The 3 Most Common Bicycle Touring Mistakes
Feb
Avoid these 3 common bicycle touring mistakes and you’ll save yourself the pain, frustration and embarrassment that so many first-time bike tourists experience on their first bicycle tour(s). Watch the video below to learn more about these common bicycle touring mistakes.
Thank you so much for the incredible response from the first two videos in this series. Your comments, emails and messages have made this week very exciting… and I’m so happy to see how many of you are inspired to conduct your own incredible bike tours right now because of these videos and the information contained therein.
If you haven’t done so already, you can go back and watch this videos by clicking on the following links:
- Video #1: How A Bike Tour Can Transform Your Life
- Video #2: Don’t Let These 6 Common Bike Touring Obstacles Stop You
In today’s video lesson I’m going to be talking about the three biggest mistakes I see first-time bicycle tourists making on their bicycle tours. These are three common mistakes that, if you will make them, will either make your bike tour a whole lot harder than it needs to be, or will prevent you from completing your bike tour as you had planned.
The 3 Most Common Bicycle Touring Mistakes
Watch the video at the top of this page and you will discover that the three most common bicycle touring mistakes are:
- Not using the right bicycle/equipment
- Carrying too much gear
- Planning to cycle too far each day
It’s vitally important that you watch the video at the top of the page if you want to learn more about these three common bicycle touring mistakes – and most importantly, how to avoid making them yourself.
My Own Private Bicycle Touring Coach
One of the ways I was able to avoid making some of these common beginner mistakes when I first started bicycle touring is because of my Uncle Tom.
You see, when I first started bicycle touring at the age of 17, I had never seen anyone else participating in a long-distance bicycle tour. This was pre-YouTube (if you can believe that), so there really was no way to see photos or videos of other people going on bike tours, and there was no major source of information for people like myself who were dreaming of taking a long trip by bike (like there is today with Bicycle Touring Pro). Lucky for me, however, I did have one major advantage.
My Uncle Tom has been an outdoor adventurer his entire life. He’s likes to rock climb, go canoeing and boating, and around the same time that I was dreaming of cycling from Oregon to Mexico down the California coastline, he and my aunt Christ had just returned from a two-month-long bike tour in Ireland.
So, my Uncle Tom not only had experience with traveling by bike, but he had all the information I needed to get started! And once I told me Uncle Tom about my plans of traveling by bike down the Pacific Coast of the United States, he happily jumped in to help me.
Without my Uncle Tom’s assistance, there’s very little chance I would have figured out how to pack, plan and prepare for my first bicycle tour. My uncle Tom helped with gear selection, route planning, safety concerns, and a whole lot more. His help was absolutely essential for the success of my first bike tour. Without him, I don’t know if I could have done it on my own.
Sadly, most people in the world who dream of traveling by bicycle don’t have an Uncle Tom to help them plan, prepare for and execute their dream bike tour. Maybe you’ve discovered this for yourself. You want to go bicycle touring, but you don’t really know anyone, personally, who has ever done it. Or you don’t know of anyone who is willing to sit down with you on a one-on-one level and answer any questions that you might have.
After all, that’s what most people really want (and need) when they first start planning for a bicycle tour. They want someone to sit down with them and answer their questions, point out successful bicycle touring techniques, and eliminate and pain for frustration they might experience as a beginner in the world of long-distance cycle touring.
That’s why, in my next video, I’m going to have an offer for you that will catapult you forward toward the bike tour you’ve been dreaming about. Something I’ve been working on putting together for the last several months, and something that I think is going to help hundreds of people make the radical life-changes they need to make in order conduct the bike tours they’ve been dreaming about.
Leave A Comment Below
Before you leave, please take a moment to share this video with someone you know who might benefit from the information. Then, leave a comment below and let me know on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the most and 1 being the least), how helpful would it be to YOU if you had someone like me or my Uncle Tom to hold you by the hand, walk you through the entire bicycle touring process, answer any questions you might have, and work with you one-on-one to plan and prepare for your dream bike tour?
Just leave a comment below and let me know, on a scale of 1 to 10, how valuable would it be to have someone like me (or my Uncle Tom) helping you to learn how to conduct the bike tour of your dreams.
8.5
10 Totally!!!
10. I would love to be a part of the course. I will look for your email on Sunday. Thank you
I wish I had someone like your uncle tom to help me plan my first bike tour. 10
10 10 10
Your assistance is both helpful as well as encouraging = so I”ll give you a 9.5
9.0 1984 first bike tour on a 10 speed road bike with 40 lb. backpack. One of the needless pieces of gear I carried was a full sized cast iron skillet. Not to mentioned when I started out at 8am it was 86 degrees. It took me almost 30 years for my next tour with the proper bike and gear.
Ready to start a tour after seeing this video.
A perfect 10
(You my uncle TOM)
Hi Darren,
I used many of your resources and others and had a very successful, self contained bike tour 2 years ago. Am currently planning my next tour. You are right on about bike, weight and cycling too far. I would also say the 3 biggest hurdles to bike touring is time, time and time … but it is all worth it. I enjoy your videos VERY much. I hope someday our paths will cross.
Jon.
8. — It would need very helpful to learn what it takes to have a successful first bike tour. Never done one yet, but always wanted to. I worry about traveling alone though & finding safe places to camp or sleep
Great vid Darren,tanx.
I have really enjoyed these 3 videos and am looking forward to #4. I would give you a 9+ for those I’ve seen and found they answer many questions and concerns I’ve had. Clearly, starting small with short trips will give you experience and confidence for longer trips. The one on one coaching sounds outstanding and I woulds like to be part of it.
Great tips ? and I’ll give you a 9️⃣
Thx ‘uncle Allf’
I Wish I had time, I sure would!
I injoyed your videos aND will try to fallow them to the T
I really need your help! Planning a cross country tour in a couple of years. Already looking at equipment.
Nice video. The second mistake “Carrying too much” reminds me of the same mistake for “my first-time long hiking”, usually carrying too much useless stuffs. :- Thanks Bicycle Touring Pro
Great vid Darren (10). I also try to help newbies conduct their own tour. Because there are no one simple answer to this challenge, I usually start asking people “what they hope to achieve” by conducting a particular tour. Like you said in the beginning of the vid, some people hope to cover a lot of distance, others (myself included) are motivated by outdoor activities in general and want to explore or go catch a fish in the evening. If you know what you hope to achieve by going on any trip, really, it will also be a lot easier to pack the right stuff in your bags.