Pedaling a loaded touring bike 50 or more miles a day, day after day, requires a certain amount of physical conditioning. The challenge isn't just distance. There also is the added weight of gear on the bike. Ask people who have done bike touring and they will tell you that there is a serious difference between riding a bike around town, even centuries, and traveling hundreds of miles on tour.

There are different ways to prepare for long bike tour. You can simply load up your bike and start riding, hoping to "ride yourself into shape." If you are already in reasonable bike riding shape, you can plan shorter days at the beginning of the tour to give your body time to get accustomed to the effort. What I do is to train hard so I can "hit the ground" pedaling from tour day one.

By "train hard," I mean long rides carrying weight for months before I go on tour. I feel "tour-ready" when I can ride my fully loaded touring bike 50 miles two days in a row. That is what I aim for when I train.

Note that I am retired and have plenty of time to ride a bicycle during the day, any day. Thus, I can make a long-term training plan without too much concern that work will get in the way.

Taking the Train

Normally, I start specific training for a tour 3 months in advance. While my plan isn't so rigid that I can't take days off, I have certain goals that I aim to achieve. But, I want to be fully physically and mentally prepared when I go on tour. I do this for several reasons.

First, I tour solo. This has benefits and risks. I can ride at my own pace, leave when I want, stop to eat as I choose, and never have a disagreement about the tour's logistics. But, it also means I have no partner to rely on if something goes wrong. I try to mitigate this risk by being in tip-top physical condition.

Second, I have a pre-set time to tour. Spending the first few days building up my stamina would mean either a shorter tour or longer days later on to cover my planned distance.

Third, I don't carry camping gear. Thus, I can't just stop when I get tired and pitch camp. I have to get to a place where I can spend the night. I usually have reserved a bed for the night and want to be sure I can get there.

Fourth, I've done this before and it works for me. While riding around the San Francisco Bay area isn't unpleasant, taking dozens of day rides along routes I've ridden many times does get old. Luckily, I really enjoy riding my bicycle!

Planning my work and working my plan

Whether I have a tour upcoming or not, bike riding is my preferred aerobic exercise. To maintain basic fitness, I aim to ride a minimum of 250 miles a month. Depending on how far I ride in a day, that is between 8 and 12 rides a month. Since there are 30 days in most months, it should be an easy goal to achieve.

As a retired guy, I don't ride on the week-ends, as I find them a bit more dangerous with the increased street traffic, tourists, and aggressive bike riders. Week-ends are for people who work! Taking a month as 4 weeks, that removes 8 possible riding days. I volunteer on Mondays so there goes another 4 days. That leaves 18 possible biking days per month. I give myself, at least, one rest day a week, removing another 4 days, and I'm down to 14 possible biking days. Add in a few rainy days, doctor appointments, and time with my wife, and getting 10 training rides a month takes planning!

I'm not always able to achieve my monthly mileage. But, setting out such a goal helps motivate me to get on my bike and ride. Time on the bike is probably the most important variable in a solid training plan!

As a tour approaches, I get more dedicated to doing training rides. Three months out, I try to ride more miles (300 /month) by doing longer rides and riding 2 days in a row. I also add routes that have more hill climbing in them.

Weight Training

The only bike I have is for touring. Since my main purpose in riding a bike is to stay/get in shape for touring, I carry a certain amount of weight on the bike at all times. I'd estimate about 1/3 of my normal touring load in rain gear, tools, spares, and such.

About 2 months before I leave on a tour, I start adding weight to the bike for my training rides. Originally, I packed a full load of 4 panniers including clothes, cooking and camping gear. For those tours, I packed and added the two rear panniers first. After a couple weeks riding with that weight, I'd put on the rest of the gear, two front panniers and stuff on the rear rack. Each new addition increases the effort of pedaling the bike up the many hills in San Francisco.

In truth, I never took to camping on bike tours. These days, I don't carry cooking or camping gear and I can get everything I need into 2 panners and a seat bag (article about my current set-up). As a result, when I do add weight to the bike, I put everything I'm going to carry on at once.

Riding with full weight on the bike has a couple of advantages. First, I get accustomed to pushing around the actual weight I'll be carrying. Second, it allows me to get familiar with how my bicycle handles carrying weight. These two things, alone, make training rides valuable. But, there is a third, minor, benefit of training with panniers on the bike: the other bikers I see as I ride around are impressed! In fact, I often have people ride up next to me and ask the usual "where you going" questions.

Getting Some Mileage Out Of It

In addition to adding weight, I also up my monthly mileage goal. Two months before the trip, I try to increase my distance to, at least, 400 miles for the month. This not only means more riding, but also longer rides. My usual training ride is 35 miles, which is shorter than my normal touring distance of 50 miles a day. So, in addition to the 35 miles rides, I start throwing in 50 milers. I also begin to do long rides two days in a row. My goal is to get in back-to-back 35 miles rides or a 35 miler followed by a 50 mile ride during this month.

The month before I leave, I try to ride 500 miles, which for me, is means mostly 50 mile daily rides. I begin pointing towards my ultimate training goal of riding back-to-back 50 mile days. In the last few weeks before departure, I suspend my volunteering activities and try to ride four of the five week-days: Two days riding, a rest day, and then two days riding.

Man Vs Mountain

As I start to feel physically prepared, I start thinking about, what I consider, the ultimate test of my biking fitness: a 60 mile ride with 5500 feet of elevation gain from San Francisco, up and over Mt. Tamalpais and back (route map here). This is tough on a lightweight road bike. On a loaded touring bike, the long distance and steep climbs are a true challenge of my fitness. I've managed to finish the ride over Mt. Tamalpais before each of my last four tours.

I usually aim to crest Mt. Tamalpais as one of my last training rides. I do try to evaluate how I feel afterward to see if I could ride another 50 mile day the next day. But, I can't remember actually going out and doing that. Knowing that I can finish the hardest ride I know of on a loaded touring bike gives me the confidence I need to pack up and take off!

Leaving My Tour In San Francisco

It is important to monitor how my body feels with all this riding and to cut back if things don't feel right. I don't want to sacrifice my trip because I over-trained. By "over-train," I mean working myself too hard and getting mentally fatigued, tired of riding a bicycle, and/or injured. As a result, I try not to ride the week before I am scheduled to leave. I use this time to clean and pack my bike, organize and pack my gear, make contact with hosts and hotels where I'll be staying, download maps, and to gather other loose ends. I see this week as time to relax, recharge and do any final preparations.

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