UniChris

This is my fifth year into a return to cycling. I've done a lot of long day rides - a number of metric's including this season's first two weeks ago, and in one absurdly long day last August, an imperial century. But I've never toured, and have tended to be more in a "do a long ride, let my rear heal for a week" type of pattern. My options for group rides are a bit limited, because I actually ride a giant unicycle that's about the speed of the slowest casual family bike ride - I get passed by just about everyone, even though only a few of those are out to ride a trail end to end as I usually do.

Recently I heard about a week-long tour in Denmark specifically organized for those of us deficient a wheel.

They've apparently planned a longer and shorter option each day, 40-60 km or 60-100 km. There will be a car to carry the tents and sleeping bags, but with little space for frame mounting have to backpack the rest, packing lightly that's possibly not all that much more than I carry on a long day ride, especially if some things like tools, pump, first aid, etc can be pooled with others. I figure any day of that would be little problem, but day after day for a week?

How does one figure out if you're ready to tour?

A couple weeks ago I did 48 miles on Friday, 6 on Saturday, and 22 on Sunday, and almost thought I'd gotten to the point where I could ride days in succession, but despite showering before each ride and fresh clothes, ended up dealing with a saddle sore that's come, gone, and returned to again threaten this weekend's ride. I think about everything I've tried - instead of the usual careful handwashing of shorts, washing them, soaking them in vinegar and washing again. Showering multiple times per day, acne wash, triple antibiotic, bag balm, etc. and wonder how I could deal with that out in the woods rather than merely debating if it's legit to go commando to the office or better to simply work from home while trying to heal.

And that's just the saddle stuff - I'm usually quite stiff and dead tired the day after a ride, not only from turning the pedals but from specific stresses like mounting and dismounting, being out in the sun even with long sleeves and huge helmet brim, etc. Last Saturday also left me with an odd first occurrence of some kind of friction-sweat burn on my lower back from a backpack I've worn for hundreds of total miles and only suffered strap bruising from in the past; may be applying some chamois cream there next ride, too.

What's typically the hardest day of a tour? If I were going to try to put together some sort of test locally, how many day's riding do I need to do to get to the worst - will two suffice or does it really need to be three? Without a way to carry the sleeping gear, is is still a "fair" test if I take the train to a different local moderate distance ride each day and return home after?

Does one use chamois cream on tour, or just get to the point of no longer needing it?