How far do you cycle each day on tour?

[Randochap]

For me, with a fully-loaded (w/ camping gear) bike 60 miles (100km) is a comfortable day.

Having said that, you shouldn't set arbitrary distance measurements; there's a lot more to cycle touring than that. What is the terrain like? Here in British Columbia, there's not much flat ground and a lot more very steep, mountainous countryside. So touring, or any kind of cycling itinerary here, is planned accordingly.

You should also be ready to modify plans for places/events where you'd like to spend more time. After all, that's the best part of exploring by bike -- to be open to happenstance.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

For me, with a fully-loaded (w/ camping gear) bike 60 miles (100km) is a comfortable day.

Having said that, you shouldn't set arbitrary distance measurements; there's a lot more to cycle touring than that. What is the terrain like? Here in British Columbia, there's not much flat ground and a lot more very steep, mountainous countryside. So touring, or any kind of cycling itinerary here, is planned accordingly.

You should also be ready to modify plans for places/events where you'd like to spend more time. After all, that's the best part of exploring by bike -- to be open to happenstance.

For us, we just cycled what we wanted to, when we wanted to.
We had no set plans on where we wanted to be by a certain date (except for the ferry crossing home - and even that we had to ask someone what the day of the week was so we know how many days we had left).

We fell into a system of cycling between 80-110km a day - it just happened (also loaded with camping gear - though we were surprised as to how much others carried compared to us). We had never been cycle touring before and the system just 'materialised' after 3 or 4 days.
We would decide where we were camping that night at our afternoon stop based on how we felt and what we wanted to do that day and what sites were available.
Locals we talked to found it odd that we could not say where we stayed last night (without the aid of a map), and that we did not know where we were staying that night. We found it great, freeing and relaxing and though we did not visit the tourist hotspots and go around the churches, galleries, museums etc, we both felt we had seen far more of the country than we would have done otherwise.

 

[Tigerbiten]

My knees are a bit knackered, so I try and limit myself as to how far I cycle in one day.
On my last tour of Scotland the plan was ~100 miles in 3 days.
As I got fitter on the trip, this increased a bit as I could cycle faster/further without getting tired.

I ended up averaging ~40 miles a day for the whole trip.
Longest day was ~67 miles, with a couple more in the +60 miles range, but in truth this was to far so I suffered a bit for the next few days.

My average speed was only ~8 mph over the whole trip.
But if it was a hilly day, this could drop to ~6 mph for the day.

Luck ..............

 

[vernon]

I do anything between 20 and 90 miles per day whixch is governed by who I meet, how much they have to say, the tourist attractions that I encounter, how interesting they are, how much wine I drink at lunchtime and how long my siesta is nopt to mention how motivated i feel, the hilliness of the terrain and the ambient temperature,

Generally the only certainties on my tours are the start and end points.

This summer's tour is an exception. I know that I will be staying at a campsite in Tinteniac in Brittany behind a restaurant that serves kangaroo steaks though I quite fancy the pollock this year.

 

[Randochap]

For us, we just cycled what we wanted to, when we wanted to.
We had no set plans on where we wanted to be by a certain date.

Definitely the best approach.

 

[Ben M]

Ironically enough I'm having a similar debate at the moment with my girlfriend. We're currently in the process of bidding on tandems on ebay and are considering a front rack or it for when we go touring. I think with the amount she is likely to pack it'll definitely be needed!

 

[willem]

See http://www.cyclingeurope.nl/rome/route/index/deel/1 for a relatively easy and very quiet route from Maastricht to Basel (and beyond). Is is the one taken by many Dutch cycletourists who ride to Rome. We have done it with the kids when they were younger. The text is in Dutch, but the maps are very clear, and there is now also a gps track. It is mostly easy, but dop not underestimate the Ardennes. Also, the north east of France is sometimes desperately short of campsites, or even shops and cafes. To get to Maastright, there is now the Dutch on line route planner for bikes: http://www.fietsersbond.net/fietsrouteplanner/fietsroutes-recreatieveplanner/ Again, the interface is only in Dutch (that will change), but I think you should be able to work it out.
From my experience, I think your distances are a bit too optimistic, and so are your daily averages.
Willem

 

[Ben M]

See http://www.cyclingeu...te/index/deel/1 for a relatively easy and very quiet route from Maastricht to Basel (and beyond). Is is the one taken by many Dutch cycletourists who ride to Rome. We have done it with the kids when they were younger. The text is in Dutch, but the maps are very clear, and there is now also a gps track. It is mostly easy, but dop not underestimate the Ardennes. Also, the north east of France is sometimes desperately short of campsites, or even shops and cafes. To get to Maastright, there is now the Dutch on line route planner for bikes: http://www.fietsersb...eatieveplanner/ Again, the interface is only in Dutch (that will change), but I think you should be able to work it out.
From my experience, I think your distances are a bit too optimistic, and so are your daily averages.
Willem

I take it that you didn't notice that the original post is over a year old? Thanks for the help though.

 

[willem]

I take it that you didn't notice that the original post is over a year old? Thanks for the help though.

 

[willem]

No, sorry. What did you do, and did you have a good time?
Willem

 

[Ben M]

Holy thread revival Batman! It's almost a year since we did our tour:

http://www.cyclechat...ead.php?t=44641

No, sorry. What did you do, and did you have a good time?
Willem

No worries. We had a great time, and I wrote it up here:
https://www.cyclechat.net/

The change of forums seems to have messed up the formatting, but it's still readable.