It is nice to be able to leave from my front door, to avoid the hassle of packing up the bike, but if I did that I wouldn't be able to see some amazing places, so I do whatever works to get me to where I want to tour.

+1

I don't think there's any best method ... it all depends what you want to do and see.

I'm a big fan of leaving from my house. It's awesome because a day or two into the trek, you're somewhere so new and exciting and feel like "Wow, this is so close to home."

Though on the Blue Ridge Parkway, we met a woman who is a teacher in Germany and every year for the last 20 something years she's flown to America and biked all over for 6 weeks during the summer.

This looks awesome! Is there a way to bike along the shoreline some more?

US 98 from Wakulla to Pensacola is intermittently along the coast. From Wakulla thru Port St. Joe is the area they call the Big Bend area and includes Apalachicola. These little towns are fishing villages. From Mexico Beach to Pensacola is intermittently along the Gulf beach areas of Panama City Beach, Fort Walton, Destin, and Pensacola. 98 is four lane from Panama City thru Fort Walton and then to Navarre, with a wide shoulder. In Navarre one can cross over to Santa Rosa Island and there are two Gulf Island National Seashore areas one passes thru. Santa Rosa Island is about 40 miles long and most of it is right along the Gulf beaches. Fort Pickens National Seashore is one of the nicest places I've ever been. South of Perry one can duck off US 27 and find good roads down the western coast, small fishing villages, etc. and then go back to the main road whenever you want. US 90 from Monticello across North Central Florida is wonderful, albeit it rural farming and horse grazing country. The Suwannee River area is beautiful and quiet. There are just so many state and federal roads to get lost on, one can explore and try many combinations. The state and federal highways have wide shoulders and that's nice to relax on. US 441, US 27, US 98, US 90, FL 20, US 17, US 41, FL 16 and so many others are all great roads, with 41 being the lesser preferred of them all for me.

I plan to canoe to new Zealand one of these days. Do my tour and canoe back.

Hey how do you fit a bicycle on a canoe.. anybody?

You could ask this guy: Films by award-winning adventure filmmaker Tom Allen
watch the Karun clip, but i don't think it shows exactly how he handled it. maybe the full film does. i find the rest of his site excellent and helpful considering what he charges for access to his site....

97 Open Jaws flew into LHR>Dublin, flew out of Aberdeen>AMS months later ..

91 was a Loop out of AMS.. Belgium >England>Norway>Denmark>Poland>Czech>Austria> Germany> France>Luxemburg> Belgium, and out of Amsterdam again.

Modify the canoe to mount the bike and pedal the canoe

A couple of months ago I wrote up my tour history for someone. Whenever my company sent me to a conference somewhere (interesting), I'd make a point of combining it with a tour. I've used Amtrak a lot, and am no longer able to do long distances, but am considering getting a folder and using Amtrak to do multi-city explorations. I've often felt that I can see more of a city in one day by bike than some folks who've spent their whole lives there. I still organize and lead a supported group tour (usually VT) every summer.


1985 New England 6-state tour - Boston - RI - CT -VT - NH - ME - Boston, all cycling


1985 Buffalo to Philadelphia - Amtrak connectionson each end


1988 UK sampler with Dana - Cotswalks, LakeDistrict, the Great Glen - train connections


1989 Minneapolis to Milwaukee with Dana - Amtrakon both ends


1990 Euro sampler with Dana - 7 countries in 3weeks - trains and one Rhein boat


1993 Netherlands and Belgium - a few trainconnections


1994 Bordeaux - Dordogne to Cahors; combo week w/Dee; Avignon to Marseille; TGV


1994 Amtrak from Boston to Albany, NY bike toWorcester, MA; with Karen


1995 Utica, NY to Rochester, NY via the FingerLakes - Amtrak connections


1996 Cleveland to DC via Pittsburgh:AKA Rust Belt tour - Amtrak connections


1998 Drive to Amherst, MA, Amtrak to Montpelier,VT, then bike back to Amherst - with Bonne


199? Jamaica ("Yo, man, bring that bike over here" - pedal faster + glad not walking)


199? Springfield to Boston; 4 riders - Amtrakoutbound


199? Flagstaff to Scottsdale, Arizona; then SanAntonio + N'Awlins; combo trip - Amtrak


199? San Francisco to San Luis Obispo; Anaheim toSan Diego - combo trip


199? Yucatan peninsula


199? Katy Trail - St. Louis to Kansas City, withtwo days in each - Amtrak return to St. Louis


199? Midwest "W" tour:Columbus - Portsmouth - Cincinnatti - Louisville- Indianapolis


2000 End-to-End / LEJOG- Land's End, Cornwall toJohn O'Groats, Scotland - 7 riders


200? Gaspe peninsula - ViaRail return


2004 Camino Frances - Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port -Santiago with Anna, Duane, & Nina


2004 Brattleboro to Burlington, VT, with Anna


2005 Southern Spain - Madrid to Barcelona withmany bus/train connections


2005 Five Ferry Tour - West Kingston, RI toBlock Island via Montauk with Linnea + 10


2005 Erie Canal - Rochester to Albany - Amtrakconnections


2007 Western Scotland and Outer Hebrides

Funny!! If I had the money I would go to Germany, Swiss, or Prague for my summers.

Planning is half the fun.....not!
I've done all the above. Now I just leave my front door with an empty head. I come back with an empty head and strong legs.
Much more relaxing this way... And wayyyyy less expensive.

No wrong way to pedal. All my tours have involved rolling down my driveway. Instant start to vacation. Usually 4 or 5 days, loops. I try to plan out the first night stay, and wing it after that. I'm North of Boston, MA. Last year I took the train to the shore south of Boston, started there. One year I pedaled to the end of Cape Cod( Provincetown) and then took the fast ferry back to Boston. This summer I plan to pedal around Lake Winnpesaukee in New Hampshire.

For me, planning was closer to 2/3 of the fun - so much so that sometimes the tour itself felt a bit anticlimactic.


If you don't plan, your tour can be a crap shoot.

Also nice bike trail along 30A that connects about 19 miles from just west of Panama City Beach to just east of Destin, not far from our house so we ride it often just for a day trip and back, several nice state parks along that stretch also. It can be busy with walkers in peak tourist months but not bad. This goes along the coast south of Highway 98.

[QUOTE=10 Wheels;17587855]Roy's 750 mile tour for his 75th Birthday




I can't even imagine riding a bike through Pasadena, TX. The smell is bad enough in a fast-moving car!

I'm pre-pre-planning my first long bike ride. Probably just ride out, camp, and ride back the next day. I'd like to start from my driveway, but I live in town, and navigating traffic scares me a lot more than cruising the country roads. I'm thinking about having someone drop me off and pick me up outside of town. I guess we'll see!

HECK yeah! have someone do a pick up / drop off if it's going to ruin your ride start/finish. You should be enjoying the ride, not starting out getting buzzed by cars and stressed out, then finish it angry.
I'm pretty fortunate, I've got neighborhood roads that turn to dirt, then I'm off into farm land all the way to several nice campsites. Occasionally I have to take a no-shoulder road into a small town with cars, but with a bit of planning I can avoid it. So far only 1-overnighter in this year. But my son and I did 5 days on a rail-trail with state parks connecting in. Probably try to get 2 or 3 more overnighters in before things get too cold for me.
Cheers!

I've done loops, out and back , had my wife drive me to a point and begin the tour from said point, taken ferries back, started after being dropped off at a bus station. Many choices .