Long Distance Hiking vs. Cycling

[twosticks]

Can you give a rough breakdown of what weight loads would be consider light, medium heavy for a trailer? Sort of like ultralight to packasauras.

It all depends on your comfort level. Biking and hiking are so much alike that you can use the same gear for one as the other. The only difference being more shorts, some tubes and tools. I don't mean a tool box full of them, just enough to get you to the next bike shop. I enjoyed the bike riding I've done because I was able to bring the crazy creek chairs and the pie i bought at the store and the left overs from eating at a resturant. One big difference is, you'll drink more water, but bringing the trailer or paniers or that extenda bike thing means you can bring more water... more of everything. And as for getting the weight up the hills, it's all about the gearing on the bike. I was pulling 80lbs in the bob and another 20 in the bags and I carried my bike up the steps from the C&O canal, rode across the railroad bridge and all the way up to the hilltop house hotel in harpers ferry. You just have to spin ...

[crane egan]

Not advise on cycling or hicking, but did a cool thing this weekend. We hiked from Neels Gap to Unicoi Gap Friday & Saturday then did the six-gap century ride in Dalonaga on sunday.The bike ride was the hardest i ever did.

[Peaks]

Just to be clear, there are several types of bike touring, just like there are several types of AT hiking. They include long distance self-supported bike touring (perhaps comparable to thru-hiking), and week long group tours (perhaps like section hiking). Each is different and has their own attributes. Certainly if someone is sagging my gear, I pack much differently then if I am hauling it all on my bike.

Panniers or trailers is another debate when doing self-supported. Part of the answer depends on what type of a bike you are using. BOB Trailers aren't light. They weigh 14 pounds, plus the weight of the bag is another 3 pounds or so. I'll definately reconsider that decision before I use trailers again.

[Jeff]

Are there forums similar to Whiteblaze for the long distance biking issues we have been discussing???

[Spock]

After 18,000 miles of cycle touring, here are some thoughts:
1. Ultralight is as important for cycling as backpacking. UL is also COMPACT! Try to get everything in one big stuff sack lengthwise on a rear rack - in addition to a handlebar bag. That will minimize wind resistance.

2. A mid-range bike has the best cost/benefit IMHO. A quality bike is easier to repair and service, but you don't need to spend as much as a top drawer racing bike. Not even close. Spend money on rims and tires. An ounce on the rims equals a pound on the bike. Get Spectra or Kevlar tires and carry 2 extras. Glass slashes and tumbleweed seeds eat tires and the Western Auto in Buzzard Crotch, West Dakota don't carry no 700 mm tires. And carry enough tools and know how to use them so you can do major overhauls. Just try to march your bearing cartridges at the Eat Hear - Get Gas (I'm not making that up) in Sweat Hog, Sascatchewan.

3. Outfit for going off the beaten track. IOW, fatter rather than thinner tires so you can lower the pressure and haul ass on gravel roads. Some of the more interesting routes are off pavement, but if you have to beat yourself or your rig to death to take them, you won't.

4 You won't be carrying much food or cooking stuff - at least not for long. It is too easy to eat on the road. Have dinner, ride to camp; pack up in the morning, ride to next town for breakfast. In between, a stop at every country store for ice cream bars. Or get burgers to go for dinner. I just carry a metal mug and a simple Esbit pot support (not the one they supply) and use it for hot drinks in the evening.

5. Carry first aid for road burns and LOTS of sun screen. You will get more sun than you can imagine. And you will lay it down more than you like. So, be prepared.

6. Organized campgrounds catering to automobiles and RVs suck large. There is no way to sleep on the bare, rock hard, gravel tent sites unless you carry 1. a huge Thermarest or 2. a hammock. Hammocks rock. Also, ear plugs and benydril will help you sleep through the rumbles of late arrivals and blaring tvs. Better yet:

7. Be prepared to stealth camp. Highways offer lots of stealth opportunities at places like river crossings and un-fenced, non-posted land. New England is the best for this and Ontario is the worst. But I'm from Texas, land of bob war and landowners with thutty-thutties, where I first learned to stealth camp and do it all the time.

8. Cycle tripping means meeting lots of people - small town and otherwise. You may make new friends, so carry protection. No, not a gun, trojans. They don't take up much room.

9. Cycling in sub-freezing weather is uncomfortable. Neopreme booties help. Avoid sweating.

10. Comfortable shoes to wear when off the bike or going into stores is really important. You will want to take side hikes, and shopkeepers don't like cleats on their floors. Crocks are good. Nike Free 5.0 Trails are more versatile. Flipflops will do.

11. I have stopped carrying extra clothing except for extra warm stuff for cold weather and rain gear, dry socks, extra T-shirt, change of underwear (wask nightly). Some folks carry nice stuff so they can get a room in town and go places such as better restaurants. That's 7-10 pounds and a lot of volume any way you cut it.

12. Peddle your own bike. Have fun. Be careful. Wear a helmet.

[Red Rover]

I've begun toying with the idea of trying out long distance bicycle touring, possibly even cross country. Anyone with experience doing both care to point out any similarities and differences? Also, anyone have any suggestions for other info sources?
Thanks. RYE.

We still road ride a great deal in the summer in addition to hiking (30 -50 miles per trip). We did some bike touring many years ago. For us it was not a lot of fun riding with that extra weight on a bike. Much more of a chore than carrying a backpack. We also simply prefer walking in the quiet of the woods. Touring requires the use of many main roads in order to cover greater distances and the traffic can be brutal at times. You have to be really careful, cyclists get run over every year. When we day trip on bikes we always pick scenic back road routes. We obviously still enjoy riding, but if we were forced to make a choice, there is no doubt in our minds we would ditch the bikes.

[MedicineMan]

my favorite:
"8. Cycle tripping means meeting lots of people - small town and otherwise. You may make new friends, so carry protection. No, not a gun, trojans. They don't take up much room."
That's it ,i'm buying a bike
OK, teasing, already got a bike,,,maybe more motivated to do a distance ride now.

[JoeHiker]

This summer I went on a 3-week bike tour of the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Very different experience from hiking. We didn't camp out, we stayed in towns along the way so there was always a way to get clean and clean your clothes. That was HUGE difference from hiking. Plus, unless you are biking in very remote places, you'll see many more people along the way. You don't usually feel nearly as alone biking as you do hiking.

The bike I took was a cyclocross bike. Seemed then (and now) to be the perfect choice. Tougher than a road/touring bike but still plenty fast and smooth. I carried some Ortlieb Panniers with a handlebar bag. A couple of pairs of bike shorts and shirts were all I needed, plus some clothes to wear for evening stuff in towns

Assuming you are not camping out on the bike, your concerns biking are different from those hiking. Security involves mainly a) not getting hit by cars and b) making sure your bike is secured/safe at night. You don't worry about animals so much (yes, yes, I know, you long-time trail veterans NEVER worry about that stuff) or finding a place to sleep, or protecting your food or mice, etc.

Biking this way is certainly more expensive than hiking but I found I preferred it. I like being able to see a LOT of terrain in one day. My curiousity was much more satisfied than it was when I was hiking. Hiking, I'd see some mountain I needed to reach and it would be hours before I'd get there. The terrain around me was nice but after a while there was quiet a bit of sameness to it. Cycling, I'd be at that mountain in 30 minutes tops and the terrain beyond could be completely different. I just liked that better. Plus the bike gave me a TON more flexibility as to where I would end up each night.

I suspect some of this preference has to do with where I am in my life. I was able to cycle much of the Camino in just a few weeks and that was going very easily, stopping often to smell the roses, etc. The pilgrims walking it took MONTHS. I don't have that much vacation time in my life right now and I really like my job so I'm not about to quit it.

I do love long-distance hiking, don't get me wrong. I plan to do it many more times in the future. But I think I like bike touring better. It seems to be the perfect vacation.

[Peaks]

Well, I'll tell you another difference between backpacking and bike touring. My wife enjoys a week long bike tour, especially if it has a sag wagon. But she will not backpack with me for more than a few days.

[the_iceman]

Okay, I might as well throw in my two cents. Being overweight (and out of shape) IMHO hurts a lot more on a bike than on the trail. On a long climb hiking you can climb two steps rest two steps. On a bike you are either riding or stopped and starting again on a big hill with a big load is really hard.

I have hiked about 1/3 of the AT and done numerous 100+ days on a bike, both supported, (someone carried my gear) and unsupported. I have also done multi-day mountain bike trips. I have biked in the US and the French Alps. I think some of the toughest rides have been in New England with 9,000+ feet of climbing in 100 miles.

I ride a Litespeed, which is a sweet ride, but does not really have the braking capacity to handle a huge load on a steep downhill. It is nice to be able to stop the bike and I start to freak out when the speedo starts reading 50 mph. Get a bike that matches the task,

I have used panniers before and front bags have an impact on handling. I have heard the Bob tracks nicely but you still need to stop it. And like someone said, that is another 14 pounds.

I weigh in between 180 and 200 (depending on the season) and I have been known to break spokes on certain wheels when I stand on a climb from the combination of weight and torque. If you are going to tour make sure you have strong wheels that can handle the weight and your power.

Spare parts:
Shift cable, brake cable, spoke or two, spare tire, 2 -3 spare tubes, patch kit, a really good pump. The cables are important because you do not want to lose shifting or braking for a 50 mile ride to the next shop.

Arm and leg warmers, a rain jacket, helmet liner for sun or bugs. A balaclava for cold weather. Gloves, wind proof for cold weather.

Pearl Izumi Amfib tights are for cold, wet weather.

Get a flashing red light to wear in the rain and dusk. Some drivers just do not see you.

I like to ride with a end plug rear view mirror so I can see what is coming behind me and how close they are.

In closing, I worked hard to get my bike weight below 18 pounds. I was riding with a friend one day and he said to me: “You fat ass, skip a lunch and save some money if you want to save weight.”

[JojoSmiley]

Well, back in 2004 we were hiking the North Country Trail from the Cincinnati area east the the Finger lakes Trail section and decided we had had enough of bug and mud. We bought a couple recumbent bikes and biked some 1000 miles from N New York down to Richmond, VA where we quit due to incoming hurricane. We really enjoyed biking. We had panniers and a bob trailer. We got very good at packing bikes in elevators as the front desk clerks let us have them in our room but didn't always put us on the ground floor. We actively sought out bike paths in addition to the Adventure cycling maps. Most of the time we found out about local paths thru bike shops. We even went 33 miles to get to a 100 mile bike path going our way. Like hiking, we loved meeting all the folks along the way.

[A-Train]

I was looking thru my friends bike mag this week (forgot the name), but it had an article about a guy named "hIrSh" who was biking from Vancouver to Cape Horn in Chile. Incidently enough, it said he hiked the AT and PCT as well. Anyone know this guy??