Well I bought a touring bike to tour so I did. 3400 miles 67 hours of saddle time or 5 and a half days (not all at once)

A lot of people here ask (i think i even asked this question) how many miles can you go in a day? And the answer is as many of you have said it depends on weather, roads, etc. and it really does.

I left Fort Lauderdale on a very hot day with feels like temps in the mid to upper 90s. At noon I didn't think I would make it farther than Daytona. I was stopping about every hour to hydrate and hit the restroom. But after a rest in Daytona I forged on and ended up in Santee SC a good 550 mile day. The next day was overcast and the miles were easier. The following day I hit the cloudy northeast and those miles were easy(except for the GWB. Speaking of bridges check your route to see what any bridges you may encounter are like. The Tydings bridge near exit 93 on I-95 in MD is one I will never cross again. It crosses the Susquehana River 100 feet up, has low concrete barriers and often the crosswinds are wicked. I white knuckled it across.

Some of you may wonder what a high mileage day feels like in terms of stops.

Yesterday I did 700 miles from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale. That included 4 gas stops and 3 rest area stops as well as about an hour for lunch in Gainseville (a little more than halfway) left at 6:20 am arrived 7:20 Pm. Did about 4 miles over the speed limit most of the way. The rest stops averaged about 10 minutes, maybe 15 on a few. I gassed up answered texts or calls, watered up stretched and snacked and got back on the bike. nothing is sore except my hamstrings. You do want to start a workout program if you plan on touring. I've been working my upper body for a few months and now I know I need to strengthen my legs too. You can't just buy the bike, load it up and take off. This was my first trip and I was traveling alone. Next time I'll probably ride with someone and take it slower and see more sights but it was still a fun ride.

Hope something I've said helps someone planning a trip.

 

Thanks for the trip report. Good information. I am glad you made it home safe and had a good time.

Dave

 

FUN,FUN,FUN. I just hate you! ------- Not really.

 

Sounds like you had a blast. The longest day for me has been about like your first day (550 miles). Mine are always 2 up and the wife gives out before me. I know I could go further alone the wife has to make many more stops. When we go somewhere we are usually in group of 3 or as many as 5 bikes. It seems someone always has to stop when you want to ride on.

The last trip we took to Tenn. we had a rider on a metric (Honda 1300cc ??) it had about a 140 mile range. Just about the time I was feeling like we were making time they would have to stop for fuel. $%^#

Fuel stops with a group can take 30 minutes with a group of smokers, fuel up, light up, talk, etc. Not that it bothers me that much, these folks are friends, but I'm always ready to jump back on a make some miles!

Hope you have lots of fun trips in the future.

FD

 

Your trip report is pretty good.

As far as frequent stops when it's HOT, you can't have too many. You can go from feeling fine to feeling a little funny to passing out real quick in high heat. Wife can't handle high heat because of migraines.

I can go 200 miles in a day with no problem and have ridden around 500 round trip a couple of times. Wife would be limited to about 300(maybe 350) a day. Even then she might not want to ride the next day.

I ride mostly solo and alone. On the few trips I've been with groups, only had 2 experiences which I didn't care for and that was with 100+ bikes. Not into stopping every 45 miles or so to drink a few beers(especially when they start around 9 a.m.).

Riding with smaller groups is okay. Ridden with brother mutiple times(before he sold his bike) and we all knew when we wanted to stop and limits of our wives.

Rode with some others(see Members Meeting Members section under trip to Blue Willow Inn) and had a blast. We took our time. They even let me lead(never done that) since I had ridden that section some before. I took a comfortable speed and stopped when I figured my wife was ready. No one seemed to worry about getting somewhere fast and wife & I had a blast.

Meeting new people is always a fun thing. If it doesn't work out or you don't really click, then you move on. If it does work out, you make arrangements to do it some more.

 

Nice long trip, a lot of miles in a short time, glad you had a safe trip.