Preparing for a Charity Ride: An Introduction to Bike Touring

Pallotta Teamworks' California AIDS Ride has been going strong for a decade and has sprouted new routes all over the country. Last year Pallotta introduced a ride in Alaska, this year Canada, and next year Europe. Have they finally hooked you? The organization shares huge amounts of planning and packing information with you, and it can be overwhelming. Today we'll take a quick look at some of the requirements for the multiday ride's special kind of cycling: touring.

The Conditions You Can Expect
Multiday charity rides are supported bike tours: While you ride the day's route, your gear is transported on a truck. You can expect a variety of road conditions, but the surfaces you ride on will generally be paved. They may be uneven or have gravel on them, however, and weather conditions can vary widely from warm and dry to cold and rainy (even snow), depending on the location of the ride. A day's route may be as short as 30 miles or as long as 100.

Multiday Rides for Noncyclists
Yes, people buy a bike to train for charity rides. It's not as crazy as it sounds. As long as you are in reasonable shape, you can train for a charity ride - even one of those 500 milers - quite comfortably, using equipment that is totally new to you.

Planning for a multiday ride gives you answers to two major questions facing the purchaser of a new bike: "What kind of riding will I do?" and "How many hours in the saddle will I spend?" Some manufacturers offer models specifically for the charity rider, usually "performance hybrids" - bikes with relatively upright positions, fairly light frames, and good-quality components.

The other questions you need to answer are "What position do I like to ride in?" and "How much do I want to spend?" Be clear about what you really want. If the answers are "Upright, so I can see easily and comfortably" and "Less than $500," you can still find a bike that will take you those 300 to 500 miles (plus your training).

The Perfect Bike
The ideal bicycle for a charity ride is a road bike with touring geometry. Touring road bikes are designed specifically for this purpose: They are stable, easy-steering bikes, designed to carry extra loads and to accommodate wider tires. But that doesn't mean that you should buy one. If you regularly ride more upright with a straight handlebar, the additional learning and practice required to feel comfortable with a different position and drop bars may far outweigh the benefit of a bike designed just for long miles.

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