I'm Harley from Iowa, USA. I didn't have a bicycle untill I retired; only bought one to stay in shape. Never thought of touring on one but the local bike shop had a discontinued R300 Raleigh tourer on sale. I figured a touring bike; I'll try some long rides. With- in a couple years I had all the racks and bags, camping and cooking gear. I'm 71 now and have made several 500/1000+ mi. tours. This summer I plan to ride 500 ml.from my home N. to Canada. I think like a lot of cyclists we end up with a bike for every reason. I now also have a 520 trek, Sun recumbent, A go-fast Raleige Raveno (sp). I'm really enjoying cycling far more than I ever expected. I got 2 of my sons, 2 daughter-in-laws, and a son-in-law, interested and they all ride a lot. I have also built up a couple bikes for neighbor kids.
Excellent, Sir! My hat, make that helmet, is off to you. Funny I came on this thread right now, today at REI I picked up a book about bike touring in Michigan. I have thought for a while about doing a three or four day bike tour of Michigan 's thumb region in the Autumn.
