How To Plan A Bicycle Tour 6 Months In Advance: Step 5 – Plan Your Route

We’ve been working backwards to plan your big bicycle touring adventure and we’re almost finished. The only thing left to do now is plan your route!

As I mentioned in my previous articles, most traveling cyclists begin planning their tour by starting with a route. They think that they can figure out which roads they will be traveling on and then figure out all the rest of the details for their tour. But as I’ve stated before, I suggest you work the other way around. First decide where you are going, what tasks need to be accomplished before you can leave home, draw up a budget, and then plan a route. Read more

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Meet Me In Las Vegas At The Interbike Trade Show

September 24 – 26, 2008 marks the dates for the 2008 Interbike trade show, the largest bicycle related exhibition in the Western Hemisphere.

The event is held in Las Vegas, Nevada each year… and according to the Interbike website, the trade show consistently delivers the:

 Largest number of new and unique products, from nearly every known bicycle product category under one roof.

 Largest gathering of bicycle trade-only industry members in the Western Hemisphere at one time and one place.

 Largest number of manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and retail businesses at one time and one place. Read more

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How To Plan A Bicycle Tour 6 Months In Advance: Step 4 – Create A Budget

Once you’ve decided upon the destination for your bike tour, the next step is to create a budget. Unless you’ve got more than enough money to go around (I know I sure don’t), you’re going to want to know how much your bicycle adventure is going to cost.

If you are planning to take a guided bicycle tour where the cost of the tour includes food, guide fees, transportation, etc… the budget isn’t going to be hard to figure out. The price of the tour is how much the trip is going to cost. You might have to add transportation to and from the end points of the tour, but that should be relatively easy to figure out as well. Read more

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Sea To Summit Titanium Spork

When traveling by bike, you should always be on the look out for ways to make your load lighter. Weight is not a cyclist’s friend, and if you can find a way to reduce the weight or size of your packs, you should do it! Sometimes this is done by buying lighter or more compact equipment, but other times this can be done by combining two separate items and into a single item that can be used for both purposes.

That’s why when I was recently pursuing my favorite sporting goods store in Ventura, California – Cheap Sports; I came across the Sea To Summit Titanium Spork.

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How To Plan A Bicycle Tour 6 Months In Advance: Step 3 – Do Your Research

After you’ve created a plan of action, the next step is to do some research.

At this point in the planning process, you may not have decided exactly where you are going to go. All you know at this point is that you are going to go somewhere… and you’ve made a list of the things you will need to accomplish if you are ever to leave home and head out on your big biking adventure.

Once you’ve completed these two tasks, it’s now time to begin doing some research. But by research I don’t mean planning your route. That will come later! Instead, I mean that you need to begin researching the places you are considering traveling to and then using that research to build to the “to-do” list you made in Step 2. Read more

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How To Plan A Bicycle Tour 6 Months In Advance: Step 2 – Create A Plan Of Action

Once you’ve decided that your bike trip is really going to happen, the next step is figuring out exactly what actions you need to take before you can start your big bicycle touring adventure.

Once you’ve set the date for the start of your tour, you can then begin working backwards by determining exactly what needs to happen before you leave home and head out on your bike. Read more

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How To Plan A Bicycle Tour 6 Months In Advance: Step 1 – Make The Decision

Bicycle touring is a fun, adventurous and life-altering sport. But before any of the good stuff can happen, you have to decide that you really do want to travel by bike. You have to make the commitment!

Almost every day I get an email from someone who has started to think about the possibilities of traveling by bike. But every time I get such an email, I think to myself, “I wonder how committed this person really is?” Read more

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How To Plan A Bicycle Tour 6 Months In Advance: An Introduction

It’s been over a year now since my last long distance bicycle tour and I’m getting a bit antsy. I just watched “A Map For Saturday” and now all I can think about is travel. The problem is I’m busy with work, I’ve got too many responsibilities, I don’t have much money, and the last thing I should be doing right now is going off on yet another bicycle adventure.

But when I think about it, maybe another bicycle trip is exactly what I need?

After my interview with world traveler and documentary filmmaker, Brook Silva-Braga, I knew I needed to get back out on my bike. My recent trip to Aruba was great, but it was way too short. I want to see the world, explore by bike, and have the time of my life. It just seems that if I stay here at home any longer I’ll be wasting my life away in front of the computer. I love where I live and my way of life is incredible, but I want to see the world! Read more

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How To Pack Your Panniers: An Inside Look

Currently, the most popular article on the site here at BicycleTouringPro.com is an article simply titled, “How To Pack Your Panniers.” The article features a detailed breakdown of everything I carry in my panniers and also includes a 30 minute video where I physically show you the contents of my bicycle touring bags.

Since writing that article, I’ve received a lot of feedback and questions. My goal today is to expand further on the information I provided in that first article by showing you exactly how I place my gear inside my panniers and by pointing out two very important things you should consider when packing your panniers for a bicycle tour. Read more

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Why Color Is So Important On A Bicycle Tour

Color isn’t something I first thought about when I began traveling by bike, but over the years I’ve come to the realization that color is very important. When traveling by bike, there are a number of areas to pay attention to when selecting colors… and I want to talk about these areas today.

Panniers:

When traveling by bike, most of your days are going to be spent in the saddle. If you are traveling with panniers, you need to make special effort when selecting your pannier colors. As you will see in a moment, color says a lot about you and can instantly determine whether or not you will remain safe while out on the road. Read more

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