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Another good option if you're not interested in hiking is bicycle touring. A few years ago I spent a summer cycling across France, Germany, Switzerland, and Aus
by nodamage 10y ago
Another good option if you're not interested in hiking is bicycle touring. A few years ago I spent a summer cycling across France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria and it was an absolutely incredible experience. After cycling for roughly 6 hours per day over six weeks, I lost a ton of weight, despite eating anything and everything I wanted. (Which was more food than I would normally eat at home, considering you're burning thousands of calories per day in exercise alone.) Definitely would recommend to anyone interested in combining long, sustained periods of exercise with traveling.
- the_cat_kittles 10y agoi biked the oregon coast with some friends. it was so fun, despite being a literal pain in the ass. also highly recommend! i was quite strong after just a week. the highlight of the summer for sure.
- nodamage 10y ago> despite being a literal pain in the ass A good saddle helps with that. :) My preference is the Brooks B-17.
- stevenhubertron 10y agoSuch a heavy saddle but once you wear it in its the most comfortable ride out there.
- ska 10y agoIf you are touring with gear, that weight gain is a rounding error :)
- tonyedgecombe 10y agoI'm pretty sure I didn't wear mine in, rather it wore me in.
- alexlrobertson 10y agoI'm just getting into touring, myself and it's quite awesome. You get the joys of cycling, treking through nature, and can pack a little more liberally than backpacking. The big limiting factor is finding suitable trails and roads.
- kevin488 10y agoI would love to hear a rough outline of your path. Were you mostly on roads with cars or is there a more established bike lane infrastructure? Any issues sharing the road with vehicles?
- thebent 10y ago@kevin488 The Adventure Cycling Association is the de facto source for bike touring routes and maps: https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/ https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/
- nodamage 10y agoWe followed the Eurovelo 6 bicycle route (http://www.eurovelo.com/en/eurovelos/eurovelo-6 http://www.eurovelo.com/en/eurovelos/eurovelo-6). Fortunately Europe has great bicycle infrastructure so we were able to stay on dedicated cycle paths or at least bike lanes the majority of the time. In the instances where we did end up sharing the road with cars, it was not an issue, European drivers are in general very cycle friendly. (Especially in contrast with New Zealand which was frankly terrifying.)
- kevin488 10y agoAwesome, thanks!