Tansy

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.

imi

I lived on the road, hitch-hiking '78-'84. Around the middle of the 80's hitch hiking got harder, less people would stop... At that time I semi-settled down in sweden and for my first tour I just strapped my little rucksack, sleeping bag and guitar onto a Monark 5-speed (positron) bike and rode from sweden to spain one summer - barefoot all the way on platform pedals.

I have no memory of being "inspired" by having seen other bike tourists or anything, it just seemed like a logical way to continue travelling...

Compared to what I know now about bicycles, touring gear etc, I hadn't a clue - but made it just fine After that it was a gradual learning process, until discovering BF, which has taught me tons of stuff (and caused me to buy lots of expensive gear) hihi, thanks guys!

Being prepared is great, but all problems can be sorted out along the way

Gotte

I was always into bikes as a kid, building them, breaking them up, building them again. I loved bikes. I also loved Lord of the rings. I loved the whole notion of being out on the road, on a quest, self sufficient. It was such a romantic thing. A bit like a dream of joining the circus. I did't actually tour in any great way, when younger, just a few weeks here and there, cycling and camping, but when I got older, and had more money, and started getting that feeling that I was getting fat and lazy, and hadn't done enough, I got back into it.
Admittedly, I don't tour like a lot of the people on here. I get a week here, ten days there (kids), but it keeps me sane, and the planning is just as fun.

staehpj1

I was interested in doing a long bike tour after high school, but it never got past the dreaming stage. Then in 1976 I wanted to do Bikecentennial. I was really captivated by the idea, but again couldn't make it happen. Thirty years later I finally decided it was time to make up for missing past opportunities to tour. I started to plan a Pacific coast tour in 2007, but an opportunity to do the Trans America with my daughter and one of her college room mates popped up and it was a no-brainer that I had to make it happen. I've been hooked since then.

Tansy

So.... I'm not the only one who has, while biking, ever imagined myself on a galloping horse while humming an epic tune? Rock on!

Thulsadoom

I spent a lot years traveling and camping on motorcycles. So I always enjoyed traveling in a somewhat "basic" manner, IE: outside of the vehicle. So when I got into bicycling it seemed like a natural thing to at least start thinking about.

Then I got a drunk driving ticket and lost my license for 3 months. It seemed like a good idea to take to the bike in order to avoid the temptation of driving without a license. So off I went on my first bicycle tour. Now I'm hooked.

Probably not the best reason to start touring, but that's the way it is. I think I probably would've gotten into bicycle touring anyways, had the circumstances been different.

mev

As a kid I grew up in Colorado and did a fair amount of backpacking, hiking and camping. However, no bike touring. Graduated from high school in Colorado before going to University in urban Boston. As a college student, I didn't have a car but had a bicycle. This was good way to get around and even escape the urban environment. Relatively speaking New England is smaller with states closer together.

My first mini-tour was a two day ride I organized for friends from Boston to tip of Cape Cod where we took the ferry back. My brakes didn't always work, but I could stop myself by dragging my feet. Ten miles into the ride, the route went through local park on path. It went over low hill and around a bend. I didn't make the bend and rode off the path. My bike stopped and I went over the handlebars landing on flat of my back. Mostly ok, except for sharp rock in right side. It hurt. Reasonable thing to do would have been to turn back, but I was the leader. I was also young, male and invincible - so we stopped at pharmacy to get large bandage and tape things up. It hurt a lot later that day as I sweated into the wound and that night camping on a church lawn as the dressing was changed. However, I made it to the tip of the Cape, took the ferry back and felt triumphant cycling back through Boston after ferry ride back to the city.

Touring increased a lot more the following summer when I took an internship in suburban Marlboro. Shortest route was 26 miles from home to work. There was a van pool, but I only took that on average one day a week. Approximately three days a week, I'd cycle round trip distance of 52-60 miles. One day a week, I'd camp out in the Marlboro area - either sleeping in my cube or in nearby woods. Sometimes I'd ride out one morning, sleep overnight and ride back at end of next day. Also some weekends, rather than cycling home, I'd keep riding further outbound and exploring central or western MA.

By the time I graduated, I'd done a fair amount of touring and exploring New England by bicycle. That was a while ago and have continued cycle touring since - though more willing (and able) to spend night in motel rather than in ditch beside the road.

Erick L

The bug hit when I was a little kid and my family traveled across Canada by car. We passed people on bicycles and wanted to cross the country on a bike. I also wanted to travel by motorcycle or Econoline-type van. I grew up, went through high school and college. Started doing more and more backpacking, hitch-hiked across Canada several times and finally got a real job and the first thing I bought was a touring bike. I don't plan on going across Canada though. I've done it enough by pther means.

Juha

I first started commuting. That was the eye-opener for me: I can do this and longer rides too, and I can take all the stuff I need with me. The first tour was an unsupported solo camping tour. I had no real itinerary except a general idea of where I wanted to spend some time. It evolved into a one week, maybe 500-600km tour.

Looking back, I was woefully unprepared in so many ways. I did have the strength as I'd been commuting for a while already. But my panniers were low quality, small and attached to the rack via a myriad of hard to reach velcro straps. I had too much clothes with me, and the wrong kind. I borrowed the stove from a friend. I had almost no tools or spare parts with me, but that was OK, because I barely knew how to fix a flat. My bike was decent, but not in any way touring specific.

And I enjoyed it all immensely. I even enjoyed the fact that my feelings might change from sheer joy to utter misery and back again, all in a matter of couple of hours. (I didn't realise the importance of eating and drinking before one is actually hungry or thirsty, but I learned that quickly.)

I look back to that trip often, just to remind myself it does not really matter which Ortlieb or GPS or tent or whatever junk I "need" for the next trip. All that matters is just to start moving.

--J

Cyclebum

All good stories.

I didn't start touring until i was 64. My kids wanted me to go to Colorado elk hunting with them. Due to a foot problem, my running days to get in shape were over. What to do? Maybe cycle? So, I borrowed a mtb and started pedaling. Like to have died first time I climbed the hill near my home. But, after a few weeks, I'd lost a little weight, was up for 10 mile rides without too much pain, and was beginning to really enjoy cycling.

Somehow, I happened upon the CG site, one thing led to another, and here I am planning my next tour. Been a life saver for me, and has led to so many experiences and friends that never would have been had cycling not entered my life. I tell everybody "Don't ever say you won't tour x-country on a bicycle. You never know what strange turns life will take."

Carbonfiberboy 

I did a lot of cycling as a kid in Alaska, back in the day when parents (mine anyway) would let their kid disappear on a bike for the day. Moose have the right of way. Then I biked in college and had fantasies of biking across the US to get home, but never did. Then I didn't ride until I was 50 and stumbled on the way to the mailbox one day. I thought, "Enough of that!" and bought a cheap used road bike. In a few years I was riding STP and RAMROD on a new bike.

I learned to speak Czech in the army, but never went there. My wife and I had for years fantasized about a drinking, cycling tour of Czechoslovakia, but we knew it was just a fantasy. Then we bought a tandem and all of a sudden it wasn't a fantasy anymore. Czechoslovakia is gone, so the Czech Republic will have to do. We took our first shakedown tour when I was 65 and she 61. We loved it and look forward to many more.

We are especially looking forward to drinking a different Czech beer every evening! And then riding the next day to work it off. BF was invaluable for planning and inspiration.

EKW in DC

To be completely honest, I have yet to tour, but I will be doing some this spring. Looking back, the idea of doing anything like it first hit me when I was in high school. My dad and I were at a beach near the VA-NC border. I learned there was a NC state park at the border, but it could not be accessed by private car -- only by foot, horse, or bike. Living in the area, I thought it would be fun to ride from thre beach we were at along the trail to the state park with a small tent, a change of clothes, and some canned food in a backpack. I never did take that trip, but I know now that what I had in mind, though poorly conceived at the time in terms of logistics, was bike touring.

My family did a lot of car camping when I was a kid. Even when my mom stopped wanting to go as much, my dad and I would still do a long weekend or a week camping trip somewhere every summer through the end of high school. I still love to go car camping with my wife once or twice a summer for a long weekend up in Shenandoah or somewhere local-ish in the Appalachians.

In the last few years I've fallen back in love with cycling and been learning a lot about bikes. I've been a 5 day a week commuter for a couple years now. Finally, I put two and two together and realized - I love camping and I love cycling, so I should try touring! I started following the threads in the Touring forum here more closely to gather information and started reading CGOAB journals as well. I was going to go on my first trip this past summer, but there was a death in the family right before the weekend I had planned for my first overnighter, so all that got put on hold.

I'm building up a Surly LHT frame in the next few months for use as a commuter and tourer. I plan on finally getting out there for an overnighter/long weekend bike trip or two this spring and some longer trips down the road once I manage to save up for some more equipment (stove, sleeping pad, better sleeping bag, better tent, another set of panniers). I can't wait to get out and do some touring!

indyfabz

I was a snobby roadie who thought anyone who would ride a bike with all that stuff strapped to it was a freak. I also saw it as an excuse to go slow instead of hammer.

In '97 it became clear that I was going to be downsized in a couple of years. I had done a few supported tours and loved the idea of riding across the country. However, I didn't want to do it at a torid pace. I also figured that if I were going to ride out west, which would be a new experience for me, I might as well get closer to nature and camp. Cost was also a factor. Since I had zero touring experience and even less camping experience, I signed on with Adventure Cycling's Northern Tier tour for '99. (I was not confident enough for the TransAm and did not want to go east to west since I wanted to ride home to my doorstep in Philadelphia.)

Prior to heading to Seattle for the start of the tour, I rode the T-700 bought for the trip a grand total of one time fully loaded with everything I planed to take. Prior to that, I took a few flat rides with telephone books in the panniers. I was surprised how not lame it was to ride with all that stuff strapped to a bike. I also realized that you don't always go slowly. My camping experience consisted of test-pitching my tent in my mom's living room a week or two before the trip, and I was very curious about how you could carry enough of a kitchen to cook for fourteen people.

I was hooked after the first day of riding. Before the trip someone from my local club asked me why I was paying someone to ride my bike across the country. I explained to him that it was worth it to me from the perspective of gaining experience. I learned some valuable things from people on the trip about camp cooking, where not to pitch your tent, etc. When we finished the trip in Bar Harbor, I had the skills and confidence to ride solo down to Philadelphia. As I had planned, I wheeled my bike up the front lawn of my mom's house (I had given up the apartment before the trip) after completing the journey entirely under my own power. I dug through one of my panniers to find the key I had burried deep inside nearly four months prior, opened the door and said "Hello. I'm home."

Now, I much prefer going self-contained than being one of those freaks who has someone carry their gear for them in a truck, although I sometimes still become that person.

MichaelW

I always used to ride a bike for transportation.
On a holiday in Ireland (travelling by bus and rail) someone at Bantry Bay hostel suggested cycling the Beara peninsular. I went down to the bike shop and hired a Raleigh Pioneer hybrid.
I packed a 25l daypac, strapped it to the rack. I left all my other gear at the hostel and we set off. I think there were 4 of us. We met more people riding around at the various hostels.
It was one of the best holidays I ever had.

I didnt have a special cycling kit but did have reasonable outdoor/hiking stuff. I debated whether to use trainers or boots and went for boots.
Ive been on other kinds of tour since, several hostel tours, fully supported, camping lightweight and camping wild. I still like hostel touring best.

scozim 

I'm another who hasn't toured yet - but am fully ready to. I have been a roadie since the early 1980's and just got into mountain biking this past year. As a youngster in the 1970's my brother and I would ride our old, yellow Schwinn Continental bikes on the back gravel and dirt roads or our county and spend all day exploring - barns, abandoned houses, creek beds, we all targets. We had a blast.

Fast forward 30 years and my three oldest kids are really into camping. I've always wanted to do more with the bike and had a revelation last year that touring would be a perfect way to continue getting my kids interested in cycling. So I began the process of converting an mtb to a better set up for touring and acquiring racks, panniers, etc. My 12 yo is anxiously waiting for next summer when we'll head up into the hills around our home and do some overnight/weekend camping trips by bikes. My 15 yo has let his fitness go the past two years and is getting overweight. He's a good rider and these camping trips will hopefully spark a desire to stay in shape and enjoy the world more by bike.

There are two other driving forces. A couple of years ago I put a rack on an old 82 Nishiki and some rear panniers and used the bike to run errands periodically into town (10-12 miles one way). This was more liberating than I expected and touring became more and more something I thought of.

Finally, my wife and I have 6 kids - three who are orphans adopted from Africa. One of my ultimate goals in touring is to do a 2-3 week fundraising tour for orphans that would allow me to send money back to their countries and aid in educational programs for children still there. It may take awhile for this to happen since our life is nonstop with 3 teenagers and numerous extracurricular activities throughout the year - but it will happen someday.

BengeBoy 

I started cycling "seriously" just out of college but was not interested in racing or other competition, and somehow came across the idea that I'd like to go on a bike tour (I forget now why I landed on that idea). But in any case, I wasn't doing much to think about touring because I didn't really know where to go, how to equip myself, how to plan a route, etc.

But then one of my college friends (then living in Austin) invited me to spend a week w/him touring in the Hill Country west of Austin. He planned the routes; we decided to stay in motels; so all I had to do was put a rack on the back of my bike, buy some panniers, and pack some stuff. We had a fabulous time -- that's a great area to go on a bike tour! (Fredericksburg, Blanco, Kerrville, Johnson City, Enchanted Rock, etc.). I think one of the keys to the great success of my first tour is that the area's back roads are great for cycling and my friend somehow had the wisdom to have acquired some really good maps and some suggestions from area cycling clubs on which routes to take.

Later I moved from Texas to California and bought a "proper" touring bike (long wheelbase, front rack mounts, triple crank); got a front rack and panniers; and bought enough camping gear to go self-supported touring.

Starting w/a credit-card tour was a great way to go.

brawny

I'd been a commuter cyclist for about 10 years in my mid-thirties, when I crossed paths with an old friend from grade school who showed me pictures of a Cycle Oregon tour he had just finished while on vacation. I don't know why the idea of bike touring had never occurred to me but when I saw pictures of all the places he'd visited and the fun he had, I was hooked.

He lent me his touring bike - a Miyata 1000 with Bruce Gordon racks and panniers (meant nothing to me at the time, but it all seemed well constructed), and off I went around Manitoulin Island for a week with my wife in tow on her mountain bike.

That was over 10 years ago now. The rest as they say, is history.

PurpleK

When I was in my teens, I played a lot....and I mean a lot.....of tennis. For years I played nearly every night and every weekend year round (unless the court was covered in ice). Team tennis, tournaments, pickup games with anyone and everyone that was looking for a partner. Tennis was my life. Then I got a job that required me to work nights and weekends. Of course, all my tennis partners (as well as virtually all of my social life) was lost to me as they worked weekdays while I worked weekends and nights.

So, being the active sort I was, I had to find something that I could do alone during the typical workday when I was free but all my friends were at work. I got a bike and started riding around the rural countryside near my small town, and eventually to neighboring towns. I discovered I liked this feeling of freedom. I then started driving to more distant locations, check into a hotel and explore that area on my days off. Later I discovered it was possible to carry camping gear on the bike, which opened up a whole new world of bicycle exploration. Then, before I knew it, I became consumed with travel by bicycle....and it's never stopped.

fietsbob

as a boy,
There was a place to go swimming with out chlorine in the water ,
but it was 10 miles from my house. so I rode a bike to get there..

Summer hikes with the boy scouts carrying WW2 surplus backpacks
were the camping part.

Touring is cycling with both. + i didn't have to win, just had to go.

simplygib

In 1994 a coworker of mine set me up on a blind date with a coworker of his wife, mainly because he knew we both were bike commuters. We hit it off, and before long she was showing me pictures of a tour she had done. She was standing in front of a sign at 12,000 ft. elevation (I think) on the Continental Divide on her loaded bike. I was fascinated. Within a few months I was on my first tour, a kluged-together 5-day thing where I made all kinds of mistakes, but the hook was set for life. It is my favorite obsession.

AdamDZ

I got inspired by this forum and CGOAB last year I wish, I found these sooner. It also kind of become a natural extension, a natural next step in my cycling evolution: recreational->commuting->utility cycling->touring. If I use a bike for work and errands, why not use it for traveling and vacations?!?

arctos

A severe knee injury required rehabilitation after surgery so I borrowed a bicycle against doctor's orders. The bike stabilized the knee and I continued riding to work and on progressively longer pleasure rides. A bike touring slideshow by Ian Hibell sparked my interest in self-contained bike touring. I have continued touring ever since for the last forty plus years.

skilsaw

My family car camped from the time I was 6, and I camped each summer with the Boy Scouts until my teens. In 1969, as a 15 year old, a friend and I biked 10 miles out of town to the nearest Provincial Park campground and stayed overnight. We rode with backpacks. Two years later, a group of about 8 of us biked from Victoria and took the ferry to Orcas Island in the American San Juan Islands. We knew of no such thing as a touring bike. We rode what we had. One fellow had a "delivery bike" with a huge basket in front. He carried the 2 burner coleman stove.

Fast forward to 1983, My wife and I biked and camped for a week in the Canadian Gulf Islands.
Fast forward again to 1995, Our family included 10 and 8 year old boys. They were riding their own bikes by that time. I rented a kiddie trailer and filled it with camping gear. Two pup tents, 4 sleeping bags, 4 mattresses, stove, utensils , food, clothing and a plastic wash pan. The proverbial kitchen sink. Pulling this horrendous load slowed me down so that we all had a common speed as we biked the Gulf Islands for 4 days.

Then , in 2009 I retired at the early age of 55. I bought my first touring bike, a Cannondale t1. In the summer of 2010 I took 2 weekend trips with my son, and a friend. Then I went alone on a 400 km trip on Vancouver Island, and another trip making a circuit of Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.

Just recently, in a manic frenzy, I bought 2 different tents, and a Koga World Traveller. I must put the credit card away when I get worked up. My plans for 2011 include an 1100 km solo tour the full length and back of Vancouver Island, and a 300 km circuit on the Kettle Valley railway and highway 3 in southern British Columbia.

So, its been a slow and steady rise of bigger and better trips, but nothing can compare to young boys on their first overnight alone.

cyclist2000

When I was young I rode my bike as my only transportation. I even put off with my drivers license until I was 18 because I figured I would ride a lot less if I had a license. After college a friend and I went on a few day tour in Southern Illinois, I set up our bikes and gear, this is the trip where we learned that we needed separate tents. A couple of years later we flew our bikes and gear out to Burlington Vermont and rode to Manchester New Hampshire, camping and having the strangest stay one night at a bed and breakfast. I continue to go on self supported and supported tours. I like to tour but I also use the tour as motivation to ride my bike and get in shape.

aenlaasu

I've always been on the crazy side for biking. 10 years old and I would vanish on a sunny summer morning with a ham sandwich, a soda and a my small allowance in my pocket for more goodies and sodas until supper. I think most of the gray hair on my mom's head came from my answers to "Where were you?". "Down by the river where the tug boat sank. I went swimming!" That spot was 15 miles away. To my mother's credit, she never said a negative word. Only asked I let her know next time.

Then I moved to Sweden and discovered the Sverigeleden. 1700 mile long cycle path? I've been determined to start exploring it. I have the camping gear, the trailer for said gear, panniers for things I want to keep easy on hand, and of course maps. I've only done little day rambles so far since last year was wrecked by health issues, but I'm hopeful for this year! Even toying with the idea of doing a bit of Belgium!

Hehe. I'm getting giddy just thinking about it!