Reader Testimonials
August 6, 2008 by Darren Alff
Over the past couple months I’ve started collecting some of the positive comments readers have sent me in regards to the website here at BicycleTouringPro.com. I love receiving these types of messages, as they are what keep me motivated to continue working on the site.
I thought it would be fun to share some of these comments with you, as many of them are from people who are either planning for or have just finished their first bicycle adventure.
If, after reading the testimonials provided here, you would like to share how the content here at BicycleTouringPro.com has help or inspired you in some way, please use the comments box at the bottom of this page to leave a testimonial of your own. Thanks!
What Bicycle Touring Pro Readers Have To Say:
I don’t think I could ever prepare myself for my trip without your help. Every time I talk to you or go on your website I learn something new. Thanks for everything.
Brandon Roesler – Irvine, California
Hey! I just ran across your website from your videos on YouTube and I like what I’m seeing. I’m planning my first bike trip for this coming summer and I plan to visit your site often. Keep up the good work.
Jay Manuel
Just a quick note to say thanks for all the help your site has given me. I completed my 1st week long tour in June and your advice and videos certainly contributed to it’s success. Thanks again! Keep up the excellent work!
Paul McDonald
I have really enjoyed your site. I appreciate your views on touring and your more ‘modern’ approach to touring. I have most benefited from your posts on packing bags. I also took your post to heart about having a mirror. Keep up the good work on the website!
Kevin Ricker – Sendai-shi, Japan
Thanks for putting together and keeping this web site up. I read your site all the time. Some day I’ll make that great trip, and it will be because your cool web site that tells me that I can go anywhere I choose to. Thanks
Darrin Forquer – Pineville, North Carolina
I would just like to thank you for all the help you have given on your site over the last couple of months. I live in London and am planning a round the world bike ride leaving Britain in September. It will be a 2-year trip of a lifetime. I have had so much information from your site. You have helped with tent selection, pannier packing and just general information that has been amazing. Thank you once again. You have helped to make a dream come true. Great site Darren. Please add more! Thank you for all your help and advice.
Robert Halkett – London, England
Darren, Great site. I really like your videos. Thanks for all you do!
Nancy Phillips – Camarillo, California
I am a school teacher in Barrington, IL. I enjoy your videos very much. I have ridden my bike in the Land Between the Lakes many times and I am headed down there for spring break. Keep up the good work. I appreciate the fact that you are a clean minded, decent young man as well as a good bike tourer.
Roger Messman – Barrington, Illinois
This site is awesome! Keep up the good work!
Leslie Parr – Oxnard, California
Great stuff! I want to do some touring and have been reading all the articles you have posted. Thanks and keep posting great articles!
Colleen
I would say BicycleTouringPro.com has been a huge help for me – a beginning wannabe tourer. The information I have received has been invaluable, not only in preparation, but in building my confidence to a level where I know I can complete a tour with confidence. Darren’s willingness to personally respond to my questions has led me to view this site as one of my most important bicycle related resources. Also, Darren’s advice on handlebar bags and helpfulness when I purchased my Lone Peak Alta through his site was great–and that bag is the best thing I’ve added to my bike to date!
Chris Kmotorka – Tucson, Arizona
Now that I have actually had an opportunity to put your wisdom to use on the road with a tour I did with my son, I can say that all the information you have given on your website is useful. In particular the video of how and what to pack in the panniers was extremely helpful. My tour with my son was very fun and successful thanks to your helpful information! In fact, I was just mentioning your site to a friend of mine who just bought a touring bike. I told her she should check it out because your information is very good and practical. Us newbies need people like you!
Colleen Welch
There is a wealth of information on your website. I am grateful that you put the time and effort into sharing it. I have learned a great deal.
Brenda Waller – Griffin, Georgia
I’m training for a cross country ride in honor of my 60th birthday and I found your website while looking around the web for all the good advice I can get. Your site looks great! Thanks!
Joe Golden
Thanks for your wonderful website. I am planning a bike trip from Scarsdale, NY to Canada and around Vermont. I enjoy reading material on your site because it is immensely practical. It gives me a sense of what is possible and has built up my confidence to take longer trips. Keep up the good work!
Peter F. Mathias
Thank you Darren. I’m new to touring so I can learn a lot from you! I’ve just finished building my new touring bike and I’m hopeing to take it around Ireland this summer. Thanks for all your help through your website. The video section is great and it gives a much clearer insight on how to do things right. Thanks for a great site!
Anthony
Darren, I just wanted to say that I’ve been traveling by bike for a number of years… but I love the way you give a more age-appropriate approach to traveling by bike. I’m looking forward to what you have planned for the site in the future. Good work!
Richard Barton
Hi Darren…the Lone Peak bag (I ordered from your site) just arrived from UPS…I love it…I just attached it and I’m off for a ride…thanks again…
Robert G. Kemp – Tucson, Arizona
Thanks for all the good and useful info. I’m going on my first tour next week in Victoria, BC. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m camping and staying in a few hostels. I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about the free rooms and stuff. Peace.
Clancy Finchu – Canada
I’ve been following your biking advice for years and everything you’ve taught me has been ‘right on.’ Thank you for sharing your secrets!
Suzi Flanders – Whittier, California
Hey Darren, Thanks for the videos. They have been very helpful in getting me ready for my upcoming tour.
Fred Piumelli
Hey Darren, I am a big fan of your website. It has been so helpful for the planning of my first trip this summer. My friends and family are starting to check out your website. The more they know the more they feel better. I decided to go all out on my first trip. I want to go coast to coast in Canada. It is a big and long trip, but I have the time and determination. Your website has made me so excited to start my trip… thanks!!!
Shawn Corey Wright – Calgary, Canada
Hey Darren: I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your taking the time to sit down and go over what actually goes into the all the touring bags and how to pack them. Your commentary on placing all the bags in the same place both on the bike and off (in the tent) as well as putting everything inside the same bag every time has helped me a lot!! Please keep up the good work. I am anxious to see what you will do next.
Tom – Florence, South Carolina
I am continuing to enjoy your site/blog. I have viewed many if not all of your videos on touring and packing panniers, etc. for bike touring. You have definitely succeeded in getting me excited about this touring season. Thanks for all of the work that you do to video your trips and the excellent web site that you have. It is truly one of the best that is out there.
Malaika Sharp
(Before) Hey Darren, I just wanted to tell you how helpful your site has been. I’ve been doing a lot of research in preparation for my first ever bike tour (TransAmerica) and your site has been one of the best resources out there. Thanks for everything you do!
(After) I just arrived home from my bike trip today after a 3 day train ride home undoing all the cycling I did over the last two months. It was my first tour, from San Francisco to D.C., and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I’m looking forward to the next one. Thanks again for your help! Your advice proved invaluable on my tour and I hope you continue to inspire future generations of touring cyclists.
Boris Grogg
Kudos on the BEST Bike Touring site I’ve seen!
William Bruce
Finally there is a fantastic website on Bicycle Touring. Before I left on my first tour – I had absolutely no idea what to bring or what to expect. If only this website was around I wouldn’t have had so many ‘issues’. Darren is truly passionate about touring and that shows through on his site. If you are into Bike Touring – bookmark this site now so that you can get the items and support that you need.
Ted Schredd, Author of The Cycling Adventures Of Coconut Head
, www.schredd.com
I love what you’re doing on your site. It’s fun to read, helpful, and very relational.
Susan Reed – Illinois
I really do want to thank you for all your great information. You’ve mentioned a lot of good stuff on your site. I found a great deal of information on how to pack my panniers. I will use this information on my rides. It’s kind of funny because I always thought I knew how to pack everything, but you showed me the proper way. I always enjoy going to your site. If I have any questions about touring and If I can’t find something I can e-mail you and get a very quick response. Thanks so much and keep up the great work!
Rick Jansheski
Darren,
Here’s a picture of me and my trusted steed, a Gold Rush Replica, taken two weeks ago.
I toured self-contained, solo, for 712 miles in 7.5 days, averaging 94 miles per day.
In a large measure, your blog is the motivating factor in my decision to tour. I’ve ridden for several years, but never toured self-contained. I slept in a Hennessey Hammock. Great! Perhaps you could do a review of this product. I think others would be interested.
As soon as the current hurricanes leave the Florida area, I am touring to the panhandle of Florida, a distance of 450 miles. That will give me a tour this year of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
I also have 3 other tours planned for next year.
Thanks so much for your help.
The barn picture was taken in Amish Country in SE Michigan.
Bob Hopkins
Hillsboro, TN
Hello Darren. Just wanted to write that I wish you had been around years ago when I started cycling in ernest. I learned much over the years, but the trial and error method is a slow process. Even at 68 I am still learning. Recently moved from an upright to a recumbent trike (TerraTrike Tour), which I love. Within a month have ridden 700 miles (1,400 miles when added to my upright for the year). Thanks again.
Hey Darren,
I’ve been regularly visiting your website for the past couple months and wanted to let you know that I really appreciate the tips and advice. You’ve helped me plan my tentative tour for next summer – Chicago to Lake Superior and back!
-Dave.
Hey Darren,
My name is Ross Kestin. I stumbled across your web sites while perusing bikeforums.net.
You and I have a lot in common……with about 30 years difference. I did a fair amount of bicycle touring, but it was back in the early 80s and on into the early 90s. My two longest tours were from San Francisco to Los Angeles, but I also did a lot of “weekend” tours to San Diego, Oxnard, Ventura, Santa Barbara,etc. all from my Culver City base. I also have a degree in film and tv, and have been working at L.A. tv stations for 32 years, the last 28 at KABC-TV. I’m 57 years old, and hope to retire soon.
Unfortunately, my cycling miles took a big dive once life got in the way. Marriage, kids, home-ownership, serious illness, etc. have all had a detrimental effect on my cycling. Now, 25 years, I’m getting back into it. I never really stopped riding, but my mileage went from about 5,000 miles a year to about 500 miles a year. Fortunately my kids are nearly grown, and I have the time on my hands to do it again. It took me a month or so to get all my old bikes back in shape, and I’m back on the road again.
Anyway, I just wanted to take the time to compliment you on your web sites. They’re very well done, and I hope that you can make a decent living from them. Video gear was a lot heavier 25 years ago, or I might have done something similar. My dream, at the time, was to start a bicycling touring company. I wasn’t able to do that. Keep following your dream.
Best of luck to you.
Ross Kestin
Thanks for the website…my wife and I tandem and love Europe…we love the
Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria and have Italy in our sights for next
fall. We have bike camped but stay in motels mostly and I would like to
get into an everyother day camping regimen this coming spring…I don’t
like trailers, so a tandem with 4 pannier spots for two people etc becomes
a bit full, but we have managed…
I will check your website from time to time and be jealous of your
travels..larry
Darren,
I didn’t get around to sending out Christmas cards this year, but I still would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. You’ve been a big help this last year and I appreciate what you’ve done with the site and beyond.
Best wishes,
Chris
Dear Darren Alff
Your web page is one of the best pages about bicycle touring. Of course, I am a regular visitor. Keep up your work and may the fortune have good plans for you and with you!
You are in EU now! Are you planning to visit Slovenia, also!. It’s a “must seen” country-similar to Switzerland plus we have sea.
Best regards!
Leonard Rubins
I would love to tour the U.S. on a bike, but my health doesn’t allow me to do so. I enjoy so much reading about touring by you and some others, and I love it when so much detail is given in describing the things you see and the people you meet. Even though I can’t be there, in my mind, I’m riding with you. Keep up the web site and the e-mail, I enjoy them very much.
Thanks for spending so much on this fabulous site. I recently found it *twice* on Google, entirely by accident. The first was because I ordered a Bike Friday this week and wanted to see what other people were saying about riding them, and the second time I found you was because I searched “cost of living Switzerland” and got your blog entries, since I’m moving to Bern. So thanks for the useful information on two counts! I look forward to reading more and following your adventures.
Hi Darren
I just wanted to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed your website and how useful I’ve found it to be.
I’m embarking on my first cycle tour in May. It will be from Victoria, BC to St. John’s, Newfoundland. I did the same trip by motorcycle (although I ended up going to Florida and the across to San Diego and back home to Vancouver Island). I spent the last couple of months converting a mountain bike to as touring bike and am very happy with the way it rides.
I’ll be camping and hosteling most of the way with a fair bit of stealth camping thrown in as well (I did a lot of camping on my motorcycle trip). I think that the lower pace will allow me to get up close and personal with this beautiful country.
I read Ted Schredd’s book and really enjoyed it and found your interview with him and enjoyed that as well. I’m currently reading Neil Peart’s book on cycling through West Africa. He’s a great travel writer as well; and very insightful.
I’ve been retired for five years and have had the luxury of a lot of adventure travel and am waiting for my wife to retire next year so we can go live in some of the countries I’ve been visiting.
All the best and keep up the good work! Happy Travels
Darren,
Love your site! Hope all is well. I have been talking about you to my friend Nate. He has a film out about a ride that went from Alaska to South America. The site is spinningsouthward.com
We should chat sometime.
Paul
Hello Darren,
I’m Guido Molaroni from Republic of San Marino ( inside Italy )
I wanted to say that I really admire your way of being simple down to earth and unconventional , not in the main stream, like many others of your age , doing something quite different and I think maybe even very soulful , trying to sensibilize people to bike riding , an adventure that you are the real protagonist that can feel the good ( and even the sometimes bad ) things of the places and people during your long espeditions , having the time to think , admire ,reflect ,elaborate and memorize while travelling in a quite alternative and much slower pace . Much a different way of seeing places in a /mordi e fuggi/ way .( …that means bite & go in Italian , …
and sorry for my poor English
Admire Greece , and keep it up .. hope you have a great tour !
Thanks Darren for taking the time to share your experiences. It really does help to prepare and you have a great resource for that. And thanks too for your personalized reply to my email recently.
Keep up the great work…you are making your mark on the planet !
cheers
Grant Southam
Darren,
I’m writing this to let you know that I’ll be going away for a while. I’m finally setting off on my bike trip, hooray! After a rather prolonged series of mishaps and setbacks everything seems to be in order. I’ll be leaving some time tomorrow afternoon or on Sunday morning, at the very latest.
Now, I’ve been giving the matter some thought and I think that it’s safe for me to say that hadn’t it been for your site and the tons of invaluable information therein and of course our meeting itself, perhaps I wouldn’t be taking this trip at all. So here’s a big thank you! and congrats! for setting a goal and achieving it my friend.
If inspiring and encouraging others to take steps forward is what you set out to do (alongside taking the road less traveled and leading a meaningful life) then allow me to say, mission accomplished. I salute you.
Great information about cycling and touring! After reading Darren’s adventures it will leave you with one thing on your mind and that is “when can I leave?”
Darren:
I just wanted to tell you how impressed I am with the content of your e-mails I have recently subscribed to. One of my goals in life has been to ride the Pacific Coast Highway from the Canadian to the Mexican borders. I recently placed this goal on my vision board and not long after, your web site showed up. Having never done anything more serious than a day trip here or there, I am in the learning mode about this hobby and the information you’ve been sending is quite relevant.
I’ll be gradually gathering all of the pieces (physical and logistical) to make this trip happen and your information is cornerstone of my preparation. Also, as much as possible, I will purchase items via any affiliate links you have with bike supply companies.
Keep up the good work!
And many thanks,
Norman
This site has been the most comprehensive of all sites hit on for detailing the preparation for touring for a first timer…great stories, pictures, informational videos, links to other web sights…awesome!
Wish I could have been along with you on some of your tours. You are “the man”
Hey Darren.
Thanks for all the effort you’ve put into the web site. It is great. I did a lot of touring in the late 70s and early 80s and then just went on to do other things. I’m building a bike this winter so that I can get back to touring next summer. Your site has been a great source of info and inspiration. We’re not doing anything too fancy… just a few thousand miles in about 4 weeks through New England and the Mid-Atlantic region.
It is the first in a line of many.
Keep up the good work.
Pete
Hi Darren,
Your website is an amazing source of information. Thank you for newsletter, it’s awesome. Thank you so much for all the information. The more and more I learn about other people’s experiences touring the more confident I feel about doing it.
I am in the midst of planning my first tour and had no idea where to start. I found http://www.bicycletouringpro.com and now feel like I know what questions I need to ask and how to plan so I am ready. Thanks for the great touring newsletter offering – I feel like I’m ready to take the next step. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with us all and making the information easy to digest. Thank you!
Keep up the good work, you are providing a great service to bikers everywhere. You are truly an inspiration!!!
Bicycletouringpro.com is my only trusted source on bicycle touring. I regularly check the site for updates and trust the information more than other sources.
As a newbie to touring the site really helped me and it still helps me keep motivated for my tour. At first I was a little hesitant about buying the blue print book because I thought here\’s a guy just trying to make money, he\’s just doing this for money he doesn\’t really care. Then I sent a email got help right away eveytime I asked a question I got help. so I bought the book and know I can say because of that book I know were to start planning and feel that much more confident that I will finsh my tour in July. great site don\’t stop and if your ever on the east coast let me know would love to ride with you.
I have appreciated the practical advice and product reviews the website offers. Reading the stories of your adventures has motivated me to do a lot more riding and I am planning on making a few more trips.
you don’t have to respond to this just want you to know i took your advice and took the bike computer off for my weekend long ride and wow i enjoyed it a lot more i wasn’t looking at every 2 feet. thanks love your site.
Hi Darren,
Firstly, I haven’t purchase my bike yet as I am still saving but as you said in your book, taking the first step is the most important. I am now more focus and I am pacing myself, working out and reading materials about bikes. My first purchase will comes end of this month, a bike helmet which i saw it online. The nest will be to put a deposit down for the Surly and next I get the Lone Peak panniers. So this is the schedule I am running at the moment. It still far away but I know I can make it and can’t wait for the day I am going to ride the bike. With the bike, a whole lot more options for me to travel and its mind boggling.
Anyway thanks for your advice and I really hope can meet up with you someday and thank you personally for changing my life and put some focus back into my dull life. Cheers!
A great website, both informative and exciting – it provides solid advice on how to get started and gives you the confidence to get on your bike and go for it! Thank you!
[...] I have done with Bicycle Touring Pro. In fact, I have an entire page on my site dedicated to the testimonials I have received from my readers. And yet, none of this compares to the single article that some anonymous [...]
It never gets boring reading Darren’s site. Updated regularly, you get all the info you need to plan your bike tour.
Great resource of info.
Hi Darren,
I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate what you do with bicycletouringpro; The emails, the Traveler’s Blueprint I purchased and the helpful videos (YouTube). You have given me incite into making the proper preparations for a tour this summer, and for that I thank you!
Good luck, Darren, and Peace!
The best information for bike touring you can find on the web! You are great guys!
BicycleTouringPro.com is a comprehensive site for any individual interested in learning more about and and every aspect of bicycle touring. It’s obvious that Darren Alf works hard at making it easily accessible and useful for cyclists of any age or experience level. Darren is also responsive and informative in answering specific questions you may have. BicycleTouringPro.com is really a “One Stop Shop” for all your bicycle touring needs.
Hey Darren! I just wanted to thank you for creating a site like this with all its resources. I’m 17 and have always wanted to ride across america, but only recently started to really look in to it. My inspiration comes from my father who, when in college (1970’s), rode across the states and every since has been an avid cyclist. I plan to make the trek in summer 2013. Thanks again for this website. It will no-doubt be a tool in making my touring dreams a reality.