Bicycle Touring: So What Is It Exactly? I’ve Packed My Bicycle Saddle Bags and I’m Ready to Go!
Bicycle touring in its simplest definition is traveling long distances on your bike. This could mean many miles in a day or traveling a distance over several days or weeks. For the most part when I think of bike touring I think of traveling a distance on your bike with everything you need to sustain yourself.
Why do people bike tour? Many claim that they love being in the outdoors moving from place to place under their own power on their bikes. Others like attaining a high level of physical fitness while getting fresh air outdoors. Overall, all bike touring enthusiasts can agree that the main goal is always to have a great time.
Bike touring can basically be broken up into the different forms depending on how much weight you carry. We’ll look at credit card, ultra-light, and fully-loaded styles of bike touring. Which one type will you be?
As the name suggests credit card touring is the lightest form of bike touring around. A minimalist approach to bike touring requires only the bare essentials, a bike and money. Forget the bicycle saddle bags and just bring your credit card to pay for food, hotels and anything else you may need on your trek.
Ultra-light touring can be best described as toting loads less than 16.5 pounds. Cyclist in this group may want to carry some extra food, clothing and maybe even a light weight tent and sleeping bag. These enthusiasts enjoy a minimal level of self-containment.
Finally, fully-loaded touring is carrying everything you could possibly need when you travel. Items may include clothes, toiletries, sleeping bag, tent, foam sleeping pad, food, camp stove, flashlights etc. This is for the cyclist that enjoys being completely self reliant. I guess I’d compare a fully-loaded cyclist to a backpacker who goes into the back country with everything he needs to survive.
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