The Complete Guide to Bicycle Touring

The cover of my bicycle touring novel is based on this photo of my friend Rob in the Huasteca region of Mexico.

Welcome to the Complete Guide to Bicycle Touring! Throughout 2021 and beyond this page will progressively grow with links to blog posts discussing everything you need to know before hitting the road on your first big bicycle tour. We’ll discuss bicycle touring culture, route planning, navigation, emotional and physical preparation, essential skills (don’t worry, there aren’t many!) and other elements of life on the road. Check back here for new posts each week, or sign up for the mailing list to get word of each week’s post plus a digest of the internet’s best travel, culture and science writing. And if you’re interested in my other writing — from bike tour reports to history to random pieces about crows — you can read them on my homepage.

Alright! Let’s get into it:

FIRST THINGS FIRST:

  1. Introduction to Bicycle Touring: “Why On A Bike?”
    • An attempt to answer the question every long distance cycle tourist gets asked.
  2. Not Convinced? Here Are 10 Reasons To Do Your Next Trip By Bicycle
    • Handy if you need help convincing someone to go with you!
  3. Planning Your Bicycle Touring Route: The Different Types Of Tours
    • Are you heading off on a Join The Dots tour, or are you more of a Bikepack Overlander?
  4. Planning Your Bicycle Touring Route: Traffic, Weather and Other Factors To Consider
    • You can’t completely eliminate traffic, wind, rain, heat or cold — but you can minimise your exposure.
  5. Which Type Of Bicycle Is Right For Me?
    • It can seem like a daunting question. But now that we have some basic information about your route, the process of choosing or building a touring bicycle is much easier.

PREPARATION:

  1. How To Physically Prepare for Your First Big Bicycle Tour
    • “Surely you must be in amazing shape to even start such a journey, right?” Well, not necessarily.
  2. How to Start Cycling Every Day
    • The best way to prepare for a lot of cycling is… a lot of cycling.

More posts are coming! Check back for updates or subscribe below

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I also wrote a book about my biggest bicycle trip to date, a year-long journey from Canada to El Salvador. It’s more of a travel book than a “how-to,” but if you’re looking for inspiration, reading it might be a good place to start!

You can snag a copy here.