Papa Tom

My "tours" are typically only 2-3 days long and have never incorporated camping or defecating in the woods. Still, I love to get away with nothing but my bike, a change of clothes, and a credit card. Have I earned the right to post and respond here, or would you all rather I just go away?

MassiveD

I don't know about earned, but you probably aren't alone in your preferences.

Papa Tom

>>>I don't know about earned, but you probably aren't alone in your preferences<<<<

So is there a forum more suited to a "weekend warrior" like myself?

I really enjoy reading the posts here, but often when I post something myself, I regret it later and wonder if I have any business commenting about ANYTHING here.

MassiveD

Touring includes the stuff you do, so this is the place. A lot of the posts here have to do with some form of loaded touring, but that is just the nature of a lot of geography. There are large sections of the US and Canada without the infrastructure you find in say Europe. And a lot of people get taken with the idea of crossing coast to cost, no mater whether they would buy the individual weeks of such a trip, given that many are pretty dreary.

A lot of posts have some gear orientation, and there is a lot more gear involved in loaded touring...

wahoonc

Touring is a state of mind, more than anything else. I get lost on the way to the grocery store sometimes, ends up as a short, day long tour.

Aaron

fietsbob

Touring is an adverb..

have you visited the ultralight evangelical tent show?

staehpj1 

All kinds of tourists here, we as a group run the gamut of touring styles. There are probably quite a few who have similar interest to your interests. I see no reason you shouldn't fit in fine.

Papa Tom

Shucks...OoooooKay, then. Iiiiii'll stay!

Anyway, someone brought to my attention that the link to my website in my sig was generating a "serious threat" alert. I see now that it has been removed. My apology if this has caused anybody any stress ('STILL want me around? I will look into this and get back with any news.

Yumadons

Oh, Papa Tom, you've become hooked just like everybody else :-)

Gravity Aided

Credit Card touring seems like a fine option . Just one of the many dimensions of this fine way of getting around.

tarwheel 

Although there are a lot of hard-core, loaded expedition-style tourers on this forum, there are others who mostly ride shorter distance and/or supported tours. For me, touring is traveling or getting away from it all on a bike. It doesn't have to be an expedition loaded down with panniers. I ride at least one-supported tour every year as well as several weekend trips. My bike isn't loaded down with gear but I am traveling, enjoying the scenery and visiting new places. I have taken only one trip so far with loaded panniers, although I do plan to ride some more. However, I have been riding supported and weekend tours with light loads for many years and consider that touring every bit as much as the loaded style. I have ridden multiple day trips in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina -- and it's a great way to travel and see new places, regardless of whether you are riding supported or loaded with gear.

cyccommute 

Quite frankly, if we humans did what bears did in the woods, the woods wouldn't be any place you would want to go. I try to avoid doing number 2 in the woods so that my forest remain Number 1

alan s 

The only folks who will secretly resent you are the ultralight types, because you are touring even lighter than they are. If it makes you feel better, carry a lot of extra gear on your next overnighter.

Machka 

Have you seen the Short Tours thread ... it's for cycletourists like you (and anyone else who does short tours).

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ur-Short-Tours


Just remember that your style of touring is a different from those who ride with a bicycle full of panniers, and who tend to camp more often than staying in hotels, and who tour for weeks or months at a time.

-- Riding with loaded panniers feels different than riding with just a trunk bag ... different handling, harder to get up hills, slower speeds.

-- Camping can be less comfortable than staying in hotels, especially in bad weather, but may allow for more freedom. With a hotel tour, you've got to ensure that there will be hotels available after a reasonable riding distance. When you carry camping gear, you may have a few more options.

-- And touring for just a few days isn't so much of a commitment. It doesn't take you away from your home, family, friends, etc. for extended periods of time. You don't have to make a whole bunch of additional arrangements for things like ... your mail, flights, medical issues, travel documents, etc. etc. You also don't have to deal with things like finding a bicycle shop so you can do some maintenance work after several weeks or months on the road, or constantly, day-after-day-after-day hunting for the basic necessities in life ... a toilet, food, a place to sleep that night.


I enjoy doing all sorts of different styles of touring, but I look very fondly on a 5-day credit-card tour Rowan and I did of Vancouver Island (and a little bit of lower mainland BC) in August 2011. That was really quite pleasant, relaxed, and enjoyable. And we got to spend time with family and friends along the way.

Lightingguy

Here's the Wiki description:

Bicycle touring is cycling over long distances – prioritizing pleasure and endurance over utility or speed. Touring can range from single day rides to multi-day trips. Tours may be planned and organised by the participant/s for themselves or organised for a group by a professional holiday business, a club or, as a fund-raising venture, a charity.

Seems like you fit right in.

Papa Tom

As you know from being a fellow NYer/Islander, LightingGuy, sometimes ya just need to get out of Kansas in order to enjoy a really outstanding ride. Since it's virtually impossible to get a hotel room anywhere on the East End of LI from April to November, I always find myself heading up to Connecticut or Rhode Island for overnights. Usually, these trips are 50 miles or less, but for my aging body, that's getting to be just enough for a day.

My concern was whether I'm wasting people's time here offering opinions about water bottles and panniers when most of the members, it seems, cover as much pavement in an hour as I do in a day.

hartphoto 

Quit worrying about whether you'll 'fit in'.....life's too short.

Post about what you want to post about (and have some knowledge in possibly), and everything's fine.

I've gotten hooked on reading the 'Touring' section every day as I've been 'born again' with cycling. Took a cycling hiatus since our kids were born, but now they are into cycling (and we now have 9 bikes in the garage, 3 of which are tandems).

I literally car camp with my job 2-3 weekends a month, 2-3 days at a time (self employed photographer....my only source of income now for 12 years). So, combining the reborn again hobby of cycling and camping is very appealing (and maybe I'll bring a camera ), and I'm learning all kinds of things, as well as living vicariously through others' postings and knowledge.

Bought a BoB trailer off of CL over the summer. Since my photography season is coming to a 'less hectic' schedule of only 2-3 weekends a month for October to March, I can't wait to start trying some of the new gear and what everyone's already here is having fun doing....

nun

CC is the ultimate in ultralight

seriously the only rules should be to enjoy yourself and to use your bike to travel at least part of your journey

Machka 

Have you used a variety of waterbottles and panniers? Have you done several trips with them? Do you have things you like and dislike about them?

For example, I can talk about the Axiom Lasalle panniers in quite a bit of depth, especially about how good they are, because I've used them for weeks or months in a row on tours. But I can't really talk about Ortliebs (other than that I don't particularly like the look of them) because I've never used them.

If you're familiar with a product, you can offer an opinion on it.

Machka 

For those who enjoy "day tours", I post a "weekend rides" thread in the Road forum each weekend. Here is the one for this weekend now ...

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...eptember-7-8-9


Stories about events, casual recreational rides, mini-tours, races, randonneuring, rides with friends, solo rides, or whatever you happen to do on a weekend are welcome.

LynxTheWizard

Yeah, like someone said before - touring is a state of mind. I do self supported tours now and then...to grocery store and back.

Gravity Aided

Sounds to me like you're covering multiple states in your tours . Impressive . Sometimes I cover a lot of miles and never leave the state. East Coast Touring has its own set of challenges .

DCwom

We like camping & riding, but have no intention of mixing the two, we're 100% CC tourers, after a day of riding I want a bed in air conditioned comfort. As for camping, there's nothing like having the luxury of a car when the weather turns to crap and you find a nice dry restaurant to eat. I've found many useful tips and info for CC touring on this forum and, hopefully, I've contributed so as well.