Bicycle Touring for Beginners - The Firefly at Madison

We’re going to spend some time today talking about Bicycle Touring for Beginners, In this case a beginner level biker joining their first bicycle tour. Specifically, you have a year to get ready to join one or more of the days of the Brag spring tune up. These are big fun events where people come from all around and take over the road for awhile.

The BRAG Spring Tune Up is held every year in this area, and it is a worthwhile thing to do. There is healthy, safe fun, and it attracts people from all over the country.

BRAG, which is the Bicycle Ride Across Georgia, is an annual event which attracts several hundred bikers who rid across the state. Here is their link:

Big BRAG 2023

In addition to these annual events, there are various other group rides and activities that are a fun thing to do. It becomes a lifestyle for the people that are heavily into it. We have compiled a list of these, not all of which start or finish at the Firefly, so you may give it some consideration. We will post it later.

Let’s use as our “par” one of the 27 mile legs of the BRAG spring tune up.

What if you’re not heavily into it?

Well it’s about human-scale living, and also backroad fun, which we are into. Before and after these things there is often food, some fun music, and a bit of a festive atmosphere which people like.

Most of the better organized of these tours encourage camping between days, and it becomes a thing that you do. It’s not for everybody of course, but it can be a fun few days for a certain kind of fun.

The underlying benefits to you, from a health and fitness standpoint, should be fairly obvious, but in case you have some doubt, linked below is a medically reviewed article to the effect:

So there are some benefits of this activity. It’s also okay to want to do it to be seen around a lot of attractive people. If you want to dress up in biker gear, and hang around the band, even if you don’t do the ride, you may.

Beginning Gear for Bicycle Touring

Do not go out to a garage sale, and pick up a $10 Schwinn Clairemont and expect to ride BRAG.

For your comfort and enjoyment, it is better to be better equipped.

The Schwinn Clairemont is fine for around town, if you are so inclined. But as a road bike, they’re too heavy. The tires are fat, and they have only one gear, which makes them hard to pedal uphill.

So the first thing we’re telling you is they will let you ride BRAG wearing a flowered skirt, and a big straw hat, with a baguette in your basket. And, you will like your ride for 2 miles, but you will not like it for 27, which is the minimal BRAG spring tune up ride. What you’re talking about is a different kind of biking, and it is perfectly acceptable.

But, the project at hand is to gear up for a 27 mile ride. It takes a little commitment.

The Bike

Could you, an inexperienced biker, order the cheapest road bike available on Amazon, have it show up by next Thursday, and have a pleasant experience on it?

Well, we suggest against it. It is true that you will look the part, and you will like it for about the same length of time you liked the Clairemont, but this bike weighs 57 pounds. Is that a lot? Yes.

Bikes are priced by weight

Here is some data on bike weight vs. price, taken from various internet sources:

Bike	Cost	Weight (Lbs)
Outroad outdoor camping road bike	$189	57
Hiland Aluminum Road Bike	$399	29.5
Shifting System 21 speed	$400	37
Java Silurio	$685	32
Poseidon Dropbar X	$800	25
Trek Domain AL2	$1099	23
Savadeck Carbon Road Bike	$1499	21.6
Fuji Roubaix	$1799	20
Giant Defy Advanced	$2099	19.25
Specialized Tarmac Elite	$3399	16.75

For those of you who better view data graphically, here is a graph:

As a public service we are laying out to you what you will be spending in exchange for a lighter weight. In biking, lighter is better.

If you have any doubts about how much fun it is to ride a bike that is 37 pounds too heavy, you may feel free to try it. Get four 10-pound bags of potatoes, hang them on your bike, and start your ride.

I have linked an article below about an “experienced” biker who attempted a 127 mile tour on the cheapest bike on Amazon for your consideration.

One alternative is the perfectly viable option of buying one of these high end bikes used, from someone who made a big investment and then thought better of it.

The road bike price vs. weight curve flattens out at about $1000, which is to say most of the benefit you’re getting in reduced weight with an expensive bike happens at that point. Could you spend $15K for a bicycle and maybe have it be a few ounces lighter? Go ahead. After roughly 20 pounds, the rest is more about ego.

One alternative is the perfectly viable option of buying one of these high end bikes used, from someone who made a big investment and then thought better of it.

Assembly and Adjustment

Once this thing shows up at your doorstep, you’re going to have to assemble it. If you choose to buy an experienced bike, you may also need to adjust it.

In a general way, bikes come in various sizes, depending on the height of the rider. Most of the websites have resources on how to select the right bike frame depending on how tall you are. I have attached a nice link to this effect.

If you are going to buy your bike new, you’ll hopefully be asked this information. If not, you’re probably making a bit of a mistake and you should rethink. If you’re getting one from a starving college student, you should ask how tall he or she is before you buy the bike because that is useful information.

I’ve attached a funny video about bike assembly in the links. I don’t think it was intended to be funny but it sort of is.

Either way, you’re going to need a tool. I have linked a suitable one below. The young hippie from Performance Bikes correctly assesses the importance of adjustments.

Can you hire this hippie to fit you into this bike? Well I believe for a few dollars, if you don’t know anyone else who can manage it, you may be able to persuade someone to make these adjustments for you.

Add Ons

You’ll notice in some of these ads a lot of words about some kind of deluxe shifter, or special crankset, or special brakes of one kind or another. You can pretty easily add another couple of hundred dollars by upgrades. Do you want to do this? No, you don’t. For a beginner, the key feature is getting a bike that fits you, you like it, and will be reliable.

You may gain some notoriety around the rest stop by having a gold plated gear set, but it won’t really add much to your enjoyment.

Ignore upsells until you get more experience.

Tires

Bike tires should last a minimum of five years for a beginner, depending on how much you ride. Are you going to upgrade to some low rolling resistance aerodynamic shape? Nope. For your riding purposes you’re more interested in making it back home.

Tubes: It is an odd fact of life that the more expensive the tube, the more they leak. The reason is that they’re less loaded with fillers, thus making them lighter. But, their air permeability is also higher. You’re going to need a pump anyway, but think about downgrading your tubes to some of those with the green slime. They won’t go flat, and even though they add a few ounces of weight, they will get you home if there’s a problem.

Speaking of tire pumps, we favor one of those little pumps that take the CO2 cartridges. They fill your tires up fast, and are fine for being stuck out in the country. Better have a tire pump at home for your training rides, and take the air shooter along with you on the ride. A little insurance is worth the extra weight.

The Seat

Your bike will come with a seat. Will it be comfortable? Not at first. Wearing your seat in so that it is in shape to contact your bike seat can only be done one way, and that is by being in it for however many hours it takes.

Padded bike shorts may help but not really.

This is such a common problem that there is a whole little industry of more comfortable bike seats, and gel covers to ease the pain on your rear. But, there is no substitute for experience.

Best solution for a sore seat: Ride your bike and it’ll eventually stop hurting, and then it won’t hurt anymore.

Pedal and Shoe Strategy

Once your bike is assembled, you’re going to need a shoe strategy.

One perfectly fine shoe strategy is to buy the cutest bike shoes possible.

Another, better strategy is to get a pair of shoes that can be used as bike shoes, plus you can walk around in them.

Here is the thing: Commonly, these bikes do not come equipped with pedals. It is up to the user to figure out which type of pedal to use. Most of the road bikers use “clip on” pedals, in which you clip your feet into the pedals, allowing you to exert upward pressure on the pedal as well as downward.

Using “street” pedals, and wearing regular shoes, is a perfectly fine strategy, if your bike is light enough.

There are multiple types of clip on pedals, and the most expensive of these is, ironically, practically impossible to walk around in.

Walking around the rest stops is an important feature of the Bike Touring activity. You may be seen in your biker gear, leaning next to the fence at Amici, drinking a healthy beverage. Also, if there is an issue, it’s useful to be able to take off on foot.

Based on this, we suggest these Pearl Izumi shoes (this is a name brand in Biker World).

These are actually cute enough to be able to be worn around the coffee shop, as well as in the gym, and also on the road, plus they have a clip in feature.

You can get a variety of colors to match your cute outfit. Don’t overthink.

Cute Outfit

https://www.instagram.com/bestcyclingstyle/?hl=en

Do we really need to provide detail on this? The Italians have perfected the three vital skills of this sport. Bicycling, cute outfits, and hanging around in some little cafe while “resting.”

Seriously, for about $100 you can get a cute orange outfit that will match your shoes, and so the logging trucks will see you on Dixie Highway.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8HkQaAlpSt/

PS: Are we objectifying the female form in this conversation? Of course not. That’s why the above Instagram post has 17000 followers and we have 300.

Helmet

Just say yes. A cute helmet is a safe and necessary part of a biking outfit. Also, it will protect you from death or injury if you should happen to take a tumble.

We bought a couple of brand new, perfectly plain, Bell helmets at the Hodge Podge lately, for $25 for two, although it is recommended that helmets be replaced frequently because the protective properties actually wear out over time.

Cute helmets are also available, that will match your outfit.

https://cyclingity.com/cute-bike-helmets/

Budget and Know How Needs

Okay we’re about ready to sum this up: First the budget:

Item	Cost
Light enough bike to pedal	$250-750
Shoes and Pedals	$175
Tool	$20
Cute Outfit	$100
Helmet	$25-100
Spare Tube	$10
Pump	$20
Cushy Seat	$40

So we’re in the neighborhood of an $1100 commitment to get off to a good start gear-wise on this.

Keep in mind that you still need to learn how to assemble your bike, adjust it to fit you, pump up a tire, and do a lot of other maintenance items and that takes some know-how.

But, it’s within the reach of most people. The big expense here is in the bike itself which can always be kept around and/or some of the cost recovered.

So here you have it.

The Brag, and a healthy lifestyle await you, the beginning bike tour participant. You still have to train, though because not everybody is in shape to ride 27 miles, and that is especially about getting used to the seat.

But the door it opens up is that there are bike tours all over the world where you, the experienced biker, can hang out with a better crowd. We have a list that we’ll share with you at some point.