Thanksgiving dinner about to get under way.

[jags]

Just getting the  table set for the Thanksgiving dinner  plents of Americans folks  in the family and my sons wife is doing all the cooking today ,Maryann is a Montana girl (heard it's a magic place to tour) and a great cook  so its Turkey n ham and loads of spuds thats the irish in us,
wonder whats for  desert.

[Danneaux]

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, jags! Maryann'll do a great job, and Paul's a lucky fellow (as are you all, from the sound of that dinner!). Lots to be thankful for in a nice family like yours. Best to all!

Dan.

[jags]

just wrapping up dan she done a great job dinner was lovely, i could just go to bed now i are that much 

[bikepacker]

Between 1998 and 2004 I went over to my cousins (since died) in LA every year for Thanksgiving. Had some lovely times and got invited to some great family gatherings. Sadly I have no reason to make the trip again.

[jags]

jeez i could end up there yet, my eldest son and his family are heading to America next year i have relations in  Boston and Maine got an invite to boseman montana so you never know although i doubt it to be honest to bloody far.

[bikepacker]

You have an airport just down the road from you with a direct service to Boston. You could then cycle up to Maine and across to Montana, very easy flat cycling. It would be a fabulous experience.

[jags]

and a pocket full of money i don't have 

[jags]

btw welcome to the thorn forum does this mean you bought yourself a proper touring bike 

[bikepacker]

Thanks for the welcome, I first registered for this forum in 2003 but changing of emails caused a screw up so webmaster sorted it out for me to re-register.

Got a handbuilt frame on order but not a Thorn, I have however been thinking about trying a Rohlof for sometime. I purchased my first Dawes tourer from SJS many years ago.

[JimK]

across to Montana

Last year I was out for a ride of a few hours. I hardly see other cyclists outside of our little village and when I do they are generally speedsters flashing by. But on this occasion a youngish fellow with panniers all around pulled alongside me slowly. He'd left Boston a few days earlier and was headed out to Montana!

[jags]

yeah it sounds fantastic thats for sure jim but a fella would
need a wheelbarrow full with money to do a trip like that ,
and a very understanding wife, not sure which would be the hardest to obtain.

[JimK]

This guy Brett was using a hammock instead of a tent.

It is a fascinating question for me, a budget for touring. Of course one likely has fixed expenses back home and then one is not likely to be bringing in an income while touring. That is probably the biggest chunk, quite separate from direct expenses on tour.

There is whatever expenses are involved to getting to the tour starting point... plane fare or maybe get a space on a freighter!

Mostly I should think the direct expenses while touring are mostly food and lodging. One can buy food from grocery stores and prepare it oneself, cooking etc., or got to restaurants. That probably spans roughly $10/day up to maybe $60.

Lodging... out in the wild one can camp wherever. Then there are campgrounds, then cheap motels, then nice ones. That's maybe $0 to $120 roughly.

A person could ride out to Montana in a month for sure. Say the total cost range is $20/day to $200/day, so that's $600 to $6000 for the full ride. Maybe $2000 for a nice mix of meals and lodging.

Call it $2000 for fixed expenses back home, $2000 for transport to/from the tour, $2000 for the tour itself, that's $6000. Median income in these parts is maybe $3000/month. So a big tour is about two months of income.

I hope to try one of these before too long... better be before long at my age!... my idea right now is to head up to Quebec's Route Verte, so I can avoid transport costs. I hear the B&B's in the small towns are plentiful and economical.

Yeah, support from the folks at home, that is surely the biggest challenge!

[bikepacker]

I have done many tours where I have averaged around £5 a day. A lot depends on how keen you are to go cycle touring. For me I would spend all year on the road if it wasn't for some home commitments.

[Danneaux]

Hi Alan,

(Re-)Welcome to the Thorn Cycling Forums! I've long followed you on other forums, and -- as with all of us here online, it is a small world -- I figured we'd get you back again sooner or later.  

I think you'll find it a pleasant little community here, and you've surely landed in a hotbed of knowledge and experience wrt Rohloff drivetrains. I won't say more about the hubs here (don't want to hijack jags' Thanksgiving thread), but I think you'll find all your questions about them can be answered; we try our best and in good heart.

Best,

Dan.

[JimK]

I have done many tours where I have averaged around £5 a day.

Please do sketch in a bit more detail. What countries were you riding through, how did you get food, where did you sleep?

Even just in the USA I expect there is a huge variation, e.g. in attitudes about sleeping arrangements. Some places might look kindly on people setting up tents in public places, other places not so much. Food can be pretty inexpensive... I'm not so sure about meeting nutritional requirement on a long tour... e.g. white rice is almost universally available, brown rice much less so.