. I still think that is high though, but not by as much.

Meals $25 per day if preparing your own seems really high. You must buy a lot more expensive stuff than I do and that the folks I have hung out with on tour do. That budget should be plenty to eat fairly nice restaurant meals every meal. I'd figure about 25% of that if not eating in restaurants at all and if fairly frugal.

Camping, $10 - $25 also seems high. With either of his (her?) proposed destinations the expenses can be pretty low. Free camping is pretty plentiful for much of either route. Where there isn't readily available free camping there are a lot of places that are $10 or less. From San Diego thru Texas on my last trip we had a lot of free places to camp, many of the RV parks charged cyclists only $10, and I don't recall ever paying as much as $25 there.

$5 - $10 for miscellaneous (tourist attractions, laundry, replacement parts, replacement clothes, tools, toiletries, medication, etc.)? I don't recall many (any?) tourist attractions that I was tempted to spend on on the Southern tier, so on a similar route that was $0 for me. It seems to me that replacement clothes, tools, toiletries, medication are likely to be either a very minimal or non existent expense. All of those were just what I took from home. Why would you need to replace clothes, tools, toiletries, or medication on a 40 day trip. Replacement parts I can see, but on a trip that length they are part of the cushion rather than part of the expected expenses since they may or may not occur.

I think the $1200 is far from the extreme case, but more like the planned case if no

staehpj1

No reason you "have to" stay in a motel at all. Splurge on them only if you want and the budget allows. Budgeting $1000 isn't unreasonable, but it would be smart to have more that that available just in case.

Cyclebum

You've waited a long time to do this. Spend as much as you need to make it the trip you've dreamed about. If that's a motel every night and restaurants for every meal, so be it.

I started my touring career thinking free camping and diy meals was the only way to bicycle tour. After a bit, that approach begin to get a little tedious. I began to loosen up. Now, at 71, my mood/needs on any particular day determines how much it's gonna cost. Might be $10, might be $150. Average is probably $40.

Be sure and subtract what you'd normally be spending daily at home for a more realistic prospective for the cost of a tour.

staehpj1

That is a good point that some may miss. I think that I have actually had negative daily expenses for some trips if I deduct my normal at home daily spending (especially if including gasoline for my long commute in the deduction).

BTW, I too have been more likely to splurge on a room or a nice meal here and there as I get older, even though I am 10 years younger than you.

pdlamb

+1

Motels and restaurants do add up, I'd say $150/day is a reasonable budget if that's the way you're going to travel. $20 is probably the low end, all food comes from grocery stores and you never pay to camp.

So take your pick, and as Cyclebum says, have fun!

mdilthey

Depends on how you plan to tour, though.

1 week's worth of granola = $14.00

1 Jar of Peanut Butter = $2.00

14 CLIF Bars = $14.00

7 Meals made from Ramen, Instant Potatoes, fresh fruit, fresh veggies, and pasta = 7$ per day

Water = Free at sinks

Total per day = Less than 10$

40 days = 400$

staehpj1

Yes definitely doable lots of folks have, but... Have you actually done a multi-month tour with those choices? They would get pretty tiresome for me after a couple weeks. In particular the cliff bars while my favorite energy bar, I do find that I get sick of a steady diet of them pretty fast.

Add in some tortillas, bagels, and some foil packed tuna and ditch the two cliff bars per day and I would be happier with that. Buy a bag salad once in a while and maybe a bottle of wine once a week or so and it would be even more tolerable without a huge cost hit.

On the other hand, it would be a shame to not eat some meals in restaurants and sample the local cuisine. I can't imagine riding across Texas without eating barbecued ribs a few times or crossing the gulf coast and not eating cajun food. The same goes for other specialties in other parts of the country/world.

pacificcyclist

Sleeping on an actual bed is different than sleeping on a Thermarest Prolite or a fluffy ExPED. Especially if you're older, you might not even like sleeping on a pad at all or your back or shoulders starts hurting the next morning. Touring is not about proofing to others you can do it with the minimalist amount of camping gear, lightest bikes or furthest distance. It's about enjoying yourself and fulfilling the dream. How much it takes to accomplish that depends among individuals. There is no right or wrong way! There are individuals that will only stay in Venetian in Las Vegas, but there are individuals who are willing to stay at lesser hotels and motels. It's you who calls the shot. No point in roughing it out and make the trip miserable if you don't enjoy it. I've met tourists who are miserable and love the pain and sufferings on the trip; eat peanut butter sandwich and clifbars everyday and cover 100 miles all in the name trying to prove to himself that he's or she's a better cycle tourists. Whereas, I've been there done that. In the end, you've got no medals and nothing to show for except maybe your experience. Enjoy the trip and provision enough. I would suggest first to try a short 1 to 2 nights camping trip and see if you like it. You also don't have to stay in hotels or motels. There are hostels you can stay for less and not much more than camping fees and you can meet a diverse kind of people too. You don't meet much people if you free camp at the side of the road or behind a rest stop somewhere. Be flexible when you tour and have fun.

alan s 

Bike touring is like any vacation - I want to enjoy the experience as much as possible. Camping out is often great, but if it is going to rain all night, and there is a reasonable indoor accommodation, I'll take it. If there is good restaurant food available, again, I'll go there instead of eating granola bars and ramen noodles. Spending as little as possible for its own sake is not enjoyable, at least for me. However, if you have a very limited budget, then being frugal may be a necessity to do the trip.

tarwheel 

Lodging and food would be your largest expenses, depending on your budget and desires. It's hard finding hotels with rates less than $60/night nowadays and you can easily spend $100 or more. Camping out at state parks runs about $20/night around here and private campgrounds usually cost more. Eating out at fast food joints would cost at least $20/day and you easily double those costs eating at nicer restaurants (and by nicer, I mean local diners and cafes). Cooking your own food should save money, but then you have to carry food, cook set, utensils, etc. Personally, I wouldn't enjoy surviving off peanut butter, Clif bars and ramen noodles day after day.

contango 

I've done a couple of shorter tours in the UK, working on the basis of keeping costs down but without going to the point of missing out on basic home comforts. If you book in advance there are places here where you can get a room for £20-30 for the night (maybe cheaper still if you're lucky). Then lunch and dinner at cafes or diners etc can come in around £20/day (maybe a little less if you're in a cheaper area and choose the more frugal options), and a supply of things like chocolate and jelly beans for extra calories if you need them can be really cheap. So over here you can probably get by on £50/day without missing out on basic comforts like a hot shower after a day's ride and hot meals, but also without going crazy, as long as you've booked ahead. If you didn't book ahead the food will be much the same but the room could easily be more like £40-50/night for somewhere basic. If you catch the cheap hotel chains during the time of a major event it will go higher still. If you wanted to camp and cook your own meals you can obviously bring it down, it's just a question of where you want to strike the balance between saving money and having a hot meal and hot shower to look forward to at the end of the day. Regarding total cost, once you've figured out a daily budget with a bit of slack in case you get to a point where you just want a proper room for the night and don't care what it costs, multiply it by the expected number of days. Then take some spare parts, figure a bailout plan in case anything major breaks, and put that in. Your bailout plan will obviously depend on things like where you are going, how near you are to civilisation, how competent you are at fixing and botching to get going again etc. If you're doing a ride that pretty much follows a railway line your bailout plan might be little more than walking to the nearest station and taking the train home. If you're doing a ride miles away from anywhere through the desert in June you'll need to put a lot more thought into water supplies etc. (£1 = approx $1.60)

contango 

... and the wonderful editor lost all my paragraph breaks. Sorry about the wall of text ...

miles.lowry

Just remember that from here (Texas) it's up hill the whole way

staehpj1

Easy enough to click "Edit Post" and put them back in, no?

Newspaperguy

Those figures are useful as they will allow for a bit of a cushion.

I've sometimes done wild camping and saved a bit of money, but there are other times, in tourist destinations, when a camp spot will run past $35 a night. Also, at some of the smaller towns, food selection at the local store may be limited and prices may be high. But then there are times when there's a farmers' market or a produce stand at the end of the day. So it all balances out.

I seldom have the miscellaneous expenses, so if there's a time when I want a room instead of a camp site, it's not going to be a big hit. In smaller towns in Canada, it's easily possible to get a room for $50 to $75 before taxes. In bigger centres, tourist areas and in the Arctic, prices will be a lot higher.