What Are You Doing This Winter?

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, the bicycle touring season is quickly coming to an end. With winter just around the corner, I’ve been wondering what my readers are planning to do this winter.

In the past few weeks I’ve received emails from a few people in Australia and South America asking me about how to go about planning bike tours… and I’ve even received a couple messages from people in the United States and Canada who plan to travel south to warmer climates this winter. But I want to know what the rest of you have planned. Read more

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You Don’t Need Half The Things You Think You Need

Imagine: You’re out on the road, climbing a five thousand foot pass, when you suddenly look back and realize you’re carrying an awful lot of stuff on your bike. As sweat pours from your forehead and your bike slows to a stop, you think to yourself, “Did I really need to bring my pillow? My blow-dryer? Those three Steven King novels? What in the world was I thinking bringing all this stuff on my bike tour?”

Packing for a bicycle tour is not an easy task. It’s difficult for a beginner to determine which items are essential and which items can be left at home. And to make matters worse, there is no list on earth that details the essential items needed for every bicycle adventure. What you decide to pack will ultimately depend on where you are going, what time of year you will be traveling, and what comforts from home you will be able to do without. Read more

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How I’ve Gone About Planning My Own European Bike Tour 6 Months In Advance

The other night I went bowling with some of my old friends from high school. I’ve been away from home for almost a year now, so when I told my friend Adrienne that I was planning yet another bicycle tour, she gave me a puzzled look and asked, “Darren, when are you going to tell me how you find the time and money to go on all these trips?”

I laughed when she said it, because she isn’t the first person to ask me this question. In fact, I get it all the time! After all, I’ve gone a bike tour every single year for the last eight years. And now I’m in the process of planning for my ninth and largest bicycle tour of all time! Read more

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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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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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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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