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Reasons to Tour By Bicycle

Truth vs TrustHow to Future


I recommend a long bicycle tour as one of the best ways to see parts
of the world, especially America.

There was an article in a recent New York Times about 8 great bike
touring routes in the US. These 8 happen to follow trails that were
converted into bike paths from former railways. So they have gentle
hills and swell views. As the piece mentions, the routes are great
with kids, too, because they are no auto vehicles, so there is no
dangerous traffic to worry about.

My reasons to take a long bike tour in America;

1) It is inexpensive. If you camp, which is easy to do, and I
recommend, your main expense is only food. No gas! Finding a place to
put a tent stashed on your bike is usually not hard. On some routes
official camp areas are frequent.
2) But you don't have to camp all the time. On a bike (unlike hiking)
you can easily detour to find lodging. You could also combine it with
hotels or staying at friends along the way. So you can glamp if you
want.
3) Biking is by far the best way to see America. It's too big for
walking and cars are too fast, but biking is just the right scale.
It's not hard to cover 50 miles a day, or 300 miles in a week, which
means you can see a lot. Yet stop in a second, anywhere.
4) When you are on a bike tour you are a hero. Everyone wants to hear
about your trip. It is easy to meet interesting people, unusual
opportunities, and you'll get plenty of invitations to stay
somewhere.
5) There are plenty of designed routes, with maps and guides, and
best routes for bikes. Not all are on bike trails, but many are. (See
above article and Adventure Cycling).
6) A bike tour is very compatible and easy to combine with
journaling, photography, sketching, etc.

I rode a bicycle across America twice: once from San Francisco to New
York, and once, with my son and nephew, from Canada to Mexico along
the Pacific coast. It is not difficult to do (only 50 miles per day
on average); you just get into low gear and go slow. But they are
among my most memorable times of my life. I kept a sketch book and
wrote a haiku every day of the one trip. I called it Bicycle Haiku. 
Twenty years ago I also asked over a hundred bicyclists who rode
across America how they did it (see the end of this article.)

Anyone can do a long tour bike trip. I've seen many families with
young kids; I've seen grannies; I've seen a person with one leg. You
don't need much equipment (you can borrow or rent the first time),
nor much money. You only need time, which you have. Start with a
two-night weekend ride on a bike rail-to-trail.  After that anything
is possible.

June 8, 2022 | comments
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