StefanHans

My name is Stefan, I’m from Germany and live in the U.S. I have done tours in 27 countries, since 2014 on a folding bike.

I love planning tours. However, I’ve been really busy with my work and don’t have enough time to research routes.

So I’m looking for someone who I can hire to help me researching routes including;
- finding routes that others have done
- finding people who recently have done tours in region
- finding warmshowers hosts

I’m looking for someone who’s done bike tours before, is familiar with bike touring sites (e.g. Crazyguyonabike, Bike Touring an Packing Facbeook group, biketouring sub******, warmshowers) and tools (e.g. komoot, ridewithgps, strava, maps.me). Most important to me in a route is little traffic (secondary routes) - I hate riding on highways even if they have a broad shoulder.

Envisioned compensation: $15-20 / hour (e.g. paid through PayPal).

Please send me a message if you’re interested.

cb400bill

https://www.adventurecycling.org/

ignant666

Replying solely to determine whether "sub******" is the OP's joke, or if its actually true that bikeforums censors use of "******" as if it were profanity.

OMG, WTF? Why can we not mention one of the largest sites on the internet, the one that sounds like "read it"?

indyfabz

Too many spam and porn links is BF’s reason.

Frankly, this thread sounds Phishy to me.

saddlesores

this is strange.

since y'all are so busy with your work that you can't spend a few hours planning,
an activity you claim to love, what is the intended purpose?
you obviously don't have time to take off weeks or months to tour.

StefanHans

Thanks for your comment. It sounds like you can tour for months? I can't, since I have a job.

djb

If you are serious about looking for trip ideas/planning for in the United States (you don't say where you live) I would recommend the Pacific coast.
Oregon and California , let's say down to San Francisco, is both a very pretty ride, and there are lots and lots of detailed accounts of it. Even when I did it pre internet, there were books detailingall the areas to camp etc, so it must be even easier to plan for hotels, motels etc nowadays.

djb

Double posted by mistake

indyfabz

What about weeks, which he also included in his comment? Which brings up the fact that your post did not include any sort of timeframe (or mileage), which left me scratching my head.

StefanHans

Good point. I can do tours for up to 2 weeks (about 5-10 days in the saddle). Typically, I do around 50-60 miles on average per day.

saddlesores

easy-peasy! according to your signature, you're in ann arbor.

why not contact the university of michigan cycling club, meet up with one of those young, tech-savvy whippersnappers, then do it the old-fangled way. meet up on a saturday with a couple of potential recruits to discuss your proposal in personable.

https://www.umcycling.org/
https://www.facebook.com/michigancycling


*edit*

you may use the 25-cent research fee for my time spent googling ann arbor universities, university of michigan cycling club to pay for your parking meter for the first 12-1/2 minutes.

https://campusinfo.umich.edu/article/parking-0

staehpj1

The OP actually didn't ask for our advice or comments. He asked for candidates for hire to message him. He really didn't give enough info for us to make specific trip suggestions, probably because he doesn't want us to give them. So I won't make specific suggestions for trips.

That said, I will say that his plan sounds like a bad idea to me. He seems to have very specific preferences and wants detailed plans. Having someone else do the leg work will likely involve as much back and forth with them as the planning itself would and more room for error and miscommunication. I'd suggest just picking an AC route and using the AC maps since the legwork is mostly done, but they may or may not meet his "back roads" requirement well enough.

It is quite possible to tour with little to almost no planning. It can be fun and could be an option.

If you really want to have a planned trip and don't want to do the planning. There are paid tours from the ACA and other companies.

Sorry, I know you didn't ask....

indyfabz

OT, but... I got an email from ACA yesterday describing the different types of yours they offer. (E.g., van-supported.) Clicked on internal links to see the listings under each category. Virtually all of them have waiting lists. Guess I should not have been surprised.

StefanHans

Great idea! I'll look into it. A question is whether the students are into bike touring and have an idea how to research routes or whether they're more into road bike racing?

thanks for the 25 cents! I don't own a car and won't need to feed a meter, though. I'll find another good use.

StefanHans

Thanks for your comments. You're making good points including whether the back-and-forth with someone would be worth it. I think yes, but I may be wrong. Also, I'm not looking for someone to plan the tour for me, rather for someone who helps with finding routes that others have described.

I've used ACA maps - mixed results. In Colorado a lot of the route was on big roads, which I and my friend didn't enjoy. Also, ACA seems North America only and I do tours overseas. E.g. I'm looking into doing a 2-week tour in Northern Pakistan once things open up.

OneGearIsEnough

For what it's worth: I'm an experienced bicycle tourist (multiple months-long tours in North America), and twice now I've paid someone to create custom coast-to-coast routes, based on my primary criterion of extremely low traffic roads. (Which is unfortunately *not* the primary criteria for Adventure Cycling Association, whose routes I've also done.)

Why? I believe in paying for expertise (just like I believe in getting paid for my expertise in my field.). I won't mention the route-creator's name here without his permission, but he's well-known on this and other touring forums, and has basically toured all over North America and certainly creates better routes than, say, ACA.

I've created my own routes for shorter tours, but I find that it's a lot of work, and I'm not great it.

So, I don't think the original poster's request is strange.

staehpj1

I can see your point. Most routes are not designed around seeking out light traffic as a high priority. I have a pretty good idea who you hired and I am sure he did a great job of it. His routes wouldn't appeal to me, but I can see where they would to others including StefanHans.

OneGearIsEnough

I realize my preference for very low traffic routes seem to be the minority opinion - and that's based on how many touring cyclists apparently just want to ride a single US Highway across the country.

But I've ridden about 475 miles the last seven days across Georgia and Alabama on super-empty roads, and have seen lots of cool, if low-key, stuff, and met friendly people. That just seems more appealing to me than constantly being passed by cars on busy highways.

But to each his own, of course.

OneGearIsEnough

I realize my preference for very low traffic routes seem to be the minority opinion - and that's based on how many touring cyclists apparently just want to ride a single US Highway across the country.

But I've ridden about 475 miles the last seven days across Georgia and Alabama on super-empty roads, and have seen lots of cool, if low-key, stuff, and met friendly people. That just seems more appealing to me than constantly being passed by cars on busy highways.

But to each his own, of course.

staehpj1

Nothing wrong with that preference. I don't share it, but I can understand it.

I have ridden (and driven), but not toured in Western Georgia and can attest to just how empty the roads can be.

OneGearIsEnough

Just out of curiosity: What *is* the appeal of riding on busy (as opposed to empty) roads? Is it because there are more services along those roads? Is it a sort of "cycling advocacy" thing, where you want motorists to be aware that cyclists are allowed on roads? I think I remember you writing in the past that that is why you are not a big fan of rail trails for that reason. (And I sort of agree with you about that... but I'll take a rail trail any day or over a shoulderless busy highway.)

I'm not trying to be argumentative - just genuinely curious.

staehpj1

It isn't that I seek traffic. I just don't try too hard to avoid it since I generally don't mind it. I like to be where there are lots of local folks along the way. For me often a lot of the highlights of the trip is likely to be the people I meet and the local food. I am inclined to eat at least one and sometimes two meals a day in a local diner if there is one. If there is some kind of local cuisine so much the better. I like being somewhere that I stop and refill water bottle multiple times during the day and wind up chatting with someone at every stop. I also like being somewhere that I meet other tourists with some frequency. That isn't a must, but it is nice when it happens.

My preferred routes tend to be ones with a US designation like US 90, US 101, and so on. They often have lots of services, a decent shoulder, and go on for hundreds or thousands of miles.

BTW, while it isn't my preferred type of riding, I enjoy a few hours on the interstate now and then for a change of pace. Similarly for a change of pace I enjoy riding on an empty country road now and then. I just wouldn't want to ride a whole long tour entirely composed of either. On any long tour there is solitude in sections and I enjoy it when it comes occurs, but I am also happy when I am back to being around more people.

Also I kind of like just cranking out miles on one route with no navigating, not much planning, and not needing to think about the next turn.

saddlesores

newguy with first post: hey, i wanna hire somebody.

newguy with five posts: hey, i know somebody. it's a secret but....


oldfart: what, me suspicious? i've heard google pays $9075 the first month, and i can get a new landrover......

Doug64

OP,

With over 2,800 miles of multi-use trails in Michigan, you should be able to put a mostly traffic free route together in about 30 minutes.

staehpj1

You could be right in your suspicions, but least these guys aren't reopening years old threads in order to post a link to some business with link that had only a tenuous relations ship to touring if any at all. So I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt until they start opening old threads to post links to yoga mat sellers or something. If it is a troll on their part it is a harmless (and pretty pointless) one so far.