The Dark Side of Bike Touring. Don't Let These 4 Things Ruin Your Bike Tour.

And then there are moments to cherish on tours. Riding through the small town of Burney, California in 2011, my girlfriend's tire blew out. It was a 700c x 32, and there weren't any 700c's of any width in this little town. We found a bike shop that had one in Redding, 50 miles away from where we were. We then discovered there was a little shuttle bus that ran between the towns every day, and one was due to leave Redding in a few hours. We called the bike shop and asked if we could buy the tire over the phone and have someone put it on the shuttle for us. They agreed. That evening we met the shuttle. When we opened the box, we found not only the new tire, but the great folks at the shop had also thrown in a bottle of chain lube, a couple of energy bars, lip balm and an ice-cold Guinness wrapped in a cold pack. How cool is that? I've been plugging that place ever since. Thanks Joe, and the entire gang at Redding Sports, Ltd. in Redding, California.

"It's not worth it to be dead right." so many amazing pieces of advice in this video, Paul. The analogies, as always, priceless. Thank you!

My dad got into bicycling in 1960 after stopping smoking and being told he needed to get in shape by his doctor. He bought a bike and after seeing his first ten-speed on the street he was all in. He was an obsessive and a tinkerer, not to mention outgoing. He met some influential people and the short of it is he wound up writing a best-selling (by virtue of being first) book on cycling. Really became his career from 1970 onward. In college i saw him interviewed on national tv and was proud of his hard work and good fortune. He did quite a bit of touring in the US and Europe over many years. He’d have a vlog if he were alive, I’m sure.

I was cycling all the time in my youth. I toured Southern Ireland for two weeks when I 16 years old. But the older you get the more you realize how fragile you really are and riding on roads with any amount of traffic is not really safe. I trust my riding abilities I just don’t trust the cars and trucks speeding by me.

Good video, all so true. myself and 2 friends did a cross-country bike trip in 1985, I think it was in Kansas somewhere, we were on a county road and a tractor-trailer farm truck coming from the opposite direction ( he was the only motor vehicle in either direction), he veered across the middle of the road onto our side of the road, barely giving us enough room in our lane, and he flipped us off as he narrowly hit us head on. Nearly 40 years later that incident still sticks in my mind, even though 99% of the drivers would give us room and a friendly wave, it's that 1 percent that's really scary.... and yes I still ride, but I almost ride rail-trails or gravel back roads exclusively... not only safer but so much quieter!

Man i hitchhiked from Canada to Argentina but never considered bike touring. Lots of respect

Nice, Paul. It is all true. Thanks for sharing. After lots of bike riding in my life, I am mostly concerned about drunk drivers, careless drivers, and those that believe there should be no bicycles on the road. And then, yes, there are the dogs.

My dad used to tell me that you don't want your headstone saying "He had the right of way". This video was very informative. At 65 yrs I am thinking of heading out. I love sleeping in a tent and also in the occasional motel. Greenbrier County WV has a nice. trail I had walked part way ending up in Case, WV. I think that would be my first excursion. My biggest fear is humans, as I have found that paths attract a bad element.

For 20 years (1980-2000) I did several bike tours /year. from 3 day local tours to 5 weeks in Italy (age 50). Mountainous terrain was my favorite (Sierra Nevada, Alps, Rocky Mountains (USA & Canada), Appalachians, S. Island New Zealand. A bicycle tour can be a slice of life, take the good with the bad. Enjoy the adventure!

42 years ago near Genève... A blind curve, a patch of gravel in the shadows, downhill at 40 kms/h. Many open fractures, including my lower jaw. It took 17 months before I could ride again. I hate windless meadows combined with heat and treeless landscape ! My toughest ride: Winnipeg to Calgary. At one point, I was so exhausted and mentally drained, I let go and took the train to Vancouver. A moment of shocking humility. The heat almost killed me.

I consider myself an expert dog person and your advice for dealing with dogs is spot on! I would add one more piece of advice to it. In the spray bottle of water put a few drops of mint oil or vinegar in the water. It won’t hurt the dog and with their sense of smell it’ll help with the really determined dog. Me? I always slow down to a crawl… it takes the wind out of their sails. About the traffic. This is the first year that I had a rear view mirror put on my bike…..game changer! I can’t believe that I never felt like I needed one. Love your channel and the fact that you are just a normal person!

One tip I have leaned from hills: Trying to measure progress by looking at the top of the grade is frustrating. On a really tough hill, I maintain more endurance by measuring progress by looking at the road three or four meters ahead. Sometimes there is is interesting junk or weeds to think about rather than the fact that the top of the hill keeps receding each time you go around a bend.

Great video with a lot of good advice. The "scissor" situation is definitely the scariest for me. Another is when, on a 2 lane road, a car coming the opposite direction is passing in your lane.

I have watched several of Paul’s videos. Super funny and super informative! Thanks for sharing the experiences and offering a balanced outlook about bike touring. It helps to know everything as it is!

I'm about three mins in and I already love this guy. I'm going to be a follower.

Thank you, look forward to seeing your next touring film. I especially appreciate the time you put into the hand drawn maps that show the different stages of the cycle. Many thanks.

As a teacher I had summers off to bike tour. I did eighteen 500-1000+ mile tours over my career mostly in the western states and western Canada. A typical tour was a few weeks and the longest was San Francisco to New York City...47 days. I'd take hills over head winds. Hills are physical but head winds are mentally challenging. The first tour I took I had way too much equipment and I quickly learned to keep my total equipment weight to 25 pounds including tent and sleep bag. To me Paul carries a lot of weight in his panners, but everyone is different, and I didn't carry cooking gear and supplies. I'd plan my ride to arrive in a town for meals, a cold beer and campgrounds, and I'd average 75-80 miles a day which works out to a very reasonable 10 miles an hour average. Long distance biking is more about time and money than physical conditioning and anyone can do it if you time and money.

I have long enjoyed your videos, and this one brings a refreshing blast of honesty. Everything you talk about here is real, I’ve seen it all too, and none of it is an excuse to stay home, or only travel inside cars. Awareness of the reality, paying attention as we ride, and a little common sense will take us far. Oh, and I do particularly like your closing shot: Now go ride your bike.

Great points earned by experience. I'll suggest a 5th bummer event on tours: mechanical problems. I once had to finish a 2 week ride early and hop a bus when my rear wheel broke a few too many spokes and couldn't get replacements. Thinking back, it wasn't such a big deal, just a few days of long walks carrying saddlebags and frustrating conversations about 700c wheels. The rest of the trip had been a great experience, all worth it.

Getting into bicycle touring myself, it can certainly be dangerous at times requiring quick problem solving, reaction speed and high resilience. But the upsides greatly outweigh the downs in my opinion. Great videos Paul, it's great learning so much from veterans of the sport!