19 ms·

Reasons to tour by bicycle

267 points by galfarragem 4y ago

jacquesm 4y ago
Agreed with all of these, and they don't apply just to the US. It's funny to realize that until the 60's or so bicycle holidays were the norm here, then it became car trips and after that airplane rides to ever more exotic locations. But not all that long ago it was just grandpa and grandma and their tent on a bike. A tandem if they were going for the fancy version (or if grandma wanted to do some knitting on the way...). As for the reasons themselves, I'd like to add: 7) friendships made on bike tours seem to last a life time 8) people help each other far more readily than when using other modes of transportation 9) the sense of accomplishment 10) the sense of immersion, which is far stronger than when looking at the scenery through the windshield of a car 11) the confidence boost from accomplishment 12) if you travel with others you will get to know them much better as people than when making the same trip by car or plane (their good sides and their bad sides)
davem8 4y ago
I quit my job as a data scientist in 2019 and spent about 6 months cycling around Europe. It was a great move it really built my confidence and enforced my since of self reliance. I was on my own things would go wrong bike trouble, bad weather, difficulty finding a place to camp, loneliness, but I could overcome them all and realised I can solve any problem the world throws at me. I was a little worried about finding a job after, and having a gap on my CV but I easily found another data science job and have changed jobs no one even asks about it. If like me you have an urge to take a bicycle tour do it you won’t regret it.
- LightG 4y ago
  I have a similar gap in my CV. I've found that the companies/people I most want to work for are genuinelyhttps://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=LightG https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=LightG interested in that gap rather than are suspicious about it. I use how they respond to it as a minor filter for those I don't want to work with.
  - Hellbanevil 4y ago
    Get a state license in anything, and say you were unemployed for those resume gaps. Most license requirements are easy to fudge.
- vanilla_nut 4y ago
  I’ve gotten really into touring in the last couple of years, and a Euro bike trip is in my plans for next spring/summer. Any suggestions for what season and where you’d recommend for a month-long tour? I’m currently thinking May, perhaps the corridor from Normandy thru Brussels onto Amsterdam. But I haven’t visited enough of Europe to know if temperatures/wind/weather will be amenable for that. Of course I’m also considering dropping my job at some point and biking for 6+ months.
  - eCa 4y ago
    I would probably have gone with June for that, but on the other hand I once spent an entire July biking in Spain, which to be fair was a bit hot. To see historic weather I use wunderground.com, for example, here[1] is the weather for May 2021 in Amsterdam. I usually check a few years to avoid one-off years. [1] https://www.wunderground.com/calendar/nl/amsterdam-airport-schiphol/EHAM/date/2021-5 https://www.wunderground.com/calendar/nl/amsterdam-airport-s...
Ayesh 4y ago
Touring Europe cycling is amazing, I did Strasbourg to Montpelier on a Dutch bike, with short legs between Amsterdam to Nice. It was amazing, I had a good tent, sleeping bag, and a mattress. My trip was over 2,000km, including a climb to Ventoux (part of Tour De France in 2012 IIRC). One thing that's not mentioned in the article is to use Couch Surfing and Warm Showers. Warm Showers especially is amazing, because it is an amazing cycling community and you can borrow anything from small stitching kits to a full-on welding kits to fix bicycles. Full of amazing things and people in almost all euro velo routes. FlixBus will take bicycle on board on most buses (for 10 euros IIRC), and most trains will too on weekends and off-peak hours. Overall, it was a fantastic experience and I can't recommend it enough.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  That's impressive, to do those climbs on a regular bike.
  - float4 4y ago
    Here's a dude climbing Ventoux on a single speed Dutch bike (subtitles available): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvDp5uCD0Kk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvDp5uCD0Kk He also did it on a kids bike the year before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49V4P_wkKTU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49V4P_wkKTU I should mention he currently rides for a UCI ProTeam, which is one tier away from the highest level in the world.
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      We have our annual 'against the wind' contest here because of lack of hills, this year they coincided with a 9 Beaufort wind which made for some interesting complications.
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      Hehe, that's so funny :) So, some more context: swapfiets is the dutch student bike provider, they are very basic bikes, no gears, no nothing because what isn't on them can't break. Key quote: "What do you miss the most about a racing bike?" -> "A slightly lighter gear". He's doing remarkably well by the way, testimony to his skills, keeping up with those guys on their carbon frame racers with 22 gears is extremely impressive even over a short distance. The gearing on a typical swapfiets is typically 46/16 or 44/16 so ~3:1, on a racing bike you would have access to 36/23 or even 34/23 on a special climbing gear set. So he has to work about twice as hard to maintain the same speed. Passing bike comments 'you're crazy man' :)
virgildotcodes 4y ago
I hate cardio, I grumble constantly when my girlfriend drags me out on hikes, and to be honest half the time I'm on a bicycle, touring, I'm in agony. The seemingly infinite hills in 95 degree heat will make you question whose stupid idea this was over and over. That said, there are these moments of bliss, finding yourself in nooks and crannies of the world that 90% of tourists never see, spending all day out in the sunshine, feeling the breeze, smelling the grass and the flowers, stopping to have daily picnics in random fields, next to lakes, overlooking beautiful mountain ranges... You're taking it slow, so you really take it all in. You're constantly ravenous so every meal you have is one of the greatest of your life. Maybe the exercise induced endorphins are boosting it all a bit too. Anyway, some of the best memories of my life are those I made while bicycle touring.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  > and to be honest half the time I'm on a bicycle, touring, I'm in agony Is your bike set up properly? That can make a world of a difference, if your bike is not perfectly set up for your body on a longer tour it can really hurt.
  - virgildotcodes 4y ago
    I've gone to a few different bike fitters over the years, as well as physical therapists. A proper bike fit did finally fix my knee issues, but the agony I'm talking about is the kind you experience from riding up and down steep hills all day in the hot sun, the saddle soreness, the general full body aches, pains, cuts and scrapes like you've been getting beat up all day. That said I'm also a big whiny out of shape baby.
    - locallost 4y ago
      Hang in there and try to find something you like :-). I love riding and even though I dislike all the same things you do, for me it's more fuel than it is making me give up. With that said there are hills and there are hills - we did just the last 10km after our train ride recently but it was all uphill all the time. We took almost two hours because my family just couldn't make it. It was rough even for me. Going back was the a 30 minute breeze, we spent more energy braking :-).
shimonabi 4y ago
Coworkers that are cyclists often tell me they are always afraid on the road because the car drivers don't keep the proper distance. I myself have experienced some close calls and I only ride a few times a year.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  Highly country dependent though.
  - xtracto 4y ago
    Ha! I was all excited reading the comments and thinking that maybe it would be a nice little adventure in my quest to become fitter. Then i remembered that I live in Mexico and going on a bike ride/camping would be a death sentence due to reckless drivers, robbers/muggers or drug traffickers. I'll keep doing stationary bike.
    - alisonatwork 4y ago
      I decided against cycling into Mexico when I was recently cycling across North America because I was worried about the security situation. I ended up flying to Panama then traveling down to Colombia, where I started touring again. I am not sure about the security situation in Colombia versus Mexico, but the statistics do show that it still has a fairly significant amount of violent crime. Unlike my more free-spirited touring in Canada and the US, I was more careful about where I went. I kept track of the local news every day and avoided towns and areas with political rallies or paramilitary activity. I never camped anywhere, preferring to stay in hospedajes for around us$10 per night. I also bought a cheap (<us$250) bike with only 6 gears that looked similar to the kinds of bike campesinos rode around. And I spent more time on main roads with regular police/military checkpoints instead of taking any interesting back road I liked. The back roads I did take, I checked out on Google Street View beforehand, and leaned a lot on advice from local people. It was perhaps not as picturesque and peaceful as my riding in US/Canada, but it was still worth it for me. I met a few people down there who had greeted cyclists that had cycled all the way down from Canada, including through Mexico, so it's definitely possible to achieve, although different areas need different precautions. Perhaps it is wiser to do your first tour in a "safe" place so you get more comfortable with the process.
matt7aylor 4y ago
I've just come back from a short (~400 mile) bicycle tour to visit some friends and have previously travelled by bicycle to conferences or events all over Europe. If you only ever travelled long distances by highway/rail/air it could be hard to appreciate how much richer the world feels travelling by bicycle. Instead of a dreary bubble between generic transportation hubs you are generally travelling along the old routes that connect all the places where life has been for millennia, the amount of history (in Europe at least), scenery and humanity you stumble across just in the course of a typical day covering maybe 50 miles is huge. The typical question people ask is "how long did it take?" but the experience itself is more fulfilling, this is very much not what it's about (and you can speed up with trains etc. if you really need to get somewhere). It's one of the only ways I manage to properly disconnect from the ongoing background stress weight of running a startup. I'll eat 5 meals a day, everything tastes amazing and come back healthier and lighter (in more ways than one). I'll be living cheap (though the large amount of food can start to add up) and free under my own power and direction and carrying everything I need to stay so along with me. I'll be meeting people along the way and connecting with their humanity and kindness in a way that just doesn't seem to happen quite the same when you aren't travelling by bicycle. It may not be for everyone but I want to live in a world where that experience feels accessible to as many as possible.
- discordance 4y ago
  Love riding but doing that next to high speed cars and trucks sucks. That doesn’t get to you?
  - matt7aylor 4y ago
    It may depend a little on where you are but generally on a cycle tour, where speed isn't such a priority, you don't tend to be taking the same bigger roads used by high speed cars or trucks (or may even be on routes largely separate from the roads). It can happen on occasion that you might want/need to go down a slightly busier road, in that case being a bit more of an odd road user (heavily loaded bicycle stands out) often you get a bit more consideration but a bit of road confidence certainly doesn't hurt. I can't speak for everywhere but in Europe (where most of my experience is) I think you would be able to find plenty of routes without much traffic (checkout places like https://www.opencyclemap.org/ https://www.opencyclemap.org/ ) and ironically those routes would probably have much more to see on them than the routes that did have the cars and trucks on.
groundthrower 4y ago
Have cycled from Northern Europe to South Africa, crossed Europe several times and also crossed US, New York to California. Best way to experience a country. Don’t have time? Try to do a quick one and turn it into an adventure. One of my most exciting trips was going from Southern to Northern Europe in just a week. I recommend to pack lightly, and don’t spend to much time planning on gear and routes - just do it otherwise you’ll risk to postpone it again and again.. just do it.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  > One of my most exciting trips was going from Southern to Northern Europe in just a week. Now that is impressive. Do you remember your route?
user_7832 4y ago
This reminded me of a particular quote, I think by an Indian author. To paraphrase "Cars are way too fast, the world speeds past in a blur. Bullock/ox carts are nice but not much faster than walking. Cycling, however, gives you time to say hi and be waved back, while being fast enough to be practical." I wish I could remember the author (maybe Sudha Murthy, Ruskin Bond, Rudyard Kipling or even perhaps Roald Dahl?), perhaps some other HN-er might remember!
mahathu 4y ago
Sounds amazing, but when do you have time for that once you're working full time? Do employers usually offer unpaid time off?
- bbu 4y ago
  since it doesn't require a lot of money you simply quit your job if you want to do that for an extend period or take unpaid leave if you can arrange something w/ your employeer.
cranekam 4y ago
This indeed. I have crossed the Pyrenees twice and the Alps from north to south by bike. We chose the fast and light options, riding road bikes and staying in hotels, but still the feeling of crossing a large map entirely under one's own steam is gratifying and addictive.
brudgers 4y ago
It’s not hard to cover 50 miles a day, or 300 miles in a week, which means you can see a lot. Yet stop in a second, anywhere. Nothing against bicycle touring, but while a bicycle may force slower travel, a bicycle is not necessary for it. A person can road trip in their car, truck, or van [1] at a similar pace. The daily cost of gasoline will be fairly low...less than about $20 per day even for a motorhome driving California. How a person travels is more a matter of time resources. At 300 miles a week, it will take ten weeks to go from coast to coast. Few people have that kind of free time. And if you have ten weeks for travel, you will almost certainly have a life changing experience irrespective of travel mode. [1] or upon a motorcycle, moped, or scooter.
- bklaasen 4y ago
  > A person can road trip in their car, truck, or van > or upon a motorcycle, moped, or scooter. Not quite the same thing; you're isolated from your environment by the noise and the cabin or the helmet. You won't hear the birdsong, the silence, the wind rustling in the trees. Much of the depth of the experience is in the total engagement with your environment from moment to moment. > Few people have that kind of free time. ...if they're selling their labour in exchange for money. Do you need to spend quite as much as you do every fortnight? If you're not living from paycheck to paycheck, spend a couple of years saving and then take time off to do a big trip. I did it during 2017; the mortgage payments continued and I lived on the rest. I had money left over at the end.
  - brudgers 4y ago
    Everyone can find moral superiority in their personal choices without much effort. Finding morality in someone else’s orthogonal choices is the hard work. For me, the birdsong and the wind are there but for stopping beside the road for the sake of stopping. In those moments I am just there not even riding a bicycle.
    - wnolens 4y ago
      You can take a helicopter to the top of a mountain in 1/20th the time, step out and see the same view, but is it really a comparable experience to having hiked it?
em-bee 4y ago
during middle and highschool i did a 6 week trip from germany to the center of france and then back through switzerland. the most memorable day was where i spent half a day pushing my bike up a mountain, and then go down the other side in less than half an hour. another trip was two weeks around the southern half of denmark, and another two weeks all over luxemburg. the craziest trip was going from austria to the netherlands. the goal was to be in the netherlands for the summer, so i took my bike to truck-stops and looked for trucks that might have space for my bike and asked to hitch-hike. that got me a mix of hitchhiking and biking on scenic hiking paths. i switched from biking to trains when i discovered how much cheaper the trains in eastern europe were. before doing these solo-trips i was part of a youthgroup that did most of their trips on bikes. we were all middle-school kids, and in the evening we would split into groups of three and knock on doors seeking a place to sleep. another memorable trip was cycling through new jersey, wearing a cycling jersey depicting a cow on a bike. that was a trip with several dozen people, organized by the bike commissioner (or something like that) of washington D.C. now with family, i'd love to get back on a bike again and take my kids on new adventures.
simonebrunozzi 4y ago
Where one could find the equivalente of these great 8 bike trips, but in Europe, instead of US?
- stevenwoo 4y ago
  None of these is exclusively on non car routes but a couple come close https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/jul/05/10-great-long-distance-cycle-routes-europe-normandy-rome-readers-tips https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/jul/05/10-great-long...
bawana 4y ago
Humans and our ancient immune system are not evolved for living in the hives we call cities. Cycling (and the constraints of this transportation mode)will lead to a healthier, more robust, more productive civilization if we design for it. Cycling first should be our design directive.
SQL2219 4y ago
maybe you'll have no choice https://youtu.be/Slszva6kk90 https://youtu.be/Slszva6kk90
rickspencer3 4y ago
In, cough, 1991, my wife and I did a bike tour in Europe for our honeymoon. We spent a total of 4 weeks in Holland, England, and Germany. We took trains and of course ferries to cover larger differences. We did less than 50 miles in a typical day, iirc. The thing is, back then, no GPS, no Internet, just maps and asking people for help. The trip was not particularly challenging and was very rewarding. It seems like such a trip would be even more easy and fun today with all of the extra context and information that you have with a smart phone.
- abyssin 4y ago
  I agree! What I love about a bicycle trip is how little preparation it actually requires during the fair weather season. You don't need fancy equipment and a phone gives you all the information you need. The OsmAnd app is quite good.
rambambram 4y ago
During corona time I suddenly found myself with a bicycle caravan project. It's like a big cart - one person bed size - for behind my bicycle. I recently finished this thing and am now planning to go for a test ride soon. https://theredpanther.org https://theredpanther.org
- jacquesm 4y ago
  Absolutely fantastic, what an amazing build!
  - rambambram 4y ago
    Thanks!
oskhib 4y ago
I might be embarking on a similar trip next year—same route. I'm not familiar with the American climate; What would be the ideal time of year to do such a journey? February/March to July/August?
- nverno 4y ago
  I did the northern route, NH to OR, July-Sept. It was getting a bit chilly towards the end, but the scary weather is storms you hit in the midwest in the open plains. Those tend to be worst in the late summer, I think. It's pretty terrifying on a bike in the middle of nowhere, with plains as far as the eye can see, when the horizon ahead turns black and you just watch the lightning bear down on you. People out there are really nice, though, and would often pull over and offer shelter.
sour-taste 4y ago
Last summer I completed a cross-USA ride from Oregon to Virginia, over 3000 miles. It was the most fulfilling amazing experience of my life. My family is tired of hearing me start sentences with 'when I was on my ride'. That said it was scary at times. In the US some places are outright hostile to cyclists. I was flipped off, coated in exhaust by big diesel burning trucks (on purpose), and run off the road multiple times (not sure if intentionally). It truly is an amazing experience but the lack of bike infra in this country is so sad. My next ride is going to be an off-road one where I don't have to worry about cars.
- philips 4y ago
  I did Oregon to Idaho and having to take even brief moments on freeways or riding on the shoulder with passing semi trucks was enough to convince me that cross country wasn’t for me. We really need to complete the cross country trail. https://www.railstotrails.org/greatamericanrailtrail/ https://www.railstotrails.org/greatamericanrailtrail/
- tech_tuna 4y ago
  Years ago, I rode from Boston to Seattle (with a nontrivial and unplanned detour through Canada) by myself. I may never do another cycling tour again (for a number of reasons) but it was one of the greatest experiences in my life. It all started out when I heard about some friends (brothers) who did the same and I know that I personally motivated at least 3 other people to do similar rides. Oh jeez, I could go on and on actually, but I will keep it brief, it was a wonderful experience overall. I am lucky and grateful that I was able to do something like that.
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    > I could go on Please do! Fascinating all these stories.
kcindric 4y ago
I commuted everyday using my bicycle and did a few tours in my 20s here in Europe. Those were the best travel experiences I had in my life, especially when my partner joined me on one of my tours. But few months into my 30s I hurt my back (two herniated discs) and although I'm mostly fine now I can't ride a bicycle for longer periods. This depresses me quite a bit. I miss the freedom, views and the community. I started to think about buying a recumbent bike for touring but there's no one around me who owns or sells one to try it.
- cycomanic 4y ago
  > I started to think about buying a recumbent bike for touring but there's no one around me who owns or sells one to try it. My mother used to have one. As long as you're not crossing the Alpes it is great for tours (the riding tends to be significantly easier due to less wind resistance), but not so great for commuting in the city (you're seen less, have less maneuverability, need more space for parking ...). I highly recommend searching out a place and maybe do a weekend trip to a city near you where there is a job to try it out, however be aware it takes a while to really feel comfortable on them.
  - kcindric 4y ago
    I heard riding up-hill is more challenging but it's still better than not riding at all. I'll probably have to ride 300-400 km to a more bike-centric place to find a shop that sells recumbents but there's no other option. These types of bikes are expensive though.
- downut 4y ago
  I have never ridden a recumbent. But for 7 years I had a regular cycling partner who rode one, for similar reasons. He was also an ultra cyclist (think 300 miles or more a ride). We did many centuries in the mountain West. Very hard to draft on the long downhill grades, but slow on the up. No big deal. The thing is the poser cyclists who sport the carbon and the kit and the electronics are almost entirely squares and will give you shade... but you just ignore them. It's the people riding across the country, enjoying themselves, not caring what other people think, that's the people I want to ride with. As for trying one out, I would recommend talking to your LBS with the best mechanical reputation. Every recumbent rider I've seen was the only one around, and because their rigs are non-standard they tend to have a very good relationship with their competent LBS. I suspect the local recumbent person would be delighted to introduce you to their ride.
hahamrfunnyguy 4y ago
I've had a couple of bikes stolen in my lifetime. One thing that would prevent me from enjoying the trip as much is a fear of having my bike and all my gear stolen. What do you do with your bike and gear if you want to stop and so some sightseeing?
- paulcole 4y ago
  What kind of sightseeing do you mean? When stopped in a city, we left our bikes in the hotel so we could walk around. But when on the road, it’s a lot of leaning bikes against a building while you go in to get food or whatever. Sometimes, we’d have somebody stay with the bikes while the others went inside. Sometimes, we’d lock up and sometimes we’d get lazy and hope for the best. But I wasn’t riding in a high-theft area.
- downut 4y ago
  When eating lunch, I look for a place with big windows and then I put my bike where I can see it from the inside. Also, attach your helmet with the strap through the front wheel and the fork. If I wanted to go on a hike, I would start the hike with the bike and then maybe 500' in I would veer off about the same distance and stash it out of sight. If I was in a city that had no organized storage I'd just stop at a bike shop and ask if I could stash it there for a few hours. If you were for real with panniers and stuff I can't imagine them saying no.
Finnucane 4y ago
Check out the tour logs on https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/ https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/
chrismorgan 4y ago
I strongly recommend a recumbent tricycle for solo touring. I’ve done multi-week cycling trips with my Greenspeed GT3 twice in America and once in New Zealand and almost once in Australia. Recumbent trikes are much more convenient for these purposes. I’ve gone from basically not having done any exercise at all for several months to riding ~100km per day, ending up only weary in the legs at the end of each day, not in pain in at least back and crotch as you certainly would be on an upright bike. The inherent stability of a three wheel base means you can load quite heavily without it being in the slightest bit troublesome—you’ll go slower, but won’t have any balance issue. In each of my trips, it hasn’t been just a cycling tour, but I’ve had other gear with me too, as it has become my habit if I’m going to another country for any sort of work or conference to take my trike with me and explore the place thus. My typical load is well in excess of 20kg—panniers on a rear wheel rack, then pile other stuff on top and strap it all down with bungee cords. I have a fairly heavy tarp that I use to wrap the trike up for air travel (it folds in half), and then it serves as a ground sheet for camping. I am firmly convinced that trikes are considerably safer, too; as well as the inherent stability, there’s also visibility, your visibility: you behold the world in front of you readily without needing to crane your neck, and, since you can’t really look over your shoulder due to the posture, you have a mirror that is mounted in such a way that it works well (which isn’t my experience of mirrors on bicycles), so that you can easily keep an eye on what’s coming up, and interact usefully with traffic rather than being blind. The only downsides I’ve really observed are: (a) being lower, you generally can’t see well over guard rails at scenic points on bridges and ocean roads; (b) off-road cycling trails are probably not well-adapted to you (not that this quite stopped me from taking things like the Timber Trail and the Remutaka Trail in NZ last year, though the GT3 specifically is very poorly suited for both with its extremely low clearance on its rear derailleur); and (c) three tracks instead of one generally leads to a rougher ride on very-low-quality surfaces, and more potential for debris punctures (in 2014, on my first cycling tour, I discovered that California in autumn has a particularly virulent type of thorn endemic, and that the slick tyres that the trike came with are eminently unsuitable—I averaged more than one flat per day, where on subsequent trips with Schwalbe Marathon Plus I’ve never had one).
- kcindric 4y ago
  Thanks for sharing this! I'm really interested in getting a recumbent because of my back injury (I talk about this in this thread) and I think I'll start exploring all the options. The only two things that are holding me back are a) these types of bikes are more expensive than regular ones, multiple times b) embracing that I can't probably ride a regular bike anymore, it's a mental thing, and it's a mix of grief and fear how will people perceive me.
andrewshadura 4y ago
I can recommend a great bicycle tour planner, https://cycle.travel/ https://cycle.travel/ The map style is optimised for bicycle tours, it can automatically split the journey into day-sized chunks, find potential accommodation around overnight stops and much more. It also includes a blog engine, so you can blog about every part of your trip directly at the website.
TexanFeller 4y ago
In 95% of the US traveling by bike is insanely dangerous. Drivers do not expect to see bikes and their habits are adjusted accordingly. For example driving on the shoulder to let someone pass. Noone expects to see a bike there and pedestrians aren’t foolish enough to stand there, and a bike would be in even more danger in the road itself. In Austin the so called bike lanes are crossed over by car turning lanes. Zero chance of me biking on public roads until bike lanes are physically separated, not just some painted line. I’ve been to Amsterdam and places where it is safe and we are decades if not centuries away from that working here.
- Drunk_Engineer 4y ago
  North America offers many off-road touring opportunities. For example, the Great Divide route runs 2,100 miles from Canada to New Mexico, running almost entirely over unpaved roads. And New York has the 350-mile Erie canal trail.
  - TexanFeller 4y ago
    Interesting! So maybe there is a safe place to try it when I retire and have the time.
rene_d 4y ago
If you enjoy reading about other people's bike travels, take a look at [1]. The site allows long distance cyclists to write journals of their trips while they are on tour, some of which had me binge-read them for entire weekends. Also, the site carries a lovely craigslist vibe :) Focussing on the match-made-in-heaven which are cycling & food, [2] chronicles the experiences of a bloke in his mid-20s, who ditches his job at an ad agency (as well as his girlfriend) after becoming enamored with cycle touring, and travels through North and South America in search of the perfect meal. [1] https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/ https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/ [2] The Hungry Cyclist, https://www.amazon.com/Hungry-Cyclist-Tom-Kevill-Davies/dp/0007278845 https://www.amazon.com/Hungry-Cyclist-Tom-Kevill-Davies/dp/0...
- contingencies 4y ago
  Also strongly recommend https://mrpumpy.net/ https://mrpumpy.net/
nanomonkey 4y ago
I did a 3,000 km solo bicycle tour of S.E. Asia, started in Bangkok Thailand, headed up north to get my legs and then dropped back down once I was comfortable and headed off for Cambodia, crossed over to Vietnam and headed up the coast, headed east and into Laos to cross back to Thailand again. Best experience of my life. If I didn't have a dog, I would do something similar once a year. My general method was to ride for 4 hours, usually covering 100km (60 miles). Some days there isn't a good destination within that distance, or the terrain is steep, poor roads or an extreme headwind. On those days I'd put in more time or do distance (sometimes only covering 30 km). Once I got to a nice location I'd stay until I felt there wasn't anything interesting to take in, usually 1-3 days, and then I'd head back out. Sometimes you want to put in back to back rides, other times you just want to sit and relax on a beach. Food was terribly cheap while I was there, so I at at street stalls as often as I wanted. Portion sizes were small enough that you could sample a lot of cuisine. Fruit stalls were plentiful too. There is really no camping in S.E. Asia, due to land mines, etc. So you stay at guest houses, which were extremely inexpensive while I was there. People are extremely friendly and helpful. Some will try and become your friend simply because you'll buy them a meal, others to practice English or for the prestige. This was a bit annoying at times, but hardly insidious. Lots of children will run out and yell "hello" which gets tiresome on long stretches...but still rather cute. What people don't mention, is you have lots of time to your thoughts. My journals from this time period has tons of great inventions and ideas for books, businesses and what not. My writer friends were jealous of the outpouring of long form writing that I was doing at this time. I highly recommend bike tours!
- prmoustache 4y ago
  There are a number of bicycle tourers who adopted pets, mostly cats and dogs while travelling. It complicates a bit the "administrative" part to get accross borders but it can be done. Small ones can ride in the basket provided they have ample shades, there are dedicated trailers for dogs and there are even dogs who get used to jump in and out of a simple platform trailer to run or get carried depending if the road is flat, going uphill or downhill.
  - wolverine876 4y ago
bbu 4y ago
I've travelled ("overlanding") the panamerican highway for roughly 2 1/2 years and I've always admired the people doing this on a bicycle. Since I'm back I've done much more bike touring than before and I do enjoy it a lot. The best thing about bike travelling is that speed, you really do get a sense of the landscape and the changing of it. On the other hand, a quick detour up to a mountain that you saw from the coast is not an easy feat and you will have to skip a lot of things that are not on your route.
AtlasBarfed 4y ago
Ye gods an electrified bike with a 50-75 mile range, assist/etc would make this so much more accessible for people: you can tow more, get up hills, fight headwinds like a pro cyclist would. And you can recharge over lunch. You could probably go 100 miles a day with the energy of a 20-30 mile ride, and hold 20mph if you needed to regardless of conditions. And carry all the serious rain gear too. And the bikes are tougher, you can carry spares and tools... The only issue is the asshole drivers of America, especially the roll coal pickup trucks. And it is tough, because rural America is conservative and full of very angry pickup truck drivers.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  I built just that (or rather, I built the battery and figured out how to hook it up safely to the existing system): https://jacquesmattheij.com/long-range-ebike/ https://jacquesmattheij.com/long-range-ebike/ It does a shade under 100 miles on one charge.
prmoustache 4y ago
Even better on a tall bike https://youtu.be/WcdA4D9IyLM https://youtu.be/WcdA4D9IyLM
mjay23 4y ago
Some day i am going to try this route (1000k through the entire Transilvania for hiking or bicycle, no cars). Maybe some of you would find it interesting :) https://www.viatransilvanica.com/traseu https://www.viatransilvanica.com/traseu https://www.viatransilvanica.com/ghid https://www.viatransilvanica.com/ghid
syndacks 4y ago
I rode from CA to NYC and wrote a book about it. The writing was much harder than the riding! If anyone wants to read it lmk how to contact you and I’ll send it.
contingencies 4y ago
I have cycle-toured in Australia, France, Yunnan (a lot), Laos, Romania, Taiwan, and Thailand on many bikes, but always on fat-tires with a steel frame, and personally most enjoy discovering new places, being away from people in nature, and conquering mountains. Nearly every day was fun but the history, scenery and food in Yunnan are amazing, and conquering Transfăgărășan[0] (Romania) from the north was memorable. You don't have to camp. I have only once cycle-camped for two nights in a remote region of Yunnan, usually I prefer to stay in small town hotels (save weight, less baggage). Key advice for new cycle-tourists: break your bike in first with local trips to ensure everything is hunky-dory mechanically, bring spare tubes (patching is too tedious unless you are going super far), minimizing bike weight is less important than having good gearing, buy quality bags (cheap ones will break and are not waterproof), and disc breaks are a must (V-brakes will wear in no time and provide insufficient stopping torque for heavily loaded bikes). Also, it's not a competition: you don't have to spend all day every day on the bike. I prefer to do 3-5 hours starting early in the morning, check in somewhere, wash cycle clothing, eat and explore an area. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transf%C4%83g%C4%83r%C4%83%C8%99an https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transf%C4%83g%C4%83r%C4%83%C8%...
- hoten 4y ago
  How do you handle the short term planning for such trips? Are you calling and booking hotels ahead of time each day or do you just show up in a town at whatever time and figure it out last minute?
  - contingencies 4y ago
    It depends. On or off the bike my philosophy for travel is generally to never pre-book anything unless flying internationally or going to some major city where walking around to find a hotel is too tedious/time consuming/expensive (on a "waste half a room-night" basis). This is less of a valid exception when cycle touring, since it is so easy to cover ground on a bike, but cycling around dense Asian cities is no fun like Europe. Usually, out of a city, it's always a combination of destination research and satellite view / Google Earth. I look for small roads, vague estimates of the topography, and major sites of interest en-route. Things frequently worth stopping for by bike that car people miss are numerous: bridges, views, caves, villages, botanic gardens, waterfalls, beaches, festivals, weddings, funerals, markets, landslides, bullfights, wild animals, botany, insects, roadside vendors, food, historic plaques, locals, kids, etc. To be really relaxed and up for anything you don't want to fix your timing, so forward planning is a no-no. Research is completed when you have a general idea of topography and a general idea of what to deviate, look or stop for en-route, and a couple of towns that might be viable for end-of-stage.
Jistern 4y ago
Velomobiles are expensive. They are recumbent bicycles or tricycles with a fairing (a hard shell) that decreases drag and protects the rider from wind, rain, snow, etc. Last I checked they were around $5,000 to $10,000 (five thousand US dollars to ten thousand US dollars) but they look kind of great for touring to me. You can find myriad velomobile videos on YouTube. Flags, pool noodles (yeah, pool noodles), and of course LEDs can make them highly visible. For commuting the "Rotovelo" looks like it might be a good choice because it seems like it can easily withstand bumps, bangs, and scrapes. See... Rotovelo Ice Hockey Match! https://youtu.be/F_wXHFab5XU?t=108 https://youtu.be/F_wXHFab5XU?t=108

267 points by galfarragem 4y ago

Agreed with all of these, and they don't apply just to the US. It's funny to realize that until the 60's or so bicycle holidays were the norm here, then it became car trips and after that airplane rides to ever more exotic locations. But not all that long ago it was just grandpa and grandma and their tent on a bike. A tandem if they were going for the fancy version (or if grandma wanted to do some knitting on the way...). As for the reasons themselves, I'd like to add: 7) friendships made on bike tours seem to last a life time 8) people help each other far more readily than when using other modes of transportation 9) the sense of accomplishment 10) the sense of immersion, which is far stronger than when looking at the scenery through the windshield of a car 11) the confidence boost from accomplishment 12) if you travel with others you will get to know them much better as people than when making the same trip by car or plane (their good sides and their bad sides)

davem8 4y ago

I quit my job as a data scientist in 2019 and spent about 6 months cycling around Europe. It was a great move it really built my confidence and enforced my since of self reliance. I was on my own things would go wrong bike trouble, bad weather, difficulty finding a place to camp, loneliness, but I could overcome them all and realised I can solve any problem the world throws at me. I was a little worried about finding a job after, and having a gap on my CV but I easily found another data science job and have changed jobs no one even asks about it. If like me you have an urge to take a bicycle tour do it you won’t regret it.

LightG 4y ago
I have a similar gap in my CV. I've found that the companies/people I most want to work for are genuinelyhttps://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=LightG https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=LightG interested in that gap rather than are suspicious about it. I use how they respond to it as a minor filter for those I don't want to work with.
- Hellbanevil 4y ago
  Get a state license in anything, and say you were unemployed for those resume gaps. Most license requirements are easy to fudge.
vanilla_nut 4y ago
I’ve gotten really into touring in the last couple of years, and a Euro bike trip is in my plans for next spring/summer. Any suggestions for what season and where you’d recommend for a month-long tour? I’m currently thinking May, perhaps the corridor from Normandy thru Brussels onto Amsterdam. But I haven’t visited enough of Europe to know if temperatures/wind/weather will be amenable for that. Of course I’m also considering dropping my job at some point and biking for 6+ months.
- eCa 4y ago
  I would probably have gone with June for that, but on the other hand I once spent an entire July biking in Spain, which to be fair was a bit hot. To see historic weather I use wunderground.com, for example, here[1] is the weather for May 2021 in Amsterdam. I usually check a few years to avoid one-off years. [1] https://www.wunderground.com/calendar/nl/amsterdam-airport-schiphol/EHAM/date/2021-5 https://www.wunderground.com/calendar/nl/amsterdam-airport-s...

Ayesh 4y ago

Touring Europe cycling is amazing, I did Strasbourg to Montpelier on a Dutch bike, with short legs between Amsterdam to Nice. It was amazing, I had a good tent, sleeping bag, and a mattress. My trip was over 2,000km, including a climb to Ventoux (part of Tour De France in 2012 IIRC). One thing that's not mentioned in the article is to use Couch Surfing and Warm Showers. Warm Showers especially is amazing, because it is an amazing cycling community and you can borrow anything from small stitching kits to a full-on welding kits to fix bicycles. Full of amazing things and people in almost all euro velo routes. FlixBus will take bicycle on board on most buses (for 10 euros IIRC), and most trains will too on weekends and off-peak hours. Overall, it was a fantastic experience and I can't recommend it enough.

jacquesm 4y ago
That's impressive, to do those climbs on a regular bike.
- float4 4y ago
  Here's a dude climbing Ventoux on a single speed Dutch bike (subtitles available): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvDp5uCD0Kk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvDp5uCD0Kk He also did it on a kids bike the year before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49V4P_wkKTU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49V4P_wkKTU I should mention he currently rides for a UCI ProTeam, which is one tier away from the highest level in the world.
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    We have our annual 'against the wind' contest here because of lack of hills, this year they coincided with a 9 Beaufort wind which made for some interesting complications.
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    Hehe, that's so funny :) So, some more context: swapfiets is the dutch student bike provider, they are very basic bikes, no gears, no nothing because what isn't on them can't break. Key quote: "What do you miss the most about a racing bike?" -> "A slightly lighter gear". He's doing remarkably well by the way, testimony to his skills, keeping up with those guys on their carbon frame racers with 22 gears is extremely impressive even over a short distance. The gearing on a typical swapfiets is typically 46/16 or 44/16 so ~3:1, on a racing bike you would have access to 36/23 or even 34/23 on a special climbing gear set. So he has to work about twice as hard to maintain the same speed. Passing bike comments 'you're crazy man' :)

virgildotcodes 4y ago

I hate cardio, I grumble constantly when my girlfriend drags me out on hikes, and to be honest half the time I'm on a bicycle, touring, I'm in agony. The seemingly infinite hills in 95 degree heat will make you question whose stupid idea this was over and over. That said, there are these moments of bliss, finding yourself in nooks and crannies of the world that 90% of tourists never see, spending all day out in the sunshine, feeling the breeze, smelling the grass and the flowers, stopping to have daily picnics in random fields, next to lakes, overlooking beautiful mountain ranges... You're taking it slow, so you really take it all in. You're constantly ravenous so every meal you have is one of the greatest of your life. Maybe the exercise induced endorphins are boosting it all a bit too. Anyway, some of the best memories of my life are those I made while bicycle touring.

jacquesm 4y ago
> and to be honest half the time I'm on a bicycle, touring, I'm in agony Is your bike set up properly? That can make a world of a difference, if your bike is not perfectly set up for your body on a longer tour it can really hurt.
- virgildotcodes 4y ago
  I've gone to a few different bike fitters over the years, as well as physical therapists. A proper bike fit did finally fix my knee issues, but the agony I'm talking about is the kind you experience from riding up and down steep hills all day in the hot sun, the saddle soreness, the general full body aches, pains, cuts and scrapes like you've been getting beat up all day. That said I'm also a big whiny out of shape baby.
  - locallost 4y ago
    Hang in there and try to find something you like :-). I love riding and even though I dislike all the same things you do, for me it's more fuel than it is making me give up. With that said there are hills and there are hills - we did just the last 10km after our train ride recently but it was all uphill all the time. We took almost two hours because my family just couldn't make it. It was rough even for me. Going back was the a 30 minute breeze, we spent more energy braking :-).

shimonabi 4y ago

Coworkers that are cyclists often tell me they are always afraid on the road because the car drivers don't keep the proper distance. I myself have experienced some close calls and I only ride a few times a year.

jacquesm 4y ago
Highly country dependent though.
- xtracto 4y ago
  Ha! I was all excited reading the comments and thinking that maybe it would be a nice little adventure in my quest to become fitter. Then i remembered that I live in Mexico and going on a bike ride/camping would be a death sentence due to reckless drivers, robbers/muggers or drug traffickers. I'll keep doing stationary bike.
  - alisonatwork 4y ago
    I decided against cycling into Mexico when I was recently cycling across North America because I was worried about the security situation. I ended up flying to Panama then traveling down to Colombia, where I started touring again. I am not sure about the security situation in Colombia versus Mexico, but the statistics do show that it still has a fairly significant amount of violent crime. Unlike my more free-spirited touring in Canada and the US, I was more careful about where I went. I kept track of the local news every day and avoided towns and areas with political rallies or paramilitary activity. I never camped anywhere, preferring to stay in hospedajes for around us$10 per night. I also bought a cheap (<us$250) bike with only 6 gears that looked similar to the kinds of bike campesinos rode around. And I spent more time on main roads with regular police/military checkpoints instead of taking any interesting back road I liked. The back roads I did take, I checked out on Google Street View beforehand, and leaned a lot on advice from local people. It was perhaps not as picturesque and peaceful as my riding in US/Canada, but it was still worth it for me. I met a few people down there who had greeted cyclists that had cycled all the way down from Canada, including through Mexico, so it's definitely possible to achieve, although different areas need different precautions. Perhaps it is wiser to do your first tour in a "safe" place so you get more comfortable with the process.

matt7aylor 4y ago

I've just come back from a short (~400 mile) bicycle tour to visit some friends and have previously travelled by bicycle to conferences or events all over Europe. If you only ever travelled long distances by highway/rail/air it could be hard to appreciate how much richer the world feels travelling by bicycle. Instead of a dreary bubble between generic transportation hubs you are generally travelling along the old routes that connect all the places where life has been for millennia, the amount of history (in Europe at least), scenery and humanity you stumble across just in the course of a typical day covering maybe 50 miles is huge. The typical question people ask is "how long did it take?" but the experience itself is more fulfilling, this is very much not what it's about (and you can speed up with trains etc. if you really need to get somewhere). It's one of the only ways I manage to properly disconnect from the ongoing background stress weight of running a startup. I'll eat 5 meals a day, everything tastes amazing and come back healthier and lighter (in more ways than one). I'll be living cheap (though the large amount of food can start to add up) and free under my own power and direction and carrying everything I need to stay so along with me. I'll be meeting people along the way and connecting with their humanity and kindness in a way that just doesn't seem to happen quite the same when you aren't travelling by bicycle. It may not be for everyone but I want to live in a world where that experience feels accessible to as many as possible.

discordance 4y ago
Love riding but doing that next to high speed cars and trucks sucks. That doesn’t get to you?
- matt7aylor 4y ago
  It may depend a little on where you are but generally on a cycle tour, where speed isn't such a priority, you don't tend to be taking the same bigger roads used by high speed cars or trucks (or may even be on routes largely separate from the roads). It can happen on occasion that you might want/need to go down a slightly busier road, in that case being a bit more of an odd road user (heavily loaded bicycle stands out) often you get a bit more consideration but a bit of road confidence certainly doesn't hurt. I can't speak for everywhere but in Europe (where most of my experience is) I think you would be able to find plenty of routes without much traffic (checkout places like https://www.opencyclemap.org/ https://www.opencyclemap.org/ ) and ironically those routes would probably have much more to see on them than the routes that did have the cars and trucks on.

groundthrower 4y ago

Have cycled from Northern Europe to South Africa, crossed Europe several times and also crossed US, New York to California. Best way to experience a country. Don’t have time? Try to do a quick one and turn it into an adventure. One of my most exciting trips was going from Southern to Northern Europe in just a week. I recommend to pack lightly, and don’t spend to much time planning on gear and routes - just do it otherwise you’ll risk to postpone it again and again.. just do it.

jacquesm 4y ago
> One of my most exciting trips was going from Southern to Northern Europe in just a week. Now that is impressive. Do you remember your route?

user_7832 4y ago

This reminded me of a particular quote, I think by an Indian author. To paraphrase "Cars are way too fast, the world speeds past in a blur. Bullock/ox carts are nice but not much faster than walking. Cycling, however, gives you time to say hi and be waved back, while being fast enough to be practical." I wish I could remember the author (maybe Sudha Murthy, Ruskin Bond, Rudyard Kipling or even perhaps Roald Dahl?), perhaps some other HN-er might remember!

mahathu 4y ago

Sounds amazing, but when do you have time for that once you're working full time? Do employers usually offer unpaid time off?

bbu 4y ago
since it doesn't require a lot of money you simply quit your job if you want to do that for an extend period or take unpaid leave if you can arrange something w/ your employeer.

cranekam 4y ago

This indeed. I have crossed the Pyrenees twice and the Alps from north to south by bike. We chose the fast and light options, riding road bikes and staying in hotels, but still the feeling of crossing a large map entirely under one's own steam is gratifying and addictive.

brudgers 4y ago

It’s not hard to cover 50 miles a day, or 300 miles in a week, which means you can see a lot. Yet stop in a second, anywhere. Nothing against bicycle touring, but while a bicycle may force slower travel, a bicycle is not necessary for it. A person can road trip in their car, truck, or van [1] at a similar pace. The daily cost of gasoline will be fairly low...less than about $20 per day even for a motorhome driving California. How a person travels is more a matter of time resources. At 300 miles a week, it will take ten weeks to go from coast to coast. Few people have that kind of free time. And if you have ten weeks for travel, you will almost certainly have a life changing experience irrespective of travel mode. [1] or upon a motorcycle, moped, or scooter.

bklaasen 4y ago
> A person can road trip in their car, truck, or van > or upon a motorcycle, moped, or scooter. Not quite the same thing; you're isolated from your environment by the noise and the cabin or the helmet. You won't hear the birdsong, the silence, the wind rustling in the trees. Much of the depth of the experience is in the total engagement with your environment from moment to moment. > Few people have that kind of free time. ...if they're selling their labour in exchange for money. Do you need to spend quite as much as you do every fortnight? If you're not living from paycheck to paycheck, spend a couple of years saving and then take time off to do a big trip. I did it during 2017; the mortgage payments continued and I lived on the rest. I had money left over at the end.
- brudgers 4y ago
  Everyone can find moral superiority in their personal choices without much effort. Finding morality in someone else’s orthogonal choices is the hard work. For me, the birdsong and the wind are there but for stopping beside the road for the sake of stopping. In those moments I am just there not even riding a bicycle.
  - wnolens 4y ago
    You can take a helicopter to the top of a mountain in 1/20th the time, step out and see the same view, but is it really a comparable experience to having hiked it?

em-bee 4y ago

during middle and highschool i did a 6 week trip from germany to the center of france and then back through switzerland. the most memorable day was where i spent half a day pushing my bike up a mountain, and then go down the other side in less than half an hour. another trip was two weeks around the southern half of denmark, and another two weeks all over luxemburg. the craziest trip was going from austria to the netherlands. the goal was to be in the netherlands for the summer, so i took my bike to truck-stops and looked for trucks that might have space for my bike and asked to hitch-hike. that got me a mix of hitchhiking and biking on scenic hiking paths. i switched from biking to trains when i discovered how much cheaper the trains in eastern europe were. before doing these solo-trips i was part of a youthgroup that did most of their trips on bikes. we were all middle-school kids, and in the evening we would split into groups of three and knock on doors seeking a place to sleep. another memorable trip was cycling through new jersey, wearing a cycling jersey depicting a cow on a bike. that was a trip with several dozen people, organized by the bike commissioner (or something like that) of washington D.C. now with family, i'd love to get back on a bike again and take my kids on new adventures.

simonebrunozzi 4y ago

Where one could find the equivalente of these great 8 bike trips, but in Europe, instead of US?

stevenwoo 4y ago
None of these is exclusively on non car routes but a couple come close https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/jul/05/10-great-long-distance-cycle-routes-europe-normandy-rome-readers-tips https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/jul/05/10-great-long...

bawana 4y ago

Humans and our ancient immune system are not evolved for living in the hives we call cities. Cycling (and the constraints of this transportation mode)will lead to a healthier, more robust, more productive civilization if we design for it. Cycling first should be our design directive.

SQL2219 4y ago

maybe you'll have no choice https://youtu.be/Slszva6kk90 https://youtu.be/Slszva6kk90

rickspencer3 4y ago

In, cough, 1991, my wife and I did a bike tour in Europe for our honeymoon. We spent a total of 4 weeks in Holland, England, and Germany. We took trains and of course ferries to cover larger differences. We did less than 50 miles in a typical day, iirc. The thing is, back then, no GPS, no Internet, just maps and asking people for help. The trip was not particularly challenging and was very rewarding. It seems like such a trip would be even more easy and fun today with all of the extra context and information that you have with a smart phone.

abyssin 4y ago
I agree! What I love about a bicycle trip is how little preparation it actually requires during the fair weather season. You don't need fancy equipment and a phone gives you all the information you need. The OsmAnd app is quite good.

rambambram 4y ago

During corona time I suddenly found myself with a bicycle caravan project. It's like a big cart - one person bed size - for behind my bicycle. I recently finished this thing and am now planning to go for a test ride soon. https://theredpanther.org https://theredpanther.org

jacquesm 4y ago
Absolutely fantastic, what an amazing build!
- rambambram 4y ago
  Thanks!

oskhib 4y ago

I might be embarking on a similar trip next year—same route. I'm not familiar with the American climate; What would be the ideal time of year to do such a journey? February/March to July/August?

nverno 4y ago
I did the northern route, NH to OR, July-Sept. It was getting a bit chilly towards the end, but the scary weather is storms you hit in the midwest in the open plains. Those tend to be worst in the late summer, I think. It's pretty terrifying on a bike in the middle of nowhere, with plains as far as the eye can see, when the horizon ahead turns black and you just watch the lightning bear down on you. People out there are really nice, though, and would often pull over and offer shelter.

sour-taste 4y ago

Last summer I completed a cross-USA ride from Oregon to Virginia, over 3000 miles. It was the most fulfilling amazing experience of my life. My family is tired of hearing me start sentences with 'when I was on my ride'. That said it was scary at times. In the US some places are outright hostile to cyclists. I was flipped off, coated in exhaust by big diesel burning trucks (on purpose), and run off the road multiple times (not sure if intentionally). It truly is an amazing experience but the lack of bike infra in this country is so sad. My next ride is going to be an off-road one where I don't have to worry about cars.

philips 4y ago
I did Oregon to Idaho and having to take even brief moments on freeways or riding on the shoulder with passing semi trucks was enough to convince me that cross country wasn’t for me. We really need to complete the cross country trail. https://www.railstotrails.org/greatamericanrailtrail/ https://www.railstotrails.org/greatamericanrailtrail/
tech_tuna 4y ago
Years ago, I rode from Boston to Seattle (with a nontrivial and unplanned detour through Canada) by myself. I may never do another cycling tour again (for a number of reasons) but it was one of the greatest experiences in my life. It all started out when I heard about some friends (brothers) who did the same and I know that I personally motivated at least 3 other people to do similar rides. Oh jeez, I could go on and on actually, but I will keep it brief, it was a wonderful experience overall. I am lucky and grateful that I was able to do something like that.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  > I could go on Please do! Fascinating all these stories.

kcindric 4y ago

I commuted everyday using my bicycle and did a few tours in my 20s here in Europe. Those were the best travel experiences I had in my life, especially when my partner joined me on one of my tours. But few months into my 30s I hurt my back (two herniated discs) and although I'm mostly fine now I can't ride a bicycle for longer periods. This depresses me quite a bit. I miss the freedom, views and the community. I started to think about buying a recumbent bike for touring but there's no one around me who owns or sells one to try it.

cycomanic 4y ago
> I started to think about buying a recumbent bike for touring but there's no one around me who owns or sells one to try it. My mother used to have one. As long as you're not crossing the Alpes it is great for tours (the riding tends to be significantly easier due to less wind resistance), but not so great for commuting in the city (you're seen less, have less maneuverability, need more space for parking ...). I highly recommend searching out a place and maybe do a weekend trip to a city near you where there is a job to try it out, however be aware it takes a while to really feel comfortable on them.
- kcindric 4y ago
  I heard riding up-hill is more challenging but it's still better than not riding at all. I'll probably have to ride 300-400 km to a more bike-centric place to find a shop that sells recumbents but there's no other option. These types of bikes are expensive though.
downut 4y ago
I have never ridden a recumbent. But for 7 years I had a regular cycling partner who rode one, for similar reasons. He was also an ultra cyclist (think 300 miles or more a ride). We did many centuries in the mountain West. Very hard to draft on the long downhill grades, but slow on the up. No big deal. The thing is the poser cyclists who sport the carbon and the kit and the electronics are almost entirely squares and will give you shade... but you just ignore them. It's the people riding across the country, enjoying themselves, not caring what other people think, that's the people I want to ride with. As for trying one out, I would recommend talking to your LBS with the best mechanical reputation. Every recumbent rider I've seen was the only one around, and because their rigs are non-standard they tend to have a very good relationship with their competent LBS. I suspect the local recumbent person would be delighted to introduce you to their ride.

hahamrfunnyguy 4y ago

I've had a couple of bikes stolen in my lifetime. One thing that would prevent me from enjoying the trip as much is a fear of having my bike and all my gear stolen. What do you do with your bike and gear if you want to stop and so some sightseeing?

paulcole 4y ago
What kind of sightseeing do you mean? When stopped in a city, we left our bikes in the hotel so we could walk around. But when on the road, it’s a lot of leaning bikes against a building while you go in to get food or whatever. Sometimes, we’d have somebody stay with the bikes while the others went inside. Sometimes, we’d lock up and sometimes we’d get lazy and hope for the best. But I wasn’t riding in a high-theft area.
downut 4y ago
When eating lunch, I look for a place with big windows and then I put my bike where I can see it from the inside. Also, attach your helmet with the strap through the front wheel and the fork. If I wanted to go on a hike, I would start the hike with the bike and then maybe 500' in I would veer off about the same distance and stash it out of sight. If I was in a city that had no organized storage I'd just stop at a bike shop and ask if I could stash it there for a few hours. If you were for real with panniers and stuff I can't imagine them saying no.

Finnucane 4y ago

Check out the tour logs on https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/ https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/

chrismorgan 4y ago

I strongly recommend a recumbent tricycle for solo touring. I’ve done multi-week cycling trips with my Greenspeed GT3 twice in America and once in New Zealand and almost once in Australia. Recumbent trikes are much more convenient for these purposes. I’ve gone from basically not having done any exercise at all for several months to riding ~100km per day, ending up only weary in the legs at the end of each day, not in pain in at least back and crotch as you certainly would be on an upright bike. The inherent stability of a three wheel base means you can load quite heavily without it being in the slightest bit troublesome—you’ll go slower, but won’t have any balance issue. In each of my trips, it hasn’t been just a cycling tour, but I’ve had other gear with me too, as it has become my habit if I’m going to another country for any sort of work or conference to take my trike with me and explore the place thus. My typical load is well in excess of 20kg—panniers on a rear wheel rack, then pile other stuff on top and strap it all down with bungee cords. I have a fairly heavy tarp that I use to wrap the trike up for air travel (it folds in half), and then it serves as a ground sheet for camping. I am firmly convinced that trikes are considerably safer, too; as well as the inherent stability, there’s also visibility, your visibility: you behold the world in front of you readily without needing to crane your neck, and, since you can’t really look over your shoulder due to the posture, you have a mirror that is mounted in such a way that it works well (which isn’t my experience of mirrors on bicycles), so that you can easily keep an eye on what’s coming up, and interact usefully with traffic rather than being blind. The only downsides I’ve really observed are: (a) being lower, you generally can’t see well over guard rails at scenic points on bridges and ocean roads; (b) off-road cycling trails are probably not well-adapted to you (not that this quite stopped me from taking things like the Timber Trail and the Remutaka Trail in NZ last year, though the GT3 specifically is very poorly suited for both with its extremely low clearance on its rear derailleur); and (c) three tracks instead of one generally leads to a rougher ride on very-low-quality surfaces, and more potential for debris punctures (in 2014, on my first cycling tour, I discovered that California in autumn has a particularly virulent type of thorn endemic, and that the slick tyres that the trike came with are eminently unsuitable—I averaged more than one flat per day, where on subsequent trips with Schwalbe Marathon Plus I’ve never had one).

kcindric 4y ago
Thanks for sharing this! I'm really interested in getting a recumbent because of my back injury (I talk about this in this thread) and I think I'll start exploring all the options. The only two things that are holding me back are a) these types of bikes are more expensive than regular ones, multiple times b) embracing that I can't probably ride a regular bike anymore, it's a mental thing, and it's a mix of grief and fear how will people perceive me.

andrewshadura 4y ago

I can recommend a great bicycle tour planner, https://cycle.travel/ https://cycle.travel/ The map style is optimised for bicycle tours, it can automatically split the journey into day-sized chunks, find potential accommodation around overnight stops and much more. It also includes a blog engine, so you can blog about every part of your trip directly at the website.

TexanFeller 4y ago

In 95% of the US traveling by bike is insanely dangerous. Drivers do not expect to see bikes and their habits are adjusted accordingly. For example driving on the shoulder to let someone pass. Noone expects to see a bike there and pedestrians aren’t foolish enough to stand there, and a bike would be in even more danger in the road itself. In Austin the so called bike lanes are crossed over by car turning lanes. Zero chance of me biking on public roads until bike lanes are physically separated, not just some painted line. I’ve been to Amsterdam and places where it is safe and we are decades if not centuries away from that working here.

Drunk_Engineer 4y ago
North America offers many off-road touring opportunities. For example, the Great Divide route runs 2,100 miles from Canada to New Mexico, running almost entirely over unpaved roads. And New York has the 350-mile Erie canal trail.
- TexanFeller 4y ago
  Interesting! So maybe there is a safe place to try it when I retire and have the time.

rene_d 4y ago

If you enjoy reading about other people's bike travels, take a look at [1]. The site allows long distance cyclists to write journals of their trips while they are on tour, some of which had me binge-read them for entire weekends. Also, the site carries a lovely craigslist vibe :) Focussing on the match-made-in-heaven which are cycling & food, [2] chronicles the experiences of a bloke in his mid-20s, who ditches his job at an ad agency (as well as his girlfriend) after becoming enamored with cycle touring, and travels through North and South America in search of the perfect meal. [1] https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/ https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/ [2] The Hungry Cyclist, https://www.amazon.com/Hungry-Cyclist-Tom-Kevill-Davies/dp/0007278845 https://www.amazon.com/Hungry-Cyclist-Tom-Kevill-Davies/dp/0...

contingencies 4y ago
Also strongly recommend https://mrpumpy.net/ https://mrpumpy.net/

nanomonkey 4y ago

I did a 3,000 km solo bicycle tour of S.E. Asia, started in Bangkok Thailand, headed up north to get my legs and then dropped back down once I was comfortable and headed off for Cambodia, crossed over to Vietnam and headed up the coast, headed east and into Laos to cross back to Thailand again. Best experience of my life. If I didn't have a dog, I would do something similar once a year. My general method was to ride for 4 hours, usually covering 100km (60 miles). Some days there isn't a good destination within that distance, or the terrain is steep, poor roads or an extreme headwind. On those days I'd put in more time or do distance (sometimes only covering 30 km). Once I got to a nice location I'd stay until I felt there wasn't anything interesting to take in, usually 1-3 days, and then I'd head back out. Sometimes you want to put in back to back rides, other times you just want to sit and relax on a beach. Food was terribly cheap while I was there, so I at at street stalls as often as I wanted. Portion sizes were small enough that you could sample a lot of cuisine. Fruit stalls were plentiful too. There is really no camping in S.E. Asia, due to land mines, etc. So you stay at guest houses, which were extremely inexpensive while I was there. People are extremely friendly and helpful. Some will try and become your friend simply because you'll buy them a meal, others to practice English or for the prestige. This was a bit annoying at times, but hardly insidious. Lots of children will run out and yell "hello" which gets tiresome on long stretches...but still rather cute. What people don't mention, is you have lots of time to your thoughts. My journals from this time period has tons of great inventions and ideas for books, businesses and what not. My writer friends were jealous of the outpouring of long form writing that I was doing at this time. I highly recommend bike tours!

prmoustache 4y ago
There are a number of bicycle tourers who adopted pets, mostly cats and dogs while travelling. It complicates a bit the "administrative" part to get accross borders but it can be done. Small ones can ride in the basket provided they have ample shades, there are dedicated trailers for dogs and there are even dogs who get used to jump in and out of a simple platform trailer to run or get carried depending if the road is flat, going uphill or downhill.
- wolverine876 4y ago

bbu 4y ago

I've travelled ("overlanding") the panamerican highway for roughly 2 1/2 years and I've always admired the people doing this on a bicycle. Since I'm back I've done much more bike touring than before and I do enjoy it a lot. The best thing about bike travelling is that speed, you really do get a sense of the landscape and the changing of it. On the other hand, a quick detour up to a mountain that you saw from the coast is not an easy feat and you will have to skip a lot of things that are not on your route.

AtlasBarfed 4y ago

Ye gods an electrified bike with a 50-75 mile range, assist/etc would make this so much more accessible for people: you can tow more, get up hills, fight headwinds like a pro cyclist would. And you can recharge over lunch. You could probably go 100 miles a day with the energy of a 20-30 mile ride, and hold 20mph if you needed to regardless of conditions. And carry all the serious rain gear too. And the bikes are tougher, you can carry spares and tools... The only issue is the asshole drivers of America, especially the roll coal pickup trucks. And it is tough, because rural America is conservative and full of very angry pickup truck drivers.

jacquesm 4y ago
I built just that (or rather, I built the battery and figured out how to hook it up safely to the existing system): https://jacquesmattheij.com/long-range-ebike/ https://jacquesmattheij.com/long-range-ebike/ It does a shade under 100 miles on one charge.

prmoustache 4y ago

Even better on a tall bike https://youtu.be/WcdA4D9IyLM https://youtu.be/WcdA4D9IyLM

mjay23 4y ago

Some day i am going to try this route (1000k through the entire Transilvania for hiking or bicycle, no cars). Maybe some of you would find it interesting :) https://www.viatransilvanica.com/traseu https://www.viatransilvanica.com/traseu https://www.viatransilvanica.com/ghid https://www.viatransilvanica.com/ghid

syndacks 4y ago

I rode from CA to NYC and wrote a book about it. The writing was much harder than the riding! If anyone wants to read it lmk how to contact you and I’ll send it.

contingencies 4y ago

I have cycle-toured in Australia, France, Yunnan (a lot), Laos, Romania, Taiwan, and Thailand on many bikes, but always on fat-tires with a steel frame, and personally most enjoy discovering new places, being away from people in nature, and conquering mountains. Nearly every day was fun but the history, scenery and food in Yunnan are amazing, and conquering Transfăgărășan[0] (Romania) from the north was memorable. You don't have to camp. I have only once cycle-camped for two nights in a remote region of Yunnan, usually I prefer to stay in small town hotels (save weight, less baggage). Key advice for new cycle-tourists: break your bike in first with local trips to ensure everything is hunky-dory mechanically, bring spare tubes (patching is too tedious unless you are going super far), minimizing bike weight is less important than having good gearing, buy quality bags (cheap ones will break and are not waterproof), and disc breaks are a must (V-brakes will wear in no time and provide insufficient stopping torque for heavily loaded bikes). Also, it's not a competition: you don't have to spend all day every day on the bike. I prefer to do 3-5 hours starting early in the morning, check in somewhere, wash cycle clothing, eat and explore an area. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transf%C4%83g%C4%83r%C4%83%C8%99an https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transf%C4%83g%C4%83r%C4%83%C8%...

hoten 4y ago
How do you handle the short term planning for such trips? Are you calling and booking hotels ahead of time each day or do you just show up in a town at whatever time and figure it out last minute?
- contingencies 4y ago
  It depends. On or off the bike my philosophy for travel is generally to never pre-book anything unless flying internationally or going to some major city where walking around to find a hotel is too tedious/time consuming/expensive (on a "waste half a room-night" basis). This is less of a valid exception when cycle touring, since it is so easy to cover ground on a bike, but cycling around dense Asian cities is no fun like Europe. Usually, out of a city, it's always a combination of destination research and satellite view / Google Earth. I look for small roads, vague estimates of the topography, and major sites of interest en-route. Things frequently worth stopping for by bike that car people miss are numerous: bridges, views, caves, villages, botanic gardens, waterfalls, beaches, festivals, weddings, funerals, markets, landslides, bullfights, wild animals, botany, insects, roadside vendors, food, historic plaques, locals, kids, etc. To be really relaxed and up for anything you don't want to fix your timing, so forward planning is a no-no. Research is completed when you have a general idea of topography and a general idea of what to deviate, look or stop for en-route, and a couple of towns that might be viable for end-of-stage.

Jistern 4y ago

Velomobiles are expensive. They are recumbent bicycles or tricycles with a fairing (a hard shell) that decreases drag and protects the rider from wind, rain, snow, etc. Last I checked they were around $5,000 to $10,000 (five thousand US dollars to ten thousand US dollars) but they look kind of great for touring to me. You can find myriad velomobile videos on YouTube. Flags, pool noodles (yeah, pool noodles), and of course LEDs can make them highly visible. For commuting the "Rotovelo" looks like it might be a good choice because it seems like it can easily withstand bumps, bangs, and scrapes. See... Rotovelo Ice Hockey Match! https://youtu.be/F_wXHFab5XU?t=108 https://youtu.be/F_wXHFab5XU?t=108