Can you overplan a tour?

Carolina

I sometimes feel guilty that I am overplanning my bike tour. I am a new touring cyclist and I keep telling myself that I need to buy this and that for the tour I am planning and I wonder why I do it. Do others have a similar problem?

vernonlevy

Carolina wrote:

I sometimes feel guilty that I am overplanning my bike tour. I am a new touring cyclist and I keep telling myself that I need to buy this and that for the tour I am planning and I wonder why I do it. Do others have a similar problem?

Yes you can overplan a tour.

I am cycling from the channel to the med.

All I know at the moment is the day I get on the coach bound for Calais and when I get picked up in Montpellier. Ventoux figures vaguely in my plans and the route has yet to be planned. I've bought a road atlas for that purpose though I've yet to look at it.

I'm setting off on 4th August and between now and then I have to fit in a weekend booze up with colleagues a weeken mini tour with a colleague the weekend after, a week's holiday in Greece and a 100km Audax.

I've minimised the amount of clothing and tooling to take with me and have a checklist honed from several tours. I work on the premise that I am a cyclist who's touring rather than a tourist who's cycling.

Pack several times and discard as much stuff as you can each time you pack/unpack. I came across a touring cyclist who had a caffetiere - I ask you!

I certainly had too much on my first tour. I flinch when i see the size of the proposed tool lists of some tourists.

alittlecrazy

vernonlevy wrote:

Carolina wrote:

I sometimes feel guilty that I am overplanning my bike tour. I am a new touring cyclist and I keep telling myself that I need to buy this and that for the tour I am planning and I wonder why I do it. Do others have a similar problem?

Yes, of course you can overplan. Before our trip we definitely bought too many clothes, for example. We didn't need as many shirts as we are now lugging around certainly, but I kept on thinking we would "need" this and that.

I think you can overplan in terms of setting a schedule as well. I say forget the schedule and just have fun. If you run a bit late, you can always catch a bus or train part of the way. Better that than feeling stressed about getting to a set point each day.

>>Pack several times and discard as much stuff as you can each time you >>pack/unpack. I came across a touring cyclist who had a caffetiere - I ask you!

On the other hand, the caffetiere sounds perfectly reasonable to this coffee addict

Eurostar

My first tour was in France and I packed lots of guide books including the huge red Guide Michelin! When I got to Carcassonne I posted lots of stuff home because the penny had dropped that carrying it over the Pyrenees was going to be a bit daft. So yes, we all go too far with the preparation at first. Why don't you post your packing list so we can all criticize!

These days I manage with almost nothing. This is how I did Norway and the west coast of the US:

jibi

I put a poncho on the floor
put every thing I want to take on the poncho.

Take everything off the poncho
fold the poncho in half, then put only the things you really need on the poncho.

Take everything off the poncho again, fold the poncho in half.

Now the things you can get on the poncho are the things you will take.

Or get a trailer and take everything :oops:

Make sure the roads on the map are really roads.



george

Hairy Jock

You can over plan anything, except launching a new cycle forum...

bike_the_planet

Planning a cycle tour is a personal thing. There is no right way to do it. Only your way. If you want to plan extensively, then why not. Don't let others tell you how to do it.

However, when you finally get on your bike and start pedalling, remember the old maxim : the map is not the territory. In other words, be prepared for unplanned routes/events/weather. Be flexible.

Philip Davis

I don't think you can overplan, but you can get too tied up in details, if thats not the same thing. On my first solo trip, i read so much stuff about what i should take that I ended up with a small mountain of ridiculously expensive kit - something for every conceivable eventuality. Of course, the bike was then so overloaded it almost spoiled it for me.

The secret of course to a good tour is to bring the absolute minimum of kit with you, but to chose everything very carefully - this of course needs planning and thought.

As for planning your routes - its always good I think to have an idea of where you are going. Its all very well for lots of people to say 'just follow your instinct' or whatever, but that can mean finding yourself going the wrong way up an autobahn at night or missing something really amazing because you didn't bother reading the guidebook. And it does need research sometimes to find out crucial bits of info - for example, will it be particularly cold at a particular time of year on a high pass. Careful planning of a route is a good way to get the best of a trip, but its important not to get uptight about it.

DomT

Just learn from your last tour. I always go with a list I created from my last tour, it saves me loads of time packing. However I do tend to over plan my route (ie turn by turn), but have recently learned to make a route up as I go along - I think it's more exciting too!

snorri

Philip Davis wrote:

, but that can mean finding yourself going the wrong way up an autobahn

But it is little incidents like that that make your tour memorable.

daviddd

I have been planning meticulously what to take to Oz - and trying to obtain the lightest, good-quality stuff I can. SW radio, PDA and bluetooth keyboard for composing blog and e-mails; solar charging system; telephoto camera; lightweight binoculars for wildlife watching; everythingas compatible as possible e.g. AA batteries used throughout; lightweight bike tools etc etc.

HOWEVER, although I know I am going around Oz from Perth to Perth in a year I haven't planned any routes - I just need to do 11000 miles (ish) in 50 weeks so just plan to get ahead of the mathematical daily schedule so's I can spend time somewhere I find I really like from time to time, like the Daintree, or Kakadu NP, or the Kimberley, or Uluru, or Rottnest Island.....

Hmm, maybe I need 2 years in fact.

djmc

When I first started cycletouring I had only been mountaineering in the Alps. Virtually no clothing other than that worn and perhaps a couple of pairs of knickers. However I carried a rope, crampons, harness, slings carabiners , ice axe, ice hammer, some food etc. This would be for a couple of weeks. Taking away the specifically climbing gear this leaves a very light rucksack. Transfering this to cycling, carry what is needed to wear and a change for the evening which at a pinch one might want to wear on the bike. All the tours I have done on a bike have been planned from day to day, when I climbed the same was the case. It depended on weather and conditions. I stayed in climbing huts in the mountains and cheap hotels in the valleys. I cannot see the point in carrying more than necessary. True one should be prepared but if if one caries everything one can possibly think of this means that one can't finish what one planned. In climbing speed is safety. For cycling it is nowhere near so critical since a road is a safe environment but one still does not want to carry more than absolutely necessary.

Ashley_R

I always find that however long the tour (my longest being 2 weeks encountering most weather types) that I always end up carring stuff I never use, must remember to ditch that kitchen sink next time!

If nothing else look upon it as extra resistance training!

Eurostar

I'm aiming for maximum flexibility and independence on my next trip. I'm taking camping gear so I don't have to stay within range of accommodation. But I'm trying to keep the bike fast and light and comfy so I can do 150 miles a day at a push. This requires all sorts of compromises and a huge bill for exotic stuff that is strong and hard wearing but light and packs up small. If it lets me escape into areas where there are no people it will be worth it.

psmiffy

Compared to what most people seem to carry I take too much -

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/psmiffyph ... 3179853842

however I am just unpacking after two weeks in finland and sweden with variable weather and apart from things like spare cables and a elastoplasts et.al I have used everything

as to planning there comes a point after a while when you are not buying this and that because you have it all - I tend to take the same for a long weekend as i do for five weeks

as to route etc its a case of where, when, is it doable and then just make the rest up on the road

be good

psmiffy

Started to think about the cyclist that’s touring or tourist that’s cycling thing – Im definitely the latter – its just more enjoyable to do it on a bike – its about the journey not the destination or how far you have been

Cathryn

Personally I think the planning is half the pleasure. I know I love planning any holiday as much as I love going on the aforementioned trip....if you enjoy it, do it!! And being a bit risk averse, I like to know I've covered off all my bases...

mazza

I like to buy a train ticket and go with a vague idea where i might end up leaving most of it to see what happens with weather and if like somewhere i might stsy a while.

andymiller

I enjoy the planning and research. But while you can't do too much research you can tke too much stuff or over-schedule.

vernonlevy

andymiller wrote:

I enjoy the planning and research. But while you can't do too much research you can tke too much stuff or over-schedule.

Still not spent any time looking at the maps. Must do it while I'm on holiday in Greece or on the coach as I head for Calais.

I have got all my gear to gether though and i'm about to pack that ready for the off.