Amateur Road Trip

thekingadrock1 said:

I just started riding about a month ago. I bought a bike for $5 and made it road ready. Since I am on a college budget I don’t have a lot to work with. In late July one of my roommates and I are going to ride from Nashville, TN to Asheville, NC and back. It will be the first big ride either of us has been on. Does anyone have any tips for two complete amateurs going on a two week excursion who really have no idea what they are getting into?

Good info here:
kenkifer.comindex.htmOpen ↗ .
And possibly here (haven't seen this one before but Sheldon Brown had a link to it from his site):
adventurecycling.orgadventurecycling.orgOpen ↗ . Good luck. Hope you're in good shape for that kind of thing. I'm still trying to work up to my first century. I think it will surprise my parents who live about 75 miles away for me to ride up to their house on my bike. Run a search on the web for bicycle touring and you should find more sites that will help you.

thekingadrock1 said:

I just started riding about a month ago. I bought a bike for $5 and made it road ready. Since I am on a college budget I don’t have a lot to work with. In late July one of my roommates and I are going to ride from Nashville, TN to Asheville, NC and back. It will be the first big ride either of us has been on. Does anyone have any tips for two complete amateurs going on a two week excursion who really have no idea what they are getting into?

Tip #1: Don't attempt this without motor vehicle support. Any injury or mechanical failure on either bike will force you to split up for an extended period while the other tries to get help. This can be very dangerous.

A 300+ mile ride through the mountains is not something to take lightly (by lightly, I mean without significant preparation and logistics support).