Kyle Casement, Author at Adventure Cycling Association

Planning a Group Bike Tour

Kyle Casement — Thu, 23 May 2024 14:10:34 +0000

One of my favorite hobbies outside of bicycle touring is beach volleyball. I’m not very good, but I do enjoy the time at the beach and with old and new friends. Recently through an old friend, I found a group of other volleyball enthusiasts who took an interest in bicycle touring after hearing my stories and those of another in the group. The group started at about 15 people interested in participating but quickly whittled down to six or seven who were serious enough to commit. I’m always keen on sharing bicycle touring so was thrilled to have accidentally found a group of first timers. I quickly learned that bringing together such a large and disparate group was going to be more challenging than I had first thought. Everyone had questions. They ranged from asking what exactly a bicycle tour overnight meant, to what to pack, and how to prepare. Many people needed gear ranging from bicycles and panniers to various camping equipment, and I realized that I needed to develop a concrete plan that would require the least amount of effort and investment in gear possible while still keeping the trip interesting. Since everyone lived in San Diego County, I decided we should meet at the Old Town Trolley Station, which is central and easy to get to by all lines of the Trolley (San Diego’s light rail), many buses, and of course by bicycle. From there, it’s a flat 20 miles to the Tijuana River Valley Campground, right on the U.S.–Mexico border. This was the perfect distance for newer cyclists and left plenty of time for lunch along the way and together time at camp. Better yet, the Tijuana River Valley Campground has yurts that sleep up to 10 people and include bunk beds with sleeping pads. There is also potable water, showers, flush toilets, fire pits, and firewood for purchase. To me, it was the perfect intro to camping. To further simplify things, I put myself in charge of food and cooking. Nonetheless, there were still many questions from everyone about the above logistics, and everything else you could think of. I finally made a recommended packing list and shared it with the group, which seemed to help. I even shared the route and ensured everyone we would ride as a group so that no one would have to worry about getting lost or separated from the group. Eventually everyone was on the same page, and the trip went off without any major issues. We made it into the nearby city of Imperial Beach right at lunch time, ate at one of the best restaurants in town, and made it to the campsite a few hours before sunset, after exploring the rest of the Tijuana River Valley Regional Park. We enjoyed dinner and a campfire until it was time for bed, and I think everyone slept soundly. The next morning, we took the scenic route back north along the Silver Strand, a coastal beach route that passes through Coronado, and we took the ferry across the bay and back into San Diego. I learned quite a bit about planning group tours with beginners on this trip. Next time, I will create a shared document with all pertinent information, including the route map. Then, a week or two ahead of departure, I’ll have a group meeting to discuss the specifics and answer any questions. I’ve also since learned about the Adventure Cycling Guide for Planning and Leading a Bike Overnight, which would have been a great resource. Finally, if it’s helpful for anyone else, I did put together the video below with additional tips and comments on how to successfully lead a group bike tour.

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The Gear You Need to Get Started Bike Touring

Kyle Casement — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 22:49:09 +0000

My first exposure to bike touring was Alastair Humphreys’ book, Moods of Future Joy. In it, he chronicles the first part of his four-year tour around the world, which was a tour from his childhood home in England all the way to Cape Town, South Africa. I was so impressed with his journey that I bought his book for anyone I thought would read it and started dreaming of my own around-the-world adventures. The only problem was that I had never really been camping or ridden my bike more than a handful of miles at a time.

I was swept away by the romanticism of leaving on a bicycle from home and traveling to far away places, but couldn’t fathom how anyone could travel for thousands of miles carrying only what they needed on their bicycle. Eventually I realized that not every trip has to be epic, and even a short weekend trip can be a much welcomed adventure from day-to-day life. Not to mention, every time I go on one, I am more inspired to set out on my own trip around the world. Over the years and after many bicycle-centric vacations and trips, I have also finally come to realize that planning a bike tour doesn’t haven’t to be complicated, and even if you’re starting where I did, you’re probably a lot closer than you think to your first trip. Watch this video to see what I mean.

There are a few categories of gear you need and things to consider, but they are all interrelated in how they might impact your trip. I think about it like the following graphic:

Kyle on Wheels

Bicycle (and Helmet!)

The bottom line is that any bicycle can work for a bike tour, although not all bike tours can work with any bicycle. For example, I wouldn’t recommend trying the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route with a road bike, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone already has, or is planning to do so. That said, a couple of my favorite examples of people making a bike tour work with seemingly incorrect equipment are Ryan van Duzer’s trip across America on a three-speed bike and Ed Pratt’s journey around the world on a fixed-drive unicycle, both of which are well-documented on YouTube. I don’t know either of them personally, but I can only imagine that in some ways, they planned their routes around the limitations of their bicycles, and the same can apply to you when planning. If you don’t already have a bicycle or are looking to buy a new one, there are countless resources and reviews on the internet, but if you’re on a budget or are unsure about if you want to make bike touring one of your main hobbies, I would prioritize any bicycle in good working order with at least 10 gears, eyelets for a rear rack, and rim or disc brakes. After a few tours, you’ll start to get a better sense of what is important to you and how much you are willing to spend, and you’ll feel a lot more confident in your first big bike purchase.

Shelter

Where we choose to sleep on a bike tour has one of the biggest impacts on the gear we carry. If you’re new to camping, perhaps plan a trip where you stay with family, friends, or at a hostel, hotel or vacation rental. One of my favorite weekend bike tours was to my grandpa’s house in Los Angeles, about 100 miles from where I live. All I carried was a backpack with a water bladder and a few essentials, but the trip was infinitely more fun than the drive would have been, and it even gave us something to talk about when I arrived. If you start with a tour like mine, you won’t have to worry about which combination of tent, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag will save you from having a miserable and cold night, and you won’t have to worry about a lot of other camping related decisions either. From there, you can work your way up to camping remotely perhaps by starting out car camping or even spending the night in a tent in your backyard.

Food

Kyle on Wheels

I have a friend that started running marathons just so he could eat whatever he wanted. I always thought it was funny until I went on a longer bike tour and realized that afterwards, I simply could not consume enough calories. Unfortunately, some of those eating habits seem to have stayed with me even when I’m not riding my bike everyday, but I think for bike touring there is a little more to it. There is, of course, the literal connection between needing calories to fuel your muscles, but there is also a mental component. On a recent bike tour, I underestimated the effort required to climb back over the mountains that separated my home from the desert where I had camped. On the way up, I found myself becoming super negative and even thinking about hitchhiking over the mountain out of laziness. When I finally made it to a small mountain town and ate lunch, I was a new person and all the joy came back to the trip. I’ve also found that being too hungry on a bike tour can impair decision making, not to mention if you have any underlying health issues that may amplify the impact of low blood sugar.

Water

Running water is probably the luxury I most take for granted in modern life, and I never seem to realize it until I miscalculate what I need on a bike tour and am panicked at the thought of one of my bottles leaking. I’ve had a couple of close calls and because of those will always err on the side of carrying too much water, despite the extra weight. Take this one seriously, because dehydration in severe cases can lead to organ failure and even death. And if you run out of water far from sources or people, it can be a challenging situation to remedy. Most sources recommend drinking one liter (about 32 ounces) for every 1-2 hours of physical activity in moderate climates. Drink more at elevation, in hot weather, or at high exertion levels. This is simple in populated areas or anywhere else with easy access to potable water because you can just fill up your bottles when necessary. But if you’re touring in an arid climate, this can mean carrying enough water for extended periods of time.

Miscellaneous

Kyle on Wheels

There are plenty of other things to carry and many of them are the same as what we’d pack on any trip — clothes, toiletries, headache and stomach medicine, books, a journal, etc. There are also some bicycle-related things that apply to any longer ride. I don’t leave home without a multi-tool with a chain breaker, a spare inner tube and patch kit, and a pump. Flat tires, chain issues, loose bolts, and misaligned brakes are probably among the most common mechanical failures that can leave you stranded, but they are relatively easy to learn to fix roadside with only a couple of basic tools.

Baggage

Once you’ve figured out all of the things you need and want on your bike tour, you have to figure out how to carry everything. The easiest way is in a backpack, and it is also likely one of the least expensive ways to get started. However, if you’ve ever been backpacking or hiking with a backpack, you know that it can get uncomfortable, especially if you’re carrying a lot of gear, water, and food. I generally find it more comfortable to move everything off my back and onto the bike, if possible. When you’re ready to make that investment, a rear rack and waterproof panniers will likely cover most of your baggage needs. After that, there are many options of bags and attachment methods and points to consider that can all be fun to research.

Route Plan

Kyle on Wheels

Planning an overnight bike tour to visit family in a neighboring city is much different than a multi-day trip through rural stretches of the Sonoran Desert. Not only will there be impacts on all the other planning categories, but there will also be considerations about which roads or paths to take as well as your ability to call someone you know for help. I have planned many trips using one of the big mapping applications on my cell phone. The bicycle option has generally worked for me, but it does often seem to think that I want to ride on very busy roads that lack good bicycle infrastructure. Alternatively, there are many routes online that have been thoroughly scouted by other bike tourers. Some of my favorites include Adventure Cycling’s epic routes across the country, which I have found to be incredibly well thought out, researched, and kept up-to-date. If you’re in the US, it is likely that one of those routes passes near your home, and you could plan a trip along a one or two day segment of the route. Adventure Cycling also has a growing list of Short Routes designed specifically for weekend trips.

Putting it all Together

I hope that after reading this, you are inspired to plan your first bike tour around the gear you have access to and your comfort level. The most important thing is to get started with a tour you know you can do and gradually plan more complex or self-supported tours from there. After a few trips, I bet you’ll be feeling more comfortable with pedaling from home to the edges of the earth and around the world.

Basic Bike Malfunctions

The post The Gear You Need to Get Started Bike Touring appeared first on Adventure Cycling Association.

Basic Bike Malfunctions (And How to Deal With Them)

Kyle Casement — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 22:44:30 +0000

Fifty miles from home and twenty to the nearest bike shop, my friend got a flat tire. This wouldn’t have been such a big deal except he was relying on me for help with mechanical malfunctions, and we were not riding together. It was the big downhill of the day, and I wanted to let gravity lead the way while he was a bit more responsible with his brakes.

Lucky for both of us, I was riding with my phone mounted to my handlebars so I saw his text message almost as soon as he sent it. After a 30-minute climb back up the mountain, I found him safe and off the road but with a very flat tire. We were able to get him riding again, but not without some roadside problem solving. The way his inner tube failed meant it couldn’t be patched, and while I did have a spare, it was for a Presta valve, and his tires use Schrader valves.

A flat tire is never ideal, but it doesn’t have to mean hitchhiking home

Kyle Casement

My friend told me that before I returned to help with the flat, he was worried the problem was much worse and he’d be stranded. He had already begun trying to figure out alternative ways home, which included waiting for me to ride all the way back then drive my car to pick him up. He also considered calling his roommate or another friend, but couldn’t think of anyone who might be available with a big enough car or bicycle rack. Another time, I was on a camping / mountain biking trip with my partner. She was also relying on me to resolve any mechanical malfunctions, but this time I was the one who had a problem. Somehow my chain bounced off my easiest gear and landed between the rear cassette and the spokes. Even though I instantly realized what happened, I couldn’t stop pedaling in time to avoid it becoming wedged in the space.

Chain breaker in action

Kyle Casement

We were five miles from camp, and if I couldn’t resolve the issue, I’d have to carry (or drag) my bicycle back because the rear wheel wouldn’t spin. This would have been a long walk with waning daylight, and after repeated attempts to pull the chain loose, I considered using my chain breaker to take the chain off and reattach it bypassing my derailleur. Then I realized I had packed in too much of a hurry and didn’t have a chain breaker with me. Luckily, I was able to devise a way to resolve the issue, but for a few minutes, I was worried that my partner’s first mountain biking experience would be a bad one. I share these stories only to illustrate how quickly a bike ride can drastically change after a mechanical issue, many of which should only take a few minutes to resolve. Because of this, I consider being prepared for basic bike mechanicals an important part of planning for even a day ride or a short tour. Watch this video to learn more.

What Tools Should You Bring and What Skills Should You Have?

Keep your repair kit up-to-date and easily accessible

Kyle Casement

I try to always carry a multitool with a chain breaker, plus everything I need to fix a flat tire. This includes the multitool, a spare inner tube, an inner tube patch kit, tire levers, a tire boot, and a pump. Depending how long you’ll be gone and your distance from services and a shop, you may also consider bringing extra chain links, chain lubricant, mechanic’s gloves, zip ties, duct tape, a sewing kit, spare spokes, and much more. I’m getting ahead of myself though, because all the spare parts and tools to install them won’t do any good without knowing how to use them, and learning takes time and repetition. If there were two things I’d recommend learning before embarking on a tour or long ride, it would be how to fix a flat tire and how to remove links on a chain and put it back together. The video accompanying this post goes into more detail, and includes links to additional resources.

Kyle Casement

Most other potential mechanical failures won’t leave you stranded, or they happen infrequently enough to learn as you progress in your skills. I recommend focusing on listening for odd noises or noticing extra resistance when pedaling, then trying to identify and resolve the issues. Even if you can’t resolve it yourself, your local bike shop will be able to help, and will at least tell you what went wrong and where the problem was. Ask questions and if possible, observe as they work on your bike and you’ll learn something for next time. Being prepared for basic bike malfunctions is part of planning and preparing for a bike tour, just like packing layers, gear, and food. The important thing is being prepared for what you think will matter and having a plan for if you misjudge. For many of us, that’s all part of the fun of bike touring.

The post Basic Bike Malfunctions (And How to Deal With Them) appeared first on Adventure Cycling Association.

5 Tips to Conquer Your Fear of Bike Touring

Kyle Casement — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 06:00:00 +0000

David, like me, grew up in car-centric cities, and the idea of pedaling a bicycle out into the woods and camping was almost as outlandish to him as it was to me. Nonetheless, as I started going on my first bike tours and bikepacking trips, he, more than any of my friends, was the most captivated and interested by even the most mundane of stories. Even though he never said it explicitly, I knew he wanted to experience travel from the saddle of a bicycle.

Adventure Cycling’s Bike Travel Weekend inspired me to finally invite him on a bike overnight, which I hoped would be a positive experience for him. In planning our trip, I realized some things are widely applicable to anyone looking to go on their first trip.

Many of my thoughts can be broken down into five tips that I believe helped David conquer his fear of bike touring and could help you too.

1. Break It Down

Bike touring, like so many aspects of life, is a complicated activity made up of many, less complicated ones. Taken all together, it can be overwhelming, but the good news is that long before your first trip, you can practice individual activities separately. In the case of David, his biggest fear going into the trip was the distance and the elevation, because prior to this trip, he had never cycled more than 25 miles in any two-day period. He spent the weeks leading up to this trip building up his strength and endurance on an exercise bike at the gym and on day rides.

When I first started, my biggest fear was camping and carrying all the necessary gear on a bicycle. Therefore, my first step was to acquire all the necessary gear and practice using it without depending on my bicycle. After many car camping trips, I refined what I thought I would want on a bike tour and then figured out the best way to carry it on a bicycle.

After getting comfortable with the simple components of bike travel, it becomes much easier to put everything together and go on your first tour.

2. Stay Close to Home

Even starting in an urban area like San Diego, California, there are almost infinite possibilities for bicycle travel, especially when you factor in riding to the train station and taking the Amtrak to a new city as a starting point.

For this trip, we set our sights on the mountains east of the city. While they are only about 60 miles from the coast and 5,700 feet of elevation gain, it is still incredible to see the landscape change from densely populated urban areas to rural mountain communities and the forests of the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.

While David and I both hope to someday go on months-long trips to faraway places, there are a lot of benefits to staying close to home. Even the best planned bike tour will have its fair share of hiccups, but it is way easier to adapt and adjust when your surroundings are more familiar. Plus, every time you have a hiccup that you successfully resolve, you will become more confident that regardless of what may arise, you can find a solution.

3. Go with a Friend

Besides the obvious fact that all travel is generally more fun with a friend, there are some practical reasons too. In the case of our trip, David was able to rely on me to take care of most of the details so that he could focus on himself and his own experience. This included planning the route, food, hydration, and campsite. I was also able to lend David a sleeping pad and other gear as well as a rack and panniers to carry everything he needed. Plus, we could share communal equipment such as my camp kitchen and tent.

Not only does this help alleviate the financial barriers to getting started, but it also gives you the opportunity to make sure you enjoy bike travel and to try different gear before buying your own.

4. Learn Simple Repairs

Flat tires and broken chains are an inevitable part of riding a bicycle as are needing to adjust your brakes and shifting and to tighten various bolts. The more you know the better, but the reality is that it wouldn’t be practical to carry tools for all situations, so mastering the basics will usually be enough. Anything beyond what can be repaired roadside with a multitool, some tire levers, a spare tube, and a pump will likely require finding a bike shop regardless.

When David finally got his first flat tire, it could have been a huge roadblock to completing the trip. Luckily, he didn’t have to worry about it, because I was prepared for both of us. This also served as an excellent experiential learning opportunity. Not only did he get a live course on the finer nuances of fixing a flat, but he also had the chance to learn just how impactful not being prepared could have been.

5. Have a Backup Plan

Most of the time, this only provides us with some mental comfort knowing we have a way out if something goes wrong, but when needed, it can save your trip. Staying close to home makes this easier because it opens the possibility of calling a friend or family member to pick you up. It might also mean you feel more comfortable hitchhiking because you can communicate effectively or feel more comfortable deciding who to trust. In our case, the Trolley, San Diego’s light rail, was our backup plan. It runs parallel to the route we chose for about 16 miles, and we were thankful it was there when we needed it.

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