How to Train for a Bike Tour (And What NOT to do!)

This video is all about how to train for a bike tour (and also how NOT to train for a bike tour!) Proper training is a great way to prevent injuries, saddle sores and mental fatigue. How can we best prepare for the cycle tour we have planned? Let's discuss!

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Why train for a bike tour?
1:43 Building basic cycling experience
3:04 How much time do you have?
4:24 Slowly building distance and intensity
5:27 Consider terrain, weather and traffic
7:08 Other areas to train
8:23 When I did it wrong

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[SheelaghDaly]

Anything you've learned along the way to better train for a bike tour? Let me know!

[HermannKerr]

Good advice. One of the hardest things, that I have seen novice cycle tourers have, is getting their cycle touring kit together. The only way to really get ones kit together that is to got cycle touring, so I recommend that anyone wanting to go cycle tour (big time - week plus) needs to go cycle touring (little time - a 2-3 days). For physical training I took my advice from an old friend (80++) that there is time enough to train on tour or as I translated it "Satis est tempus instituendi dum in itinere" (It took a year of Latin in grade 9). While training I restricted my distance for about the first week to a target of 50 km per day which doesn't sound like much and it isn't but it gives your body time to adapt. It always seems so odd to just go a wee bit down the road and stop for the day but after seven days you are a very long way from home and then you can start cranking a bit more (On tour my target is 80 (50-150 depending) km/day and 2000 (with rest days is nearly right on) km/monrh). I ride with a GPS and the most important thing on it is the clock (not the odometer or speed - though the heart rate monitor as I am over 70 is kind of important) as I take a drink of water every 15 minutes and always have a bag of Super GORP because it is a lot more than raisins and peanuts, as (you are very correct) never want to be thirsty or hungry (but avoid cheap calories).

[orangevw]

The first tour I did was 300 miles and it went well. I rode almost every day… some loaded over nighters and some just riding. The second tour I did, was 700 miles and I made the mistake of not riding at all for 2 weeks before the ride. I thought I would give my legs a good rest. The first 2 days were very painful. Keep riding almost daily before a tour, just don’t over do it.

[AshishBorakhadikar]

I have been looking for exactly this kind of video Sheelagh that will help me understand bike touring. My plan is ride whole japan in 2024. I have been cycling since 2013 but mostly for races and triathlons so adjusting to the slow pace of touring is so difficult for me. Even on zwift I get board sometime and get back to being competitive for 30-40miles ride.
All your videos are gonna help me immensely.
Thank You So Much and Keep them

[vanomadcyclist]

I have always found if you can ride 75% of the miles you plan to do in a day you will do just fine. My rides have been a max of 80 miles/day (not my favorite) but generally 35-50 miles per day suits me just fine. Thanks for all the tips

[damianherman]

Another one great video on your channel.Im glad that I came across to your channel. Your tips are really good.I think the same that training before bike tour is important. I always cycle very often before bike tour. For me essential is to do several bike trip with longer distance per day than I will be cycling during bike tour. Another one tip which work out for me is to go for a 2-4 days bike trip before I start longer one bike tour. This is the good idea to test myself condition of cycling and check all of my gear. After that I always take my bike to the service and then I can start long bike tour. This is what I'm gonna do at the beginning of this summer.
Greetings from Poland.

[fyvewytches]

One thing to mention if the tour is in a different country is to make sure you know some basic laws of the countries you go to. Some allow wild camping, some don’t. In some countries wearing a helmet is compulsory, others not …

[sch]

Great video, great tips, definitely some things i wouldn’t have thought of. Thanks for sharing!

[AnomaLeOverT.I.M.E]

This is such a condensed, informative and encouraging video. Thank you 💚💚💚💚💚

[fanom]

I am 68 year "young"...I plan my bike tours on 50 to 60 miles a day. I find this distance to be attainable day after day. I will say that I factor in a day off every 3 days or 180 miles. I have found that many people never teste rode the fully loaded bike BEFORE the actual ride. Second was people never had the bike "sized" correctly for them.

[dhotz]

I'm In the early data foraging stage of tour planning/considering. I've tried several distances on day trips so far to see how my body handles the trek. I want to travel with my dog. My dog has easily trotted 30+ miles in a day. I'm thinking of getting a trailer for him so he wouldn't have to do the entire trip on paw. There's a foot race that would take 7 days of bicycling to get to. Now I just got to figure how these different pieces come together.

[RollingforwardsNOTTS]

Great advice. I had to start a very tiring and time consuming job. Or possibly become homeless, so now I hardly get any time to train. And I struggled on my last bicycle tour. I am planning a longer tour next year and I do want to get bicycle fit again.

[Glue_Stick]

do you think 2 months to build up to 100 km is enough time? I did 35 km yesterday for the first time and it wasn't too bad, although my pace slowed down towards the end. Also, great video! Helpful for a newbie

[ronsadventures]

Great video, adding gear to handlebar does take some getting use too. I do more bikepacking (off paved roads). But you said in video, riding distance with gear and without is completely different.

[snowbike]

I'm wondering what kind of handlebars you have in this video? I'm on a Salsa Fargo with flat bars but struggling to find different positions to ride in. Looking for options before switching back to drop bars. I typically don't like to be super bent over on tours so ride in a more upright position. Thank you for your video!

[stevemullin]

I have butterfly bars and a jones h 2.5 bar for my Surly Bridge Club XL 27.5 bike. I also have clip on aero bars for my jones bar to give my hands and wrists another option when they start to go numb. Have you tried aerobars on your bike? I also had carpal tunnel surgery on my left wrist last may which kept me from doing the aids ride last year. Now I'm 4 weeks away from this year's ride and I've discovered my body is not ready for the riding. I lost over 70lbs since June 2022 and some of that was muscle mass in my legs. Trying to rebuild so I can do a multi week tour this fall but will have to get myself back onto the bike and ride to break in my Brooks b17 saddle. Any advice on how to get ready for any touring? Would a power meter be beneficial to help keep me in zone 2 to help me pace myself in my training as well as when I'm on a tour?

[grahambonner]

All good advise, I agree 100%
But I am interested to know how you manage your knees now? I also have knee cartilage issues and until now manage with specific exercises. But I have a small fear in the back of my mind how they will hold out over long distances over many days.

[isamaj]

Very interresting, thanks! I've been searching for good ergo grips for my butterfly bar. What grips do you use?

[bodaciouscans]

Is 8000 km of training enough for a first solo week tour (around 1000 km in 8 days)? I've never done bike touring before, only racing

[grousehaven]

Personally I see more people scared away by "training" than encouraged by it, unless they are the kind of people who love to train anyway.

I was 46, coming off a bad power accident where I lost most of my right kneecap, and all of my ankle function. I was overweight, and a desk jockey, hadn't done any bicycle commuting in maybe 20 years, or otherwise ridden. I naturally have large quads. As it turned out, I was 13 years away from a heart attack, and I am no good at endurance sports.

When I set out with all my gear for camping, and food, from Central Ontario to Saint John NB, on a 2 week tour, my deal was to just see how far I could get. Due to my legs, I figured it might be one day. I did about 40 miles day one, and the same day 2. I was exhausted, and slept almost around the clock. Then I set off on day 3 and made it about 70 miles, and day 4 was my biggest mileage of any day 95 miles into Cornwall ( and back and forth to the center of town several times), which is slightly downhill next to the river. I had a guy ride with me on the 70 mile day, and he really picked up my spirits. After that I just cranked it off against headwinds, a lot of rain. Actually the first few days were 35 degrees in September!

How did I make it the 2 ish weeks? I think the key more than training, is don't make a race out of it. If you tour with other people, you are making it into a race. If you start out in really steep country, also the case. The hills hit you hard going through NB. But the run up to the hills are gradually increasing grades from east of Toronto to Rivierre du Loup, and by then you don't even notice them.