Biggest Bicycle Touring Mistakes ( …not what you might think! )

Biggest Bicycle Touring Mistakes ( …not what you might think! )

This video is about the biggest bicycle touring mistakes we made on our world bicycle tour. I share our experiences and hopefully you can learn a thing or two for your own adventures!

BICYCLE GEAR
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– The Saddle : https://amzn.to/2GeOwrj
– Ergonomic Handlebar Grips : https://amzn.to/34QGi2W
– Ideal Water Bottle : https://amzn.to/2HjzBwt
– Strong Bottle Cage : https://amzn.to/31tOLXc
– Bombproof Phone Holder : https://amzn.to/31wtmwF
– The Multitool : https://amzn.to/2QGM9PS

CAMPING GEAR
– Easy Delicious Coffee : https://amzn.to/2QHOhai
– Comfy Pillow | Thermarest : https://amzn.to/37tBq59
– Foldable Chair | Trekology : https://amzn.to/3msySZ1
– “All Fuel” Stove : https://amzn.to/3kk94Og
– Lightweight Water Filter : https://amzn.to/2EKZzYG

CLOTHING
– The Rain Jacket : https://amzn.to/3jwzb3D
– Venting Rain Pant : https://amzn.to/31wMJFL
– Most Versatile Piece : https://amzn.to/37uCUfu
– All Around Sandals : https://amzn.to/37LRmzJ

CAMERA GEAR ( Photo & Video )
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– Video “Must Have” ND Filter : https://amzn.to/2HmEJjF
– Ideal Microphone : https://amzn.to/34j1oq4
– Extra Batteries : https://amzn.to/37u6p0I
– The Drone : https://amzn.to/3m7po5p
– Travel Tripod : https://amzn.to/3manbWK

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50 Comments

  1. Les Cyclopreneurs on January 8, 2023 at 2:38 am

    Thanks for your videos, we are waiting for your next adventures!



  2. Jantelliqua Wallace on January 8, 2023 at 2:40 am

    I’m on something of a permanent bike tour. I started and I don’t want to stop. 6.5 years now. Every now and then I run into someone with a mileage schedule and it blows my mind. Just seems wrong.



  3. Wheels to Wander on January 8, 2023 at 2:42 am

    Hi Everybody! Curious if you found any good pointers here in the video? What are some of your biggest mistakes while on tour?



  4. Martin Lichtblau on January 8, 2023 at 2:43 am

    Diversify & Harmonize.
    Minimize weight.
    Use Locus Maps for finding & planning good routes.



  5. (SHAGGA) on January 8, 2023 at 2:45 am

    Biggest mistake is not to take enough photos. How many times do you see a photo moment and you think you will see the same up the road and surprise surprise, you don’t see it again.



  6. Oh well on January 8, 2023 at 2:46 am

    Got so tired of gel and other seats. I have always looked at Brooks B-17 saddle but the cost has put me off. So, after a little hour ride ( I am 78 ) finally bought me a Brooks B-17, will arrive next month Oct. When it is comfortable for a 2 year ride it will do me just fine. Thanks for sharing your gear. My day rides are about 26 k everyday as I live in the desert in North West Arizona US.



  7. Bruce Gelman on January 8, 2023 at 2:47 am

    Words of wisdom.Thanks.



  8. donald walter on January 8, 2023 at 2:48 am

    I noted right immediately that you took way too much equipment on your tour! That 50 litre duffle bag on back had to go. I started my tours loaded like that but having switched to smaller panniers, occasionally foldable bikes even or gravel bikes has forced me to reduce my packed volume as much as 25-30 litres (10-15kg). Of course I’ve regretted some missing items but in long run I felt better for it.



  9. Andrew Green on January 8, 2023 at 2:49 am

    I’ve done a lot of travelling in camper vans and on motorbikes, not so much on bicycle and much prefer going alone as you are forced to interact with people whereas when travelling with someone you just speak with them.



  10. John Devoy on January 8, 2023 at 2:50 am

    hope ye guys read Quondam: travels in a once World !! The pure, raw, real experience of a mega trip in 1985…I guess ye’ll easily understand its cycling touring wisdom. By the way, it’s NOT a usual ‘cycle journey book. Enjoy.



  11. healing hArt on January 8, 2023 at 2:51 am

    Really good observations. I think many of them can be applied to life in general too. Thanks as ever 🫶🏻



  12. bigmac on January 8, 2023 at 2:52 am

    Have you made a video just about all of your gear? Great vid!!



  13. محمد خلو on January 8, 2023 at 2:52 am

    you are a great couple gays



  14. jnluis soza on January 8, 2023 at 2:53 am

    ..hola! I’m a Mexican in Barcelona, Spain who loves your videos and definetly find them an inspiraton!
    -help- how are they called and where can I find the "extensions" for the handlebar that make it a "butterfly-handlebar" ??
    I see them on the 42" and seem great!
    all the best. J



  15. Paul Kim on January 8, 2023 at 2:54 am

    Very well done Erik! 👍😊
    I absolutely agree with you on many things that you’ve mentioned.
    We all make some some mistakes and learn from it and it’s a part of our lifelong journey.

    Few lessons that I’ve learned from my first trip in 1983 was being flexible: no daily mileage/destination and travel SLOW and get in touch with nature and local people rather than big towns.🙏😊

    Stay OPEN minded: regardless of religion, ideology and political differences. People are people and we all strive for same thing. (Happiness and not suffering)

    Embrace any opportunities/misfortunes: someday not so nice things could happen and still be humble and be thankful that you’re safe and healthy.

    Travel with LESS stuff: don’t want to be a slave to my own things

    Having opportunity to travel around the 🌎 is a huge blessing let’s enjoy every moment of life. Cheers and sending you and Maudi peace and love🤗 from Virginia, USA today.
    Carpe Diem~
    pk



  16. Joe Oaken on January 8, 2023 at 2:56 am

    There is loads to take from this an absorb, brilliant video, thanks.



  17. Cess Outdoors on January 8, 2023 at 2:56 am

    I hear lots of people brake up due to the stress and difficulty on the ride also different ways of doing things and that is one of the main reasons,hungry stress and lack of sleep with make you brake.



  18. doni boyd Simonson on January 8, 2023 at 3:00 am

    Cool! I appreciate your sharing. For me, taking pictures became a distraction. I couldn’t find a balance and was spending more time writing and taking pictures than I was doing anything else. It wasn’t good to get sucked into serious relationships either.



  19. ki sunda Tea on January 8, 2023 at 3:01 am

    Mantaap



  20. Origin Soul on January 8, 2023 at 3:03 am

    Good advice, but … Part of the learning, enjoyment, progress is to allow ourselves to make mistakes, otherwise, we won’t appreciate the times when we do things right. Opposites bring unforseen opportunities for fun and further growth.



  21. Jose Enaman on January 8, 2023 at 3:03 am

    Very informative. Thank you.



  22. Quyên Quách on January 8, 2023 at 3:03 am

    I saw our VietNamese people from your video. Its nice adventure & thanks for sharing your feefback



  23. ペタルーナ on January 8, 2023 at 3:04 am

    Nice to meet you, watching your video made me very happy. I’m Japanese, have you ever been to Japan?



  24. AVICI01 on January 8, 2023 at 3:06 am

    From the Philippines here and now living in 🇨🇦 but I totally admire my culture’s hospitality and gratefulness even with the limited and little opportunity that they have access to. ❤



  25. Dracut Wilmington Roslindale on January 8, 2023 at 3:07 am

    The couple bubble comment blew my mind. Most folks in the USA operate their relationship this way. Ive just never heard it put into such an easily understandable sentence.



  26. Jaime Bárbara on January 8, 2023 at 3:07 am

    Thanks you motivated me for a bike journey.



  27. Gone Bike About on January 8, 2023 at 3:08 am

    Very well thought through. Good luck and the road might rise to meet you



  28. Chris Groot Wassink on January 8, 2023 at 3:12 am

    Hey thanks for these vids, I’m 19 and I took one year of to start biketouring myself. These videos really helped me on my first tour.
    One tip for other bikepackers. Make sure everything you have is waterproof. Cycle around your own hometown on a rainy day and camp in your backgarden, because rain is one of the toughest conditions when you don’t know what to do.



  29. Ian Fisher on January 8, 2023 at 3:14 am

    in some ways I think to many people are doing a cycle tour to cater for an audience on social media platforms, encouraging more and more people to ”like and subscribe” and donate money. My own experience is to do it for no one but myself, save the money, plan the ride as a rough guide and allow to change plans along the way, only carry one small camera for my own photographic memories.



  30. Pakistan Travel Pioneer on January 8, 2023 at 3:15 am

    Hi, You doing good job, Love from Pakistan!



  31. Kauguri D on January 8, 2023 at 3:15 am

    Biggest Bicycle Touring Mistake it is use bicycle 🙂



  32. Kalen Burns on January 8, 2023 at 3:16 am

    yo great video. what stove is that? can you provide a link so i can check the details?



  33. AJGeeTV on January 8, 2023 at 3:16 am

    Great advice to budding Bikepackers. Wish I’d had something like this when I started touring, but there was no internet then (1986). My biggest mistake was not having enough water with me when wild-camping. It’s better to take too much than too little, 4 litres absolute minimum when I set out looking for a spot to camp. And be careful it doesn’t freeze solid in the night if you are in minus temperatures. That’s why I carry water in disposable soft-drinks bottles – so I can cut them open if frozen and melt the ice with my stove to make tea and soup in the mornings. As a person who set out before technology came into vogue, I still tour that way, with paper maps and journals, no mobile phone, no internet, and only recently a small digital camera that I forget to charge now and then. When I see other tourers arrive in a town square with their loaded bikes, take out an iphone and study it for several minutes, nobody approaches them – they are in their own private world. Then they are gone. When I arrive in a town square and open my paper map out, I get local coming to me, asking if they can help, buying me a beer, and quite often offering me a place to stay. I think the iphone guys never get approached or asked anything? Sometimes it’s just good to ease-off on the tech, like you said, you waited to capture the perfect moment to video or photograph. Maybe we bump into each other one day, since I set up home in NRW, Germany, close to the Dutch border. I often go for a week-long tour though The Netherlands 😀



  34. Hin Håle on January 8, 2023 at 3:16 am

    Thx for video! Realy good information. What multistew You used? Green bottle. Safe journy.



  35. rock on January 8, 2023 at 3:16 am

    Why aren’t you using mountain bikes?



  36. jukey okhito on January 8, 2023 at 3:21 am

    Im from Malaysia…….thanks for the advise…..



  37. Fireszki on January 8, 2023 at 3:22 am

    Awesome!!!



  38. Stewart on January 8, 2023 at 3:24 am

    I really appreciate how level headed your approach is.



  39. Gareth Griffith on January 8, 2023 at 3:25 am

    My dad says you learn by your mistakes but it is easier and cheaper to learn by other peoples mistakes. Several points you raise have also been raised by others in books and on youtube. I’m cycling alone from the UK to the Costa Blanca and I’m going to take time to enjoy the journey. Although I will have a route planned I’m not going to set daily targets. Thanks for your pointers.



  40. donald walter on January 8, 2023 at 3:25 am

    One of your very important points was to break up a long extended tour into sections to be done over in several shorter journeys. This way it could give you a chance to research each area in closer detail and experience local culture.
    This is often what cyclists complain of motorists don’t get to see because they go through an area too fast, it too can happen with cyclists also!
    I missed so much on my European tours which I wish I could have taken in but I was so intent on doing A to B each day.



  41. R Kent Wenger on January 8, 2023 at 3:26 am

    Lots of great points! My two biggest mistakes: 1. Not doing it sooner; 2. Not finding a partner to tour with. All of my other mistakes are trivial in comparison. One of the things I was happiest with was not having a fixed plan, and giving myself the flexibility to stop whenever I got to an interesting place, needed to rest, etc.



  42. boerin met koeien on January 8, 2023 at 3:30 am

    Being together 24/7 is not so unnatural, I’m married to a farmer and we also are together every day of the week. Sometimes I say that our marriage is 2 times a normal marriage 😅



  43. Henrik on January 8, 2023 at 3:30 am

    Destination is not as important as the journey.



  44. Melbin Kurian John on January 8, 2023 at 3:31 am

    Awesome video 😊, really helpful, got to know the real challenges faced.



  45. Chris Mackenzie on January 8, 2023 at 3:32 am

    What was your average daily distance? Mine is 100km (paved roads and paths) when touring. Don’t know if that’s a lot, normal or not much.



  46. Night Swimming on January 8, 2023 at 3:33 am

    My tips are: Eats lots of good stuff and organise your panniers so you know where everything is. Oh and most importantly enjoy the journey not just the destination.



  47. David Thompson on January 8, 2023 at 3:34 am

    Really informative and useful advice, thanks for sharing this 💚⭐️



  48. Lars Kallin on January 8, 2023 at 3:36 am

    Great video, thanks



  49. Biyaheng Laboy on January 8, 2023 at 3:36 am

    Hello new subscriber here, Im from the Philippines 🙂



  50. De Luca on January 8, 2023 at 3:37 am

    When I’m on a tour I usually do between 90km and 130km a day, depends on the terrain if it’s flat I’m going further. Usually it takes me 6 to 8 hours, starting around 9 a.m. I still have plenty of time to visit cities or other places