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First time short tour done.

Old 07-03-19, 09:19 AM
  #1  
Flyboy718
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First time short tour done.

I know it's not a lot, but I went out and did 53 miles with about 55 lbs of camping stuff and made it to a State Park here in Texas from my house. It felt great! I planned to do 60 to another State Park but made some wrong turns...grrrr Google cue sheet is sometimes wrong, wound up getting off track quite a ways and decided to throw in the towel and have the wife pick me up. 50 miles wasn't too bad but I couldn't do it day in and day for the summer. I teach school and really don't have time to train during the year. I feel more like a 30-40 mile guy with an occasional 50 mile thrown in. My hope was to travel from State Park to State Park but they are all 50-60 miles away. So, I think I may try setting up behind country churches, after contacting someone for permission as a way to facilitate the 30-40 mile days.
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Old 07-03-19, 12:16 PM
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debade
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You are off to a good start and a great attitude. Give yourself some time to add mileage. 55 pounds sounds heavy but I have no idea what you may need. Good luck.
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Old 07-03-19, 09:26 PM
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Congrats, sounds like it was fun! Not hard to get side-tracked: sometimes road has a different name than what map seems to show, sometimes in rural areas there's few road markings etc. Phone or GPS can be useful backup for a cue sheet to check if one's on the correct route or else get back on track quicker.

Overly-ambitious mileage goals can spoil the fun with being rushed & fatigued. The church camping idea sounds good but would they allow use of bathroom to wash up etc incl at night/early morning? One side of me feels like if you can do 50 miles w/o serious problems, pushing a bit to get to the state park gives the luxury of 24-hr shower/bathroom access.
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Old 07-04-19, 12:52 AM
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HobbesOnTour
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Well done on your first tour!

I never train - but sometimes I do practise. Load up the panniers and go off for a day, have a picnic, test out the stove, try out whatever needs to be tried out.

It's easy for me to say, but distance is not that important - enjoyment comes first. I think you're on the right track - trying to find places that are a shorter distance away.
Perhaps you could use your school contacts? Also, check out Warmshowers - it's like couch-surfing for cyclists. If nothing else, local members might be a useful source of places to camp or people to ask.

As for navigation, in my part of the world Google Maps is not for cycling! It's handy as a get out of jail option and for planning to get an idea of general distances and landscape. One handy feature of GM is that you can download a map before you go and use it to get your bearings. Even handier if you've marked off useful locations.

Cue sheets have their flaws as you have discovered, but really need to be backed up by maps, paper or digital.

A very handy app to have, if you have a smartphone or tablet, is Osmand. A bit of a bugger to learn, but free (at least the first sets of maps are) but very handy for seeing where you are. It will even plot routes totally offline. These might not be the best routes, but they will get you out of a hole. It's not as social media friendly as some apps out there, but it works.

Looking forward to hearing about your second tour!
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Old 07-04-19, 06:20 AM
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berner
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I'm not a vastly experienced bike tourer having just several 80 mile weekend outings under my belt. But I have backpacked a fair number of miles and similar principals hold true. Having the right gear is very helpful but no more gear than is absolutely necessary. This means, keep the weight down all you can and especially before getting to your best fitness. Otherwise you will be exhausted at days end. I've paired down weight over the years so that basic pack weight, excluding the variables of food and water, to about 12 to 15 pounds. This is the amount of stuff for any length of tour except for expedition length. I have a repair kit, tools, and first aid kit and some spare parts. Too many clothes is a space hog that may require larger saddle bags (more weight). Females will usually haul a bit more stuff than males.

I love seeing new terrain. Good luck.
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Old 07-04-19, 07:15 AM
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only thing I can add is that 55lbs is a lot, and by bringing this down to lets say 40 or something, you will see a noticeable diff in the day being more manageable.
If you havent done other self supported outdoor activities, look into the gazillion online equipment lists to compare and to see just what the heck you packed to get to 55lbs

if it makes you feel any better, most of us made this beginner mistake and took too much crap.
I did, and combined with not enough low gearing and some pretty darn tough and long hills, my first fully loaded trip was a bear at some points and I even had a knee issue due to all these factors (plus I hadnt ridden with all my junk on the bike beforehand)

reduce the stuff, figure out what crap you took and really didnt need, and change stuff if needed (ie, if your tent weighs 15lbs, or 10--you can find affordable 6 or 7 lb tents, or you can find more expensive 4lb tents, or even more expensive 2lb tents)

if you took a pair of jeans, and six shirts, and this and that---well, you get the drift.....

all the best with reducing the load, and have fun, thats the whole idea here.
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Old 07-04-19, 05:35 PM
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One of my 'bucket-list' tours has a maximum of 60 miles between projected overnights, with most being between 35-45 miles. That's only just over two hours of riding to just over three hours of saddle time each day. Extremely flat ride, following the Ohio River or Lake Erie shoreline for more than half the ride.... That leaves me several hours for exploring the towns/museums/attractions at the interim towns. Three weeks and I've done the entire 1050 miles or so... Visit. Take in the local culture and history... I've even allowed a few days of 'down-time' for weather, doing laundry, maintenance, etc...

Back 40 years ago, I did a three-week ~1100 mile unsupported 'minimalist' ride that was five days of 100-miles/day, with a week off in the middle for visiting family, then 500 miles back home... Best ride/time of my life!!!
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Old 07-04-19, 10:03 PM
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Nice! As mentioned by others, lowering your weight will help a lot. And once you start going, after the first 4-5 days, do a couple rest days. Then the next 4-5 days will be much easier. Do a couple more rest days. By the third 4-5 days, with less weight on your bike, you'll be able to hit those 50mi days. At least for myself and many others who have commented in the past, your body is quick to adapt to the mileage even if you haven't had a chance to do a lot of long training days. Just try to keep up with short rides a few days/week. Then if you can get in a 10mi ride once a week too, you'll be good to go.

One thing I've heard is that most people can add up the miles they average in a week, and be able to ride that total in a day. If you start pushing higher mileage daily, your body will catch up in 2-3 weeks.
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Old 07-04-19, 11:10 PM
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Well I'm impressed a newbie is willing to tackle Dallas summer heat. June wasn't super hot but OTOH significant humidity. Next 10 days high temps near 100° F. Only time I was in Dallas was in winter during an air flight layover...20° F & windy!
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Old 07-06-19, 06:58 AM
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Great start.

Cutting the gear weight may help with increasing the mileage. 55# is a lot, you should be able to easily cut that to at least 30# without spending a fortune on UL stuff. When it comes right down to it you really need very little stuff.

Food and water should be resupplied along the way. Carry enough to be safe, but restock often rather than carry much for very far. If you know for sure there will be a store buy food daily. If you know there will be water, restock as often as you can, water is heavy. Have a little in reserve, enough to be safe, but don't weigh yourself down unnecessarily.

Yes there may be times when you may need to carry a lot of water, but don't do it when you don't need to.
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Old 07-06-19, 07:58 AM
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I know everything is bigger in Texas, but you might be overstating the distance between campsites. In the lovely Brazos River Valley I make it:

Cleburne AmTrak Station to Dinosaur Valley SP - 37mi
Dinosaur Valley SP to Meridian SP - 40mi
Meridian SP to McCown Valley Campground - 32mi
McCown Valley to Cleburne SP - 35mi
Cleburne SP to Cleburne AmTrak Station - 27mi

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30477591
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Old 07-06-19, 09:50 AM
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Originally Posted by Flyboy718
My hope was to travel from State Park to State Park but they are all 50-60 miles away.
How about Eisenhower SP to Bonham SP, 43 miles, to Cooper Lake SP, 41 miles, to Bob Sandlin SP 53 miles, to Dangerfield SP, 31 miles, to Atlanta SP, 41 miles?

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30478033
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