Where Do You Pee, Sleep and Shower? Bike Touring FAQs!

Hola! In case you missed it, during April and May, we’re pedaling a big loop around Spain and Portugal.

Prepping for our trip, I realized only 1.6% of my friends know what the heck bike touring is all about. From the basic to the more elaborate, questions poured in. And SO, here is my handy-dandy primer for anyone wondering how this bike touring thing works!

My friend Michael offered to join us on the tour too!

Hannnnng on. What the heck IS bike touring?

Three ingredients: you, your stuff and a bicycle. Add pedal power.

Go places. Meet people. Eat SO much food to fuel more pedaling. Bike, eat, handwash laundry in the sink, sleep, repeat. Hate headwinds, always. Welcome to bike touring!

Nuances and approaches abound. Everyone has an opinion about the best way, but you can do it on a $5,000 bike with custom gear or a $100 bike wearing a ratty backpack. Either way, it’s phenomenal way to see the world.

All the tiny villages have central fountains for filling water. This one had a suspicious old man who watched our every move…

Bike touring sounds hard. Why do you do it?

In my early 20s, I traveled to 30 odd countries in a year, ticking them off as “been there” even for a lone day in Latvia or a night in Poland. I saw most of it from a train or bus window.

These days, I prefer to see less and (hopefully) experience more. Bike touring exposes us to the terrain, weather (good and bad), smells, sounds, people, animals and other facets of life that we’re insulated from while traveling by plane, train, bus or car. Bees buzzing in an orange grove or a pretty bird at a lunch spot come to mind from the last two days.

The pace is perfect – juuust fast enough to cover ground, but slow enough to pause in places you’d otherwise blow through in a car. As a bonus, it’s easier to visit small villages or rural areas while biking compared to train or plane travel. In Europe, most people hit big cities – Paris, London, Vienna – and miss the less touristy zones that offer a lot. I prefer fabulous places like Alcala del Jucar, a pueblo with houses built into the cliffs that looks like Cinque Terra, but didn’t have a single foreign tourist staying there.

A sunset view of Alcala del Jucar to end a long day on the bikes. We descended into town via the castle and 6′ wide serpentine streets.

Don’t you get tired/bored/wet/a sore butt?

All of it. Frequently all in one day!

The ups and downs are starker with bike touring relative to motorized travel. You REALLY appreciate the big meal after a long day on the bike; the sun shines oh-so-sweetly after a couple hours pedaling in the rain. Fresh-squeezed OJ is THE BEST. And ohhhh man does a shower and a bed feel good after 8 hours cranking into a headwind. It’s all about contrast. (Did I mention I hate headwinds, those soul-sucking, #%!$#% creations del Diablo.)

Contrary to the above, it’s not all a sufferfest either. Most days feature beautiful landscapes, generous and friendly people, and a sense of adventure I just don’t get by zipping down the highway in a metal canister. “Earning your turns” in backcountry skiing or mountain biking: doing hard work makes the sense of accomplishment sharper and sweeter.

Or at least this is what cycle tourists will tell you… Maybe we’re lying?

Sometimes you just gotta push! This 2 mile climb was SO steep, over 15% grade.

What’s your route?

We flew into Barcelona and are riding a clockwise loop around Spain and Portugal. Here’s my super rough route on Google Maps, which I created more for figuring out our necessary mileage to ride the entire loop. In no way does this show actual roads we are riding; I merely plugged in big cities along our route and will dial things in a day or two out (or on the fly) during our journey using the app Komoot (see below under navigation).

If you want to follow each day, I’m posting our rides on Strava. Here’s my profile.

How far do you ride each day? How long does that take?

For this trip, we’re taking it relatively easy and aiming for 40-50 miles per day. On past tours, 50-70 mile days were common. However, Spain is HILLY and we’ll find ourselves on some crazy-ass goat paths at times, so that’s part of my rationale for mileage.

We’re also planning to do more hiking, running, and exploring cool Spanish cities on this trip to mix it up. We average ~8-10 mph (depending on terrain) when we’re moving, so a 50 mile day is ~6 hours of pedaling, plus 2-3 hours during the day of off-bike time (meal stops, food shopping, resting, peeing in fields). Bike, eat, sleep… There’s a reason I hadn’t blogged on the trip yet!

Quiet, perfect roads.

What if your bike breaks?

There’s always something with this many miles on a bike! I put together a comprehensive kit and we’re prepared for many mechanical issues (brakes, flat tires, spokes, derailleur adjustments, and broken racks). Beyond that, it’s up to the kindness of strangers to get us to a bike shop!

Brake fix!

Are you working while you travel?

Yup! Per our usual, this isn’t a “vacation” so much as traveling while working. Europe is nice because the 9 hour time difference allows me to enjoy the day and then I check on things in the evening. Having a cell plan makes it easy to still explore cities without being tethered to a computer every night.

How do you navigate?

By the seat of our pants! We don’t plan ahead, so it’s a mix of looking at low-traffic roads on maps (hard copy or online). For past tours, I’ve used a variety of tech and paper maps. This time, I’m using the GREAT app Komoot and won’t buy any paper maps.

Orange groves alllll day long out of Valencia.

Do you listen to music, podcasts or audiobooks?

YES. Believe it or not, sometimes biking all day can get boring. (Shocker!) Some people love to disconnect completely while traveling and let their thoughts run rampant. I enjoy that, and it’s also wonderful to disappear into an audiobook or podcast interview during a bruiser climb over a steep pass or into h#@dw!nds.

How do you deal with different riding paces?

Patience and love! I also carry way more weight to even things out. Downhill, Chelsea zooms along. If there’s a headwind, we cruise at the same pace if she drafts off me. On big climbs, I wait at the top. 🙂 When it gets REALLY steep, I ride ahead, then run back down and push her bike uphill. #supportivespouse

Where do you stay?

A mix of three options: camping, hotels/various guesthouses, and an amazing hosting service called Warmshowers (like couchsurfing, but for touring cyclists). It usually comes out to about a third each.

For THIS trip, however, we are celebrating Chelsea’s 40th birthday and decided to leave the camping gear at home, tee hee! Spain is chock full of cool, affordable guesthouses and we’re going to scope them out. As I write this, I’m sitting by a warm fire in the pueblo of San Pedro in an ancient Airbnb.

Heeeere’s Johnny. A cool place with lots of custom wood and metal work on the Casas Rurales route. The full apartment only cost 50 euros.

Do you book everything in advance?

Noooo way. For a short trip, I suppose that could work. Not for multiple weeks though.

Plus, one of our favorite parts of bike touring is the relaxed, open travel pace. There’s constant serendipity with meeting people (seaplane ride, anyone?), cool towns where we want to stay longer, or days where we ride longer (or shorter) depending on weather and energy levels. Booking ahead takes away flexibility and can create a domino effect of rush rush rush, which is not how we like to travel. We book 1-2 days out at most.

How do you wash your clothes?

We travel with a high-tech, custom clothes washer: our hands. Whether in a folding camp sink or a hotel sink, we grind our clothes around for a few minutes with some soap and water, rinse things out, and hang them up. (Quick-dry everything!) If they aren’t dry the next morning, we “yardsale” them on our bike racks while we ride orrrr ride with a wet shirt for a bit. #keepingitclassy

Back to the basics…laundry!

Do you rent bikes?

Negative! For such a long trip, we wanted our dialed-in touring bikes. My Salsa Fargo travels on the plane boxed up in a standard bike box, whereas Chelsea’s Co-Motion Pangea breaks in half and fits in a standard suitcase. Airlines charge for my big box, but Chelsea’s Pangea is free for international flights. (Although I got lucky and didn’t get charged for our flight to Barcelona!)

How do you carry gear – backpacks?

OUCH. My nether regions hurt just thinking about pedaling day after day with a backpack on. (It’s tough enough without one!) We carry gear in various bike bags, the largest of which are saddlebags (aka panniers) that attach to rear racks on each of our bikes. I also have a frame bag and we both have some small easy-access bags near our handlebars for snacks and tech.

Miss Vanna Chelsea demonstrating our bikes fully loaded.

How heavy are your bikes and gear?

With empty bags, fenders and racks, our bikes each weigh in around 35 pounds. My total gear for this trip is ~30 pounds (packing list post coming at some point). Chelsea is rolling super light and her stuff weighs in under 20 since she doesn’t have a camera or a laptop.

That said, we carry ~5 pounds each of water/orange juice/coconut water. Add food to that and I easily have 50 pounds of gear. Load me up enough and it makes our riding pace more similar!

How do you go to the bathroom?

Like true opportunists! Various lodging that we stay in, restaurants, cafes, grocery stores… It ain’t rocket science. Oh, and loooots of peeing outside during the ~8 hours each day that we spend outdoors. Spain seems to lack public bathrooms, especially in rural areas, but we’ve had no problems.

How much does it cost to ship a bike?

It varies dramatically depending on the airline. Typical amounts are $100-200 each way. (Damn you, scammer airlines!)

Ohhhh these Via Verdes (rails to trails). Chelsea on the Camino Natura de Segura (I’m up on a train trestle – we don’t travel with a drone…)

How do you get internet/cell phone?

Local SIM cards! With lots of countries and plenty of competition, they’re cheeeap in Europe. Make sure your phone works on GSM networks over here though – if your phone is unlocked, you should be good to go. For Spain, we bought Vodafone cards, which claims the best coverage in Spain and cost us $20 for 15 gb of data.

Are you meeting any friends along the way?

You know it! We spent time with Marc and Clara in Barcelona and will connect with the Long Haul Trekkers again to ride from their home in Granada to Seville. If it lines up, we’ll meet up with our world-trotting friends Hilary and Don during their mid-life gap year.

We rode awhile with Monty from Wales, who has toured through both Bend and N. Idaho where we grew up!

What do you eat?

So. Much. Food. We’re both vegan, so it requires a bit of planning, but so far Spain has proven quite easy to find great options. I’ll write a full post on this later!

And with that, time to kick back and enjoy this fire. Incoming soon: tales from our first week pedaling through Spain!

Got more questions about logistics? Comment below or send me an email! Perhaps an FAQs 2 will happen later.

14 replies
  1. Dennis
    Dennis says:

    Looks like you’re running flat bars instead of the Salsa Woodchipper bars. And Vanna, uh, Chelsea appears to have flats on her Pangea as well (Comotion – very nice!) Was that a concession to the hillier terrain? Better control for rough roads? Realized that you never get down in the drops anyway? Inquiring minds want to know…

    Reply
    • Dakota
      Dakota says:

      Eagle eye Dennis! Those are Jones Bars on both our bikes, which are swept back at 45 degrees and suuuper comfortable. It was a mix of comfort, control and wanting MTB-style shifters and brakes. I also am loving the solid MTB-style posture for bumpy descents. The riding position is perfect for touring and so far I’m confident the switch was worth it! Highly recommended.

      Reply
    • Dakota
      Dakota says:

      Can’t recommend riding in Spain enough (so far at least)! It’s haaaard work with all the hills (4k of climbing today in 40 miles) but scenic, quiet and excellent.

      Reply
  2. Marie Vasic
    Marie Vasic says:

    Dakota and Chelsea!
    I Love hearing about your adventures and cool way of experiencing life! Very inspiring and honest about touring D&C style. Happy birthday to Chelsea! Enjoy your journey in Spain and Portugal. Looking forward To next post. Marie and Emily from Ottawa, Canada. ????

    Reply
    • Dakota
      Dakota says:

      Thanks Marie and Emily! More honesty coming – not all sunshine and rainbows out here. But my oh my is it a cool way to see the world!

      Reply
  3. Natasha Lillo
    Natasha Lillo says:

    Love this read and following your adventures! Keep it up you guys. Sending you power through the digital wave to help you get through those crazy headwinds! Happy 40th Chelsea and continued safe travels ❤️

    Reply
    • Dakota
      Dakota says:

      Thanks Natasha! We’ll take that digital wave and channel it. Everyone keeps saying, “Oh, it’s never windy around here,” to which I say “then why are there 2,000 windmills?!” Hahaha. It’s alllll good, part of the experience.

      Reply
  4. Go Jules Go
    Go Jules Go says:

    This is so, so, SO COOL. I WANT TO BE YOU GUYS. I say this having just sold my road bike to buy a Google Pixel, from the comfort of an AirBNB in Portland, Maine that has a dishwasher (my high-tech washing hands can rest easy), with little on the agenda today besides a trip to Trader Joe’s. I don’t think I’d last 15 minutes – especially in the headwind.

    ROCK ON, RAINBOW! Can’t wait for the next post.

    P.S. – Have you been holding out on your own PowerShopping skillz?!

    Reply
    • Dakota
      Dakota says:

      Ah, I only WISH I could PowerShop like that. Michael sent that and said “I’ve got a solution for joining you on the tour.” And yes, while maybe touring is COOL (according to you), it is also quite difficult. Yesterday’s all day climb in the rain may have dampened (see what I did there) your spirits a bit. I could very, very much go for some TJ’s PB pretzels right now, heavily salted…

      Reply
  5. Ben Handrich
    Ben Handrich says:

    LOOOOVE this post Dakota. I’m with you on friends who don’t always understand bike touring, and this is a great introduction to what makes vacationing by bike so awesome. Also, your musings, “The pace is perfect – juuust fast enough to cover ground, but slow enough to pause in places you’d otherwise blow through in a car” is what keeps me coming back to bike touring escapades time and time again. Experiencing new places with all of the senses while traveling on a bike has no comparison. Well said. And (you had so many great points, but I still must apologize for all the ‘ands’) road touring makes you a total slave to the gods of the headwinds. I feel your pain. May the winds be ever at your back, my virtual friend!

    Reply
    • Dakota
      Dakota says:

      Glad you dug it! RE: road touring, the wind sucks, but Chelsea isn’t a mountain biker so it’s the best way for us to do an active, long trip together. Most of the time it’s fine. We’ll end this virtual thing this summer, amigo! Looks like we’ll be around in mid-July for HC. Hell, I might even throw my hat in the ring and race it!

      Reply
  6. NW Walker
    NW Walker says:

    This looks like a great trip! Do you know about the Ruta TransAndalus? It’s a 2500 kilometer MTB route around the perimeter of Andalucia. It passes through the Sierra Nevada where it looks like you might be right now. There is a lot of free information on their website (routes; gpx tracks; places to stay, etc): http://www.transandalus.org It was laid out by Spanish volunteers and takes you to a lot of places you might otherwise not know about. Wikiloc.com is also great for finding hiking trails in Spain. Have fun!

    Reply
    • Dakota
      Dakota says:

      Howdy! Thanks for the tips. We eyed the Trans-Andalus and are planning to ride some gravel sections. (I think it’s mostly gravel, not mtb terrain?) Hoping to get back to Spain with my mountain bike for future adventures way up in the mountains!

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply to Marie Vasic Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge