Originally Posted by
davidwh
First, thanks for all the well thought out responses, they've been great!
I definitely agree that a DIY unsupported tour would be better than one with a guide. Its always a pain traveling in a group and the freedom of doing exactly what I want at the time is great. I'm looking for a guided tour because I don't want to deal with shipping a bike and watching over it the entire time traveling. I might like to travel longer after the bike portion and maybe hike somewhere etc. So not having to lug around a bike would be ideal. If there was a way to rent a bike to tour on for cheap then that would be a viable option too.
I thought about touring my state California, but February is one of the wettest months of the year and didn't think it would be too fun constantly battling with the elements. Whats it like touring in the rain? I do some day want to ride from north to south border to border but ideally that would be in good weather.
February is dry, sunny, insect-free, and beautiful in many parts of California. Not in SF, not along the North Coast, but in many other areas beautiful weather predominates.
None of the other destinations has perfect weather.
The American West has it all. New Zealand has nothing over California. Quite the opposite. We are often lured away by various influences who want us to believe that we have to go far away to find something -- something exceptionally beautiful or exotic. It's all right here.
This guy, Dennis Coello, is right on about this. I've gone through the same sequence myself -- traveling all over the world for years just to realize what we have right here.
This is a great book on touring,
http://www.amazon.com/Touring-Two-Wh...coello+touring
You can find copies in good condition or better for a song at amazon.com
Unless you want a first edition paperback, in which case it will be a bit more:
http://www.amazon.com/Touring-Two-Wh...coello+touring
Coello has a number of other books that might also be of interest,
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...coello+touring
He has a good philosophy of preparing for touring:
"Be ready for anything, and enjoy it all."
If you spend just
some of the money (the money that would otherwise go to the airlines) on some smart touring gear for additional conditions, it will open up new ranges -- a lot of new territory and seasons for you. And this gear can be used for many tours (unlike airline tickets and the money they take, which are pretty much gone into the ether at the end of their brief use). You can tour comfortably and well in colder temps and in snow, for example -- and there is a lot of beauty out there in February. And few crowds.
Over 99% of bike tourists who "do" or "see" or "tour" California, really only see less than 1% of what it has to offer. Even people who live here rarely see some of the best that is here.
Check out CGOAB for what it's like touring the Carizzo Plain area, for example. There are ancient archeological sites. There is some of the most interesting earthquake- and fault-related geology there. And only nine inches of rain per year on average, along with unusually high numbers of clear, sunny days.
There are many other great areas to see in California and the Southwest, areas not often seen by bike tourists.
That said, it's certainly up to you how you want to approach all this. My recommendation would be to at least consider and check out the above sorts of possibilities.
Then if you decide on Tasmania or some other far-flung, expensive simulacrum of California and the West, or other alternatives to California and the West, you'll at least know more about the possibilities and realities, and what relative value you are getting for your money, time, and effort; and you'll have a better sense of what is here, and what you can do here; and you'll be making more informed decisions.