I am planing a 550km bicycle trip alone. Can anyone give me a good advice,routine and schedule?

Question

for this 550km trip. Is it good if i break it into 10 days( which is about 50km per day ) to finish it. What must i prepare? What things to take notice of? What to bring? I need people who had experience in long bicycle journey to give me advice. Thanks.

Answer 1

I planned a 444 mile (710.4 km) trip from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS in September on the Natchez Trace. Two of us were going to do it in 4 days. We had to carry 40 pounds of stuff with us (each) since we had to carry what we were going to eat and we had to camp out the first two nights. We were going to stay at hotels the last two nights and then have someone drive us back from Natchez, MS. Since your trip is only 31.25 miles per day, you have less to plan for. You'll need 8 ounces of water for every 30 minutes of riding, you'll need about 100 calories for every 20 minutes of riding, you'll need inner tubes(!), an air pump, bike shorts, bike tools (to fix a flat, adjust your brakes, adjust your spokes, etc), you need a helmet, you need an ID bracelet in case you crash, carrying a cell phone just for emergency would be helpful, have your map, know where you're staying, a cyclometer would help, sunglasses, and the right weather clothing. You might be riding for two, maybe three hours per day. If you forgot something, you have plenty of time between rides to get what you need. If you're riding alone and depending where you're riding, we brought a handgun.

Answer 2

If you want to be cautious about your planning, do some two or three day trips first, so you can learn about what you need to carry, how best to carry it, how your body responds to the long hours on the bike, and whether you'd really want to do it for ten days. An average of 50km per day is a sensible goal - you can always do some side trips if you have spare energy. Remember that you can't control the weather so some flexibility may be in order. I usually don't decide where I'm going to stop for the night until I'm halfway through the day. For your first long trip consider planning a route that allows you to bail out and take a bus or train.

Unless you are already riding a lot, a long tour can take saddle-soreness to a whole new level, and your neck, shoulder, and of course leg muscles can also suffer. The more accustomed you are to long hours on the bike beforehand, the more easily your body will adapt.

The same applies to keeping the fuel up. If this is a lot more energy than you've ever expended in ten days, after a couple of days you're likely to get hungry like you've never known. It's a great feeling when you're sitting down to a meal, but not when you have 20+km to ride in a headwind. Carry high-carbohydrate snacks at least.

Hydration can be an issue if the weather is warm, and is the most critical thing to take notice of if you aren't accustomed to managing your body through daily exertion in the heat. Carry more than enough water and top up your supplies at every opportunity.

If you're camping, when you're on the road remember that it takes time and energy to set up camp. Don't exhaust yourself on the bike.

Answer 3

I'm pretty sure you're still considered a minor, so you won't have to worry about getting lost in the airport or getting on the wrong plane or anything like that, which are common worries of someone flying alone. Someone can escort you to the gate and then after you land they can take you right to where your parent is waiting. Edit: I just looked it up, and since you're under 18 then yes, you can still get someone to escort you. It's only required for kids 5-11 who are flying alone to have somebody walk them through the airport, but you can still have them do it when you're between 12-17 if you'd like. So you can ask your parents to request the unaccompanied minor service. As for being afraid of flying, that's understandable as well, even if it is a bit irrational. I know, because I'm kind of afraid too. I guess it's just the feeling of not being in control of anything, like I'm not flying the plane, lol, so my safety totally depends on the pilots. But that's something to remember so that you can reassure yourself. The pilots are extremely well-trained and it's very unlikely that they'll make a mistake and cause the plane to crash. lol. The air traffic controllers are constantly communicating with them and telling them exactly what to do. Also remember that flying is much safer than driving. There are hundreds of car accidents in the country every day, but so many planes also take off and land every day without a problem. Plane crashes are very rare. I also read something that said that in order to die in a plane crash, then statistically speaking, you would have to fly every day for 19,000 years before you would ever be involved in a crash! lol. So yeah, those are some of the things I try to tell myself so I won't be as afraid. Also, take a lot of stuff to do to distract yourself, like an iPod, puzzle book, etc. If you have something that you can really concentrate on, you can get your mind off the plane and not be as afraid. Good luck!

Answer 4

I havn't had a good long ride in awhile.
My longest ride, I do not know the conversion...
178.6 miles in one day...
Including two "mountain Passes" From Tacoma WA. , up to PARADISE MT. Rainier (5,500 ft.)
and then up and over CAYUSE PASS, (5,000 ft.) plus another 2-3000 feet of little UPS AND DOWNS LIKE BOX CANYON, 1,500 ft...etc. etc.

Okay to answer your question...
More info may be required,
Are you CAMPING along the way, or ROUGHING IT in HOTELS?
If you are camping, take Dehydrated FOODS, or FREEZEDRIED, Lightweight you know...
It has been too long for me since I even have BEEN on a BICYCLE...
Plenty of food, water, matches, first aid, innertubes,small tool kit,cel phone, camera...maps are good in a small handlebar bag and you can also keep some HIGH ENERGY Snack food in there.
You may want to use rear panniers, unless you want an achy breaki back...
but I would imagine you have that all figured out.
Have a good time...and a safe ride.
DJH

Answer 5

I've had experience with SHORT bike rides - and I can tell you this. Make sure you have a VERY COMFORTABLE seat on that bike!