Bicycle Touring
Imagine taking a road trip, but instead of loading up the car, you load up your bike. That's what touring is all about. You can cover more ground than you would walking, but you can also stop and smell the roses or enjoy sights you wouldn't otherwise see at 60 miles per hour.
Bicycle touring can be as rustic or luxurious as you want. You can pack camping gear and pitch your tent for the night, end your day with a hot shower at a hotel, or some of both. Whatever your preference, an enjoyable touring vacation boils down to one thing: planning. If you want to get started cycling, the more you think about what to bring, where to go and how to get there, the less likely you are to end up weighed down with equipment, lost in the middle of nowhere and miserable.
At the same time, if you're the kind of person who likes to make an agenda and stick to it, a bike tour is a good time to rethink that approach. Part of the fun of a tour is being able to stop unexpectedly to see new sights or spend an extra night in a particularly charming town. Work some flexibility into that schedule-if you have five days, plan to ride for only four. Save the extra day for goofing off or dealing with unexpected situations such as bad weather or bike repairs.
Another key to planning is giving yourself time to reach each day's destination. Estimate how much riding you'd want to do in a day either in hours or miles. Make sure it's a distance you can comfortably handle for the entire trip. Remember that on a bike tour, the point isn't where you're going, it's getting there. To that end, look for routes on back roads rather than major highways. And if you're touring in a group, make sure everyone's riding ability is about equal or build your itinerary around the slowest rider.
Finally, make sure your bike is comfortable over long distances. And since you'll carry most of your gear on the bike (with bags called panniers that mount on the sides of the wheels), it will handle differently. Allow extra stopping time and a wider berth for cornering.