Originally Posted by
fuji_owner
Haha, I'm in my 30s in North America, thanks for asking. At one point in my late 20s, I got really into bikes and biking, and I did some semi-serious racing, sportives, charity rides, etc. As you noticed, I did splurge once on a really nice bike that I will never part with. However, I've always liked the idea of touring, but I've never felt confident enough to actually do it.
Then you need to try a short tour. Maybe an overnight on a weekend like Alan S suggested. Is there a state park close by where you could do an overnight?
Two years ago a friend of mine was getting his equipment ready for his third cross-USA trip. And he wanted to do a short five day local tour to check everything out. He asked others that he knew (we are both retired) if anyone wanted to go along, I had just finished building up a new touring bike that needed a test ride, so I offered to join him. He mapped out a five day, four night route from our homes back to our homes, partly on little used rural roads and partly on state bike trails. Three of the four nights were at state parks, one night was at a commercial park that had tenting. Was a good trip and all of his and my new gear worked as expected.