Broctoon

Lots of posts here address the physical challenges of riding these kinds of distances (in a day or a month). Some have noted that your riding speed will determine whether you need a lot of athleticism or just a lot of endurance, i.e., ability to sit on a bike for many hours at a stretch without too much discomfort.

I would note that the endeavor also requires a great deal of time. Let's assume you intend to ride 3000 miles in a month, by doing 100 miles every day. If you keep a moderate 14 MPH average pace--which is all that most of can likely manage unless we're on very flat terrain and have trained for many months--you will be on the bike for more than seven hours a day. Let's assume you are somewhat of a gifted athlete and you will ride where there are no hills, so maybe you can maintain an 18 MPH average for that distance. You still have to dedicate five and a half hours per day to it.

If you have a job and a family to care for, it's a very difficult thing just from a schedule perspective.* Get up at 6:30 AM to eat, dress, and commute to work by 8:00. Off work at 4:00, commute home, eat, change clothes and start riding by 5:30. You're not done until at least 12:30 AM. You can still get six hours of sleep, but your wife and kids will hardly see you all day--maybe a half hour at breakfast and dinner. Work and biking is about all you'll do for a month. (On weekends of course you'll have some time for other things.) I am not in a position to do this. I realize lots of folks have a lifestyle that would allow it. Single people or married without children, retirees, the independently wealthy, etc. could manage it without much trouble. For me and many others, the time commitment is an obstacle as daunting as the physical challenge.

*If the idea is to take a 3000 mile tour and complete it in one month, then the job and family obligations are not a concern... presumably you've worked out an agreement with those entities to allow it. Most often when one can arrange a month away, the intent is just to do a reasonable tour of maybe 1000 miles or so, because anything more can become less fun, which sort of defeats the whole purpose of a vacation.

Frenzen

Hey guys sorry for not being able to reply since I was limited by the daily 5 quota posts and yes someone did mention here that I plan on riding the eastcoast greenway, which might not be an actual trail/path but appears to be mostly flat. The longest/most riding I have ever done was 37 miles in a day and I am not physically gifted but do have experience in endurance sports like swimming and running. However, I will not be riding the distance right away and probably end of summer so somewhere between August-September (which gives me few months to train, but as many of you pointed out that it will be a difficult task and very long).

I will probably begin to train to ride my first century at first and see if I can keep it up, thank you for all the wonderful advice.

pdlamb

May I suggest you cut your mileage expectations in the hope of increasing your enjoyment?

If you've got a month to tour, start up in Maine and aim for Washington, Richmond or maybe Virginia Beach. All three have good rail and air connections (well, Virginia Beach is only 10-15 miles from Norfolk). You don't have to push nearly as hard to do 5 hours a day at 10 mph (which seems to be most people's average loaded touring speed) as you would to go 7 hours at 15 mph; and remember, that's average clock speed which includes hills, stop signs, and waiting for trains at railroad crossings. You can use the extra time (and energy) to visit whatever attractions you want to see along the route, even going slightly off route to find a few. You can linger over lunch or dinner at a diner (or a dive) to chat with the locals. You can even lie back and watch the clouds go by every now and then.

rm -rf

Some touring reports talk about how they used the tour itself to get in shape, often in the first week. I'm surprised that works reasonably well.

There are supported fast group tours from coast to coast that plan for 100+ miles per day. I saw a ride report of one of these on BF years ago, and some riders had to quit with nagging injuries.

Here's an example of a supported group tour:
Fast America South
27 days, 2893 miles. That's 107 average. Note that they aren't carrying their bags on the ride, and get breakfast and lunch from the tour staff.

Calsun

A great deal depends on the terrain and on wind conditions. Along the California coast going 120 miles a day was average but in the mountains 70 miles was the most I could average. A 10 mph head or cross wind results in a lot more energy expended and it surprised me to see cyclists along the coast going south to north as the prevailing winds are from the northwest.

I would use a bike computer that shows both speed and cadence and work on keeping your cadence above 40 rpms and your speed above 12 mph and go as far as you can at that rate. Over time you will be able to go faster and further as you body conditioning improves.

With people touring I see the majority with way to much stuff on their bikes. Even when camping all one needs is a sleeping bag and a ground cloth and if you eat at restaurants you can eliminate cookware and a stove. With today's mountain bike shoes that allow for walking when unclipped there is no need for a second pair of shoes.
If the load on the bike exceeds 20 lbs then too many extras are in the panniers for traveling around the USA.

No added benefit to riding a century if it takes you 12 hours to complete the course. Start with 20 mile rides and gradually work your way up to the century distances over a period of months. I was in the habit of putting more than 150 miles on my bike each week and so was in good enough shape to do my first tour that covered 700 miles in 7 days.

A lot of the bike tours cover 40 miles per day to allow for more sightseeing and eating and to allow for the least fit rider to complete each day's ride. But then the tour companies are trying to make a profit and don't want to eliminate unfit riders as potential customers.

imi

I compare loaded to unloaded touring by converting m/h to km/h, so if you can comfortably ride 100 miles/day unloaded, that would be 100 km/day fully loaded.

If you are a very fit rider with ultra-lite gear 100 miles/day might be possible. For most of us mortals in the touring forum 100 km/day average for a month is at the upper limit, though not uncommon.

50 miles (80 kms)/day on average is much more realistic.

Herzlos

Assuming you're talking about doing the tour non-stop, then I'd be figuring out where you are staying each night and working your distances around that. Maybe aim for about an average of 50 miles between stops. So maybe you do 50 miles on day 1, 70 on day 2, then 30 on day 3, and so on.

As for getting to back to back 100 milers, your best bet is to just go out and try to add 10 miles to your route every time you are completely it comfortably. Just make sure you're keeping yourself hydrated and fueled (have a snack every hour-ish).

BlazingPedals

My best is 509 miles in 5 days. But then I'm of the mind that if I finish a 100 mile ride, it's time for a beer and a rest day.

indyfabz

The 2002 edition of Cycle Oregon was my personal Bataan Death March. The ride crossed the entire state, from the Snake River border with ID to the coast at Florence. Including the optional long route (117 miles) on Day 3, I averaged something like 93 miles/day in 6 days, with one rest day on Day 5. There was an optional out and back ride from Sisters. I passed and spent most of the day sleeping in the shade.) Not a ride I think I would (or could) do again.

One person died of an apparent heart attack during a long, gradual climb on hot Day 3 despite being administered CPR shortly after collapsing. Day 4 meant a century for everyone, which meant I rode 217 miles in two days. It was quite hot that day as well.

One interesting thing I noticed is that people were really short with each other the last two days of riding. We crossed over the Cascades (McKenzie Pass) after the rest day and descended into more heat. The final day had us crossing the coastal range. People were clearly tired and tired of each other. The event has never repeated that route.

Inusuit

I had to push myself to ride 2500 miles in a year. Of course I'm 77 years old. My longest rides were a couple of 50 milers. I tried for a couple of 100 km rides but the Wyoming wind limited me to 50 miles round trip. At least that's my excuse. I had other rides between 35 and 45 miles during the year, some of that on gravel and two track. Even at peak condition which I hit around August, I could not have done 100 on two consecutive days, let alone 30 in a row. I think you are overly ambitious and setting yourself up for injury or even burnout on cycling.

BlazingPedals

In my experience, most organized multi-day tours aim for 60-70 miles per day. At 15 mph average on-the-road, that makes for 4-5 hours in the saddle each day. People end up tired but not exhausted. That might be a more realistic target to aim for. Like Indyfabz says, after a few days of hurting and being uncomfortable, tempers start getting short. Try to avoid that on a vacation.

indyfabz

I wouldn’t be surprised if the average has dropped due to demographic shifts.

The edition of CO I mentioned was the 15th anniversary, so they wanted to do something epic. I later did the 20th and 25th editions. The crowd was definitely older than the 15th. And more people expected sags to the top of big climbs. The ride organizers put something on the web site sort of discouraging that, explaining that SAG was there first and foremost to help people truly in need due to unforeseen circumstances and not for those who joined the ride knowing it was too hard for them. They were warned that they may have to wait for rides.

PeteHski

I would just be careful to manage your expectations here. A few months of training is not going to get you anywhere remotely near 30x 100 mile back-to-back days. A few easy century rides would be a more realistic target. Or you may find that a month of considerably shorter rides would be more enjoyable, not worrying about how far you actually get.

When you did your 37 mile ride, how did you feel at the end and the next day? If it was easy and you felt you could comfortably do it again then that could be a realistic target daily mileage, but even that could be a serious challenge over 30 days straight without a break. It's the niggling little aches and pains that tend to become serious over repeated exposure. Like a slight/y stiff neck and shoulders after one day that hardly bothers you, could be a show stopper 3 weeks into your month long challenge. Blisters, hot foot, saddle sores, etc, etc. can all potentially become unbearable after multiple days in the saddle, even if your basic fitness is up to the task.

GhostRider62

100 miles per day on the East Coast Greenway is nearly impossible.

indyfabz

That’s what I’ve been thinking. Among other things, there will be places that will be really slow.

Also, places to spend the night are not always conveniently located at your planned daily average milage. You may have to choose between doing 75 miles or 125 miles one day. If you choose the former, you need to make up that 25 miles during the rest of the trip. Lather, rinse, repeat a couple of times and you could be in for some long days. Pouring rain all day and you have to do a century? Likely not much fun. And days get shorter in September. More so if heading south to north.

GhostRider62

Doing the 100 miles thru NJ's urban hellholes would be great in half a day but 2 days is more realistic. It connects the dots from one urban blight to the next. And Sleeping? To Philly and South ain't no bargain either.

indyfabz

Yeah. Our club does a yearly ride from New Hope, PA to Brooklyn. It's just about 100 miles. I have led groups numerous times. If we start at 7 my goal is to finish no later than 4, including stops, and that is unloaded. The crazy thing is that we have started out on the hell hole riding part at 1 and not finished until 4 or later. So less than 6 hours for the first 66 miles and 3 or more hours for the final 33 miles. And those first 66 miles have lots of hills, while the final 33 are basically flat.

GhostRider62

I considered the East Coast Greenway route from NJ down to Fl. The route through parts of the carolinas is a death trap.

I'd consider the ACA routing instead or probably a hybrid of the two. Certainly ACA's route thru NJ is light years better.

indyfabz

+1. I have done the NJ mileage of their Atlantic Coast route numerous times. Love the NJ side of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and Worthington State Forest. Saw a bear cub while camping a Worthington back in 2018. When I get to Portland, PA (Home town of the guy who wrote "All I want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth"), I cross back over to NJ and take U.S. 46 then hang a right at the traffic light and rejoin the route at Belvidere. More traffic, but a large shoulder, and it's pretty flat. The PA side south of Portland has some hills and some bad sight lines. From Belvidere south is terrific except for the relatively short stretch through the Phillipsburg area. So different than what many people think of when they think of NJ riding.

holytrousers

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/o...video/2032260/

Frenzen

When I did my 37 mile ride, I felt fine just sore but yes to be frank my main goal right now is to find a decent touring bike first and after that attempt a century and once/if I am able to complete one, my goal would be to do at least a several or as many as I can within a week to see how I feel.

Frenzen

Yes I have heard how carolinas is just straight highway and riding on the shoulder of highway, but I did some alternative routes although I do not remember which ones they were, I will certainly look into ACA.

indyfabz

Make sure you do it/them while carrying all the gear you intend to carry.

And if you do decide to go through with it, I would have back up transportation plans home if you don't have the flexibility to extend the trip.

My first unsupported trip was nearly 4 months across the U.S. and then some. One option I looked at was a supported tour. The major reason I decided against that was the high mileage days. 80 or more a day with a rest day maybe once/week. "Why would I want to do that?" I kept asking myself. Didn't see the enjoyment in it. Not a lot of time to experience my surroundings in the way I wanted to. Ended up doing an ACA, unsupported tour from Seattle to Bar Harbor, ME with 12 others. When that ended, I rode home to Philly solo and then on to Ocean City, NJ, as part of a large charity ride. The following year I did two tours of about 7 weeks each. I can tell you that staying motivated to ride every day for even fewer than 100 miles/day is very difficult, regardless of terrain.

philbob57

Um ... it's the engine, not the bike, unless the bike has an engine. For 3000 miles in 30 days, I recommend looking into a motorized bike. I imagine and e-bike would work, if you plan a route that can recharge the battery along the way. Even then, you may need to spend so much time recharging the battery that you won't be able to make the 100/miles/day.

Are you delaying your training until you get a bike? I can understand delaying because of weather, but if you have a bike and good weather, my reco is to ride. Every day you don't ride will delay your tour.

Also, you might be able to avoid the dangerous spots by taking your bike on a bus or train, if you plan your route right.

SpeedyBlueBiker

Right now I would suggest trying to get in some training to make your goal a reality. Perhaps try first for 25 miles a day for 30 days. Riding everyday will help get your legs, lungs, and butt in shape. After that try 35 miles a day for 30 days and see how that goes. Then evaluate your situation and see how you are doing. If everything is going well you can bump up to 50 miles a day for 30 days. That alone is quite an accomplishment to achieve.

I know nothing about the East Coast Greenway so I will leave that for those of you that are much more experienced with that route and area.