Touring Essentials: What You Need to Get Started

Touring on bike is a great way to travel to a specific destination while doing exercise and seeing the sights along the way. This, however, implies many specific items you will need to make your tour a successful one.

Here are some things to consider before you make your first foray into touring.

  1. Make sure your bike is comfortable and that you are comfortable riding it, especially with gear all loaded on it. Trick it out so that you’ve got panniers on it and it is easy to control. Ride it beforehand and work out the kinks.
  2. Plan your destination accordingly and figure out how much you’ll be traveling per day. Make sure there are camping sites, hotels or the such within traveling distance.  
  3. Check the weather because you’ll need to dress for it so more clothes weigh more. Choose the time of year accordingly.
  4. Bring enough spare inner tubes, tire levers, patches, hand pumps and tools. You will never know when you may need any of the above.
  5. Bring raingear and use waterproof panniers. You’ll be outdoors and a sudden shower is always a possibility.
  6. Pack as light as you can. You may think you’ll need it but you will wish you left it at home when you are climbing that hill. Know what things are important, can’t-live-without items and what are luxury.

Here are some blog posts from bloggers who have done the deed.

This first one is about the 10 things Darren learned on about his first bike tour

This next one is from a couple who decided to get back into cycling after hitting retirement. They talk about their training regimen and some of the routes they did. It's called the PCH Traveler.

I found this post by The Lazy Rando Blog on Backpack Cooking and all the things you need to cook under the stars, as well as his Packing Strategy

Wanna travel? On the Australian based blog, Ride On, they feature a post on the top 50 rides you can do, including some touring options. If you have the coin and are looking for something off the beaten track, this may be up your alley. 

Looking to just stay in the country? chasing mailboxes d.c. is a blog that features a lot of the events that can be found in the D.C. area. 

Free Life by Bike is a blog by two Vipassana Meditators who are traveling the globe by bike and stopping in Vipassana Centers as they go. 

If you want a how-to page that is loaded with info, Travelling Two is a great resource. 

Crazy Guy on a Bike is an online journal for bike touring folk who want to share their experiences. It even shows how much travelers spend per day and where they are. 

Bike 49 is a blog that followed five people who took 13 months to tour 49 U.S. states, pedaling towards a sustainable future. They included into their touring activities talks and classroom interaction to teach people about geography, environmental science and health education.