Building up to a tour. A few questions:

[RobinL]

Hello all. I'm new here. I've been cycling most days now for around 3 years, for leisure and to commute. Currently I do a minimum of 8 miles a day on week days. I haven't had much money and have been cycling in areas with a high incidence of theft, so have been cycling £40 second hand "mountain" bikes up until now.

In the last couple years i've been doing more and more cycling for leisure at the weekend, usually going around 20 miles, sometimes a little more. Last Saturday I did a 45 mile ride to a friends house, to test myself a little. It took me around 4 hours, which I was a little dissapointed with (though I'd be able to do it faster). I guess this is more like covering 60 on a decent bike (mind makes grinding noises and has thick tyres...it's quite reliable though, since buying it in September it's done around 1000 miles).

Anyway, i've recently got my first full time job, so I've now got enough money to think about getting a decent bike. After my little trip last weekend, I thinking of going a bit further - taking a week of work and doing a mini tour of the UK (I live in London). I'm looking for a bit of advice on how to prepare for a tour. A few questions:

1. Where can you stay where you can keep your bike secure at night? Do people often use Youth Hostels - are you generally OK if you get good locks?

2. What bike should I be looking at getting. I really like the look of the Specialist Sirruses (I tried one a couple months back). Is this suitable for touring on?

3. How little stuff can you get away with bringing with you? I'd be wanting to take the absolute minimum to make the cycling as enjoyable as possible. Is it best to take it in paniers?

4. If I got a decent bike, how many miles is it reasonable to do per day? I feel I could manage 50 reasonably easy. I didn't feel too tired after doing 45, and I wasn't achy the next day. Do people often do significantly more than 50?

5. Is buying cycling clothes considered a necessity or could I get away with a standard sports t shirts and shorts?

My budget for a bike would probably be around £600, although I'm fairly flexible. At the moment all I have is a decent lock and locks. What else would I need to think about buying?

Sorry for all the questions! Thanks for any help on this.

 

[xilios]

Hi, it is really easy to do 50/60 per day, I would not worry about that.
For a bike you can get a nice hybrid for a good price, you need to check that it has a wide range of gears (we both use 42/32/22 up front and 11-34 rear) for the hills, and a you would probably need to invest on a good sadle (you will be sitting on it for many hours every day). My wife and I use Brooks Champion flyer, leather sadles and recomend them. Also if your buying new I would get them to install Schwalbe touring tires (their bomb proof).
We have never stayed in Youth Hostels but after reading some touring journals I would try and put the bike in my room, at least use some common sense on where you lock it.
As for keeping light I'm sure just two small rear panniers would be enough to hold 2/3 sets of clothes, tools, first aid and toilet stuff. We both use cycling shorts, again nice to be comfortable on the sadle, every day for many hours.
I hope this helps some, more tips on our page.
Have a nice tour, cheers

 

[RobinL]

Thanks for that, useful advice

 

[drfish]

Welcome to the world of touring I hope you like it as much as I do....
5. Many will disagree but I never use riding shorts, or at least not on tour, I find that plain old nylon shorts dry fast, allows me pockets to carry stuff and I must of just gotten used to riding with normal cloths, I actually like polyester shirts big and loose they are easy to wash and dry and easily spoted by drivers.
4. 50-60 miles a day is often the norm but if you want it becomes rather easy to do 100 miles a day if the winds are reasonable, and the grades not too long or steep. In north america we do between 60 and 120 most days in 6-9 hours of riding which seems about right.
3. I like panniers, and since we cook for a family I usually carry front and rear with a handlebar bag. If your not cooking and camping in civilized places small rears and a handle bar bag would be fine I would think.
2. I like a road type touring bike, but my most recent tour was a mountain type tandem, we did the ACA great divide. I got used to the bike fairly fast. Ride what fits, give some thought to hand postions. There are loads of good touring bikes out there do a little google! Try SJS Cycles home of Thorn they look good, I sure they would be glad to outfit you with good gear.
1. I never used to bring my bike into my room but now it seems to be the norm. In a couple of really nice hotels we stayed at in the east, after asking they were kind enough to keep the bikes under lock and key for us.

You will find that once you get into this touring thing that there are as many ways to do it as there are riders.

 

[RobinL]

thanks for the reply I think I'll go with the type of clothes you suggest then - no point in spending more money if its not needed!

 

[Fango]

thanks for the reply I think I'll go with the type of clothes you suggest then - no point in spending more money if its not needed!

Try doing a couple of 60 mile rides over a weekend and see how your **** feels. If you're not sore, then you're a stronger man than me I'm investing in some padded bib shorts tomorrow.

 

[RobinL]

Try doing a couple of 60 mile rides over a weekend and see how your **** feels. If you're not sore, then you're a stronger man than me I'm investing in some padded bib shorts tomorrow.

Stage one complete

I bought myself a Specialised Sirrus Pro (I know not ideal for touring, but it's a lot of fun for weekend rides).

I did a 240 mile ride over two days last week. London to Liverpool via Wourcester Was actually (relatively) OK on the ol' bum considering

However, after two 120 mile days I think if I were going on an extended tour I'd be looking at 50-80 miles a day to stay reasonably confortable. I'd buy a tour bike for that as well, not sure my Sirrus could cope