New to cycle touring
 

For many years I have toured on both 2 and 4 wheels but always with a motor. I have decided to give pedal power a go and am off on my first trip in a couple of weeks. It is only a short 10 day tour but it is a good many years since I traveled any distance under my own steam. The plan is to do the trans pennine trail which luckily has a spur staring close to my home and pedal coast to coast and then back home. I already have lightweight backpacking gear so should be OK on that front but any other advice would be welcomed.

Pace yourself

Don't overpack

Pace yourself

Take the time to set up the bike properly for ergonomics

Pace yourself

Check out www.warmshowers.org

Pace yourself

Be prepared to enjoy a peaceful ride where you actually hear the birds chirping

Pace yourself

Have fun :thumbup1:

...Michelle

Local info is usually good so go join https://forum.cyclinguk.org/

Pace yourself -
First day make it short in both time and distance and elevation gain.
Second day - make it a little longer
Third day longer again

You get the idea. Build up, don't start out thinking you can do an 'average day' but rather start very easy .. say 40 miles or less depending on the hills. Use a cycle tour planer to find your elevation gains before you get there.

Put a tour route together and post it over on cyclinguk and see what the local experts say.

Well the first trip was a big learning curve for me. The bike set up was a little off and I had to purchase a handlebar stem riser after 3 days and 200 miles due to some chronic neck pain. The difference it made was massive and the more upright position made the riding infinitely more comfortable. As most will appreciate as well there was some equipment that I could have left behind to reduce weigh(cooker and fuel, coffee etc). I also think a gel saddle cover would be preferable to cycling shorts as after washing them they were still damp in the mornings when I had to put them back on which was far from ideal. Unfortunately the trip came to a premature end after 370ish miles due to a number of infected bites on my knee which caused it to swell up significantly. Required antibiotics upon my return.

On the positive side the bike performed brilliantly once my body position was correct. There were some truly memorable wildlife moments actually on the ride, particularly towards evenings and early mornings.

Now I need to plan the next one a little better and apply the learnings.

Sorry to hear it ended prematurely but it sounds like you found it a good experience and are up for another trip. Yes you can have some great encounters with wildlife on a bicycle and see a lot that is missed on a motorcycle.

Cheers Mark. Yeah along with the sheer torture moments (neck pain) there were moments that will stay with me for a long time. I had a dragonfly slip streaming my handlebar mounted sleeping bag just in front of my chest for what felt like an eternity but in reality was probably only a few moments but to have one flying so close was magical. If you have any other advice to offer feel free as you have been a great help so far and I recalled you telling me about preferring an upright riding position and had to smile as I was handing over the cash for the new stem.

Welcome to the world of bicycle touring. It may not have gone entirely as planned but at least you went out and gave it a shot. After about 25 years of bicycle touring I still take way too much junk on each trip. I guess some of us are slower learners than others.

:innocent:

I also had thoughts about traveling by bicycle Tomasso. But the fact is that the road is never smooth, and going back on the road that goes up is just torture ... A few years ago there was such an experience. I had to wait for a car that picked me up and took the bike to the right place