jrbrandt97

Hello bike forum community. I am a student in Wisconsin, from Los angeles and when school gets out for summer, I want to bike back home to california. I would ideally like to do 100 miles a day, averaging 16 miles an hour. I plan on traveling as lightly as possible: lightweight tent, sleeping bag, some bars, and a couple changes of clothes. What bike would you recommend? I am 5'9 and weigh about 140 lbs. Thanks for your help!

CliffordK

I've suggested this get moved to the Touring subforum.

100 miles a day is long, but manageable, depending on hills and mountains. 16 mph is a tough pace to keep up for 100 miles, especially if loaded, depending on how much you're carrying..

What are you riding now?

Are you sticking to mostly paved roads? Gravel and dirt? Trails?

There are lots of bicycle choices:

• Vintage Road Bikes
• Vintage Touring Bikes
• Vintage MTBs
• Modern Steel Touring Bikes
• Modern Cross bikes
• Or just about anything you wish to bolt a rack to..
• Or if you're going light enough, just add frame, seat, and bar bags to.

Do you have a budget for a bike?

bikemig 

You might want to post in the touring forum as well. Frankly if going lightweight, a lot of different bikes can work since you don't need a touring bike. A 100 miles a day is pretty high mileage; doable but high. Do you have experience riding that kind of mileage?

Insofar as the bike is concerned, what is your budget? I'd look at some kind of all around bike (good for different kinds of roads) with fairly wide ranging gearing. Something like the surly cross check can work well. That runs around $1k.

Another good choice is the fuji touring bike. The price is very solid as it costs a little north of $700, Fuji Touring Road Bike -- 2017

It's a heck of a bike for the money. I own one I picked up 2d hand. It has good wide ranging gearing and a rack. It will be easy for you to strap your gear on the bike.

shoao

I would suggest you got a cross country, save you lots of power, if you are riding on a good condition path, then go with a good road bike.

no1mad 

Moved from Forum Suggestions & User Assitance.

Cyclist0108

If you are new to this, 75 miles/day might be more realistic, at least at first. Also, it might get a bit hilly starting in Western Colorado.

jefnvk

I'd offer the suggestion if you aren't already a cyclist, than both your distances and speed are incredibly optimistic, it may be good to temper your expectations on what you'll be capable of to begin with. It was my biggest miscalculation on my first tour, and that was after having my "around town" stats to work from. Other than that, sounds fun!

andrewclaus

Sounds like a great trip.

Ditto on pace. First, there's no need to cycle 16 mph to travel 100 miles per day. What would you do with the rest of the day? Slow down and you'll go farther. I've found that eight hours in the saddle is enough for a day, 12 mph is a good touring pace, and with summer daylight hours that leaves plenty of break time.

A 1990s steel road bike with a 3x7 or 3x8 gearing set up can probably be found locally for well under $500.

BlarneyHammer

If you plan on touring 100 miles/day averaging 16 mph, even with a light load, I'm assuming you can do a 150 mile ride at an average pace of 20 mph when you're well-rested and carrying no load. And maybe you can! If not, you might re-self-evaluate.

saddlesores

1. what sort of bicycle do you currently have?

2. how much cycling do you normally do in a week?

3. how would you rate yourself athaletically?

shelbyfv

Yep, OP should answer these before folks spend more time guessing. Thanks.

stevepusser

We can say one thing for sure--no matter how incredibly fit the OP might be, if they have no cycling conditioning, their rear end will be very sore after the first day, and for next few days after that, barring the off chance they pick up a recumbent.

You also have to think carefully about the route--if you're headed to Southern California, the shortest route will have you going through the low desert in July. Nope, nope nope nope. It's better to take a longer northern route to the Pacific coast and head south from there. Though I've known a very tough rider that lived in Palm Springs who finished a Sierra tour by riding home from Mammoth Lakes through the (mostly high to mid) desert in mid-August without any big problems...

saddlesores

that's assuming it's not yet another sock puppet,
conveniently pushing those buttons.

super-century travel plans but short on detail
a line to get the speed vs. tour argument going
and another to get the weight argument started
and one for cliff bars vs. nutrition
oh, and we get rider weight to argue load vs.
percentage of rider weight.
miss anything?
why yes, didn't ask about buying an lht....

alan s 

I would recommend an LHT or Disc Trucker.

indyfabz

Stealth camping and pannier vs. trailer.

Have a good weekend. I am starting a three-day in a few hours.

jrbrandt97

Hello Bike Forums,

thank you for all the advice. I concede that 12 mph for 8 hours is a lot more reasonable. I've been training pretty hard for the past 2 months: cardio 4 days a week and I've worked up to 35 mile bike rides feeling very good. I dont currently have a bike, there are community bikes that you can rent in Madison, WI made by trek which are not very fast/light but I've made do. I would say I'm in some of the best shape of my life right now, I'm 19 and having been motivated by this trip I have reached a level of training I don't think I have reached before. I have no idea what the roads will be like, but I assume that they will be paved as I will probably just be riding on the shoulder of normal roads. So yeah I'd like to buy a bike soon so does this new information change/solidify your recommendations?

Best,
Josh

Squeezebox

Do you want to go through a gear list as well? generally 2 sets of bicycle clothes. 1 of anything else.

stevepusser

Some spots in the West may require you ride (legally) on freeway shoulders where there is no alternative; it all depends on your route. Don't rely on Google Maps, as it may give you some really stupid directions, such as backpacking trails that are closed to bikes to cross the Sierra Nevada.

The American Cycling Association has many long distance bike routes across the country, and you may follow one or more of those for portions of your route. I also get the impression that you've really don't have one yet--if you put a proposed route up here, I'm sure you'll get advice from many tourists that have done the highways you plan to tour.

indyfabz

fify