I’ve wanted to get into bikepacking for years, but I’ve always been concerned about how I’d be able to ride for multiple days. I was on a cycling team in college and the longest ride I’ve done is about 70 miles, after which I was toast and my butt was really sore. Obviously this is different than bike touring, but it still makes me wonder how others do it.
Do you take a lot of breaks throughout the day? Or is it more just conditioning yourself and building “callouses” (for lack of a better word haha). I’m pretty sure my pelvic bones are positioned right on my saddle, but maybe I need a different one.
A good saddle made I world of difference. I have a brooks on my tourer and I cant remember whats on my commuter but its also very comfortable and doesnt cause any pain. I wear padded undershorts for longer tours, but I can comfortably do 2-3 days without them on the brooks.
I try not to ride further than I need to if I can help it while on tour. 50 miles/80km a day seems a good amount to avoid most of the kinds of fatigue or pain you might get from riding. Any further and I start to feel it.
I may have a headstart on training as my commute to work is 10 miles so im doing about 100 miles a week just for work so that probably keeps my butt tour ready.
70 miles as a one off will probably hurt more than 50 miles a day for 7 days.