So you have the ambition to get on your touring bike and cycle around the world? We are going to talk about how long you can expect a long journey like this to take.
How long would it take to bike tour around the world? A minimum bike tour around the world would take you 1.5 to 2 years. But it can depend on many variables. The average speed you can expect to travel with a fully loaded touring bike is anywhere between 10 to 20 km/h (average 15 km/h or 9.3 miles per hour). Depending on how much cycling you want to do a day, say around 8 hours per day is realistic. Then you need to consider days when you don’t ride, and days where you ride very little. According to the Guinness World Record the minimum distance one must cycle is around 29,000 km (18,000 miles). A more realistic daily milage for a long tour like this would be 50 km per day.
Your journey would depend on where exactly you plan to ride around the world. Some people have gone on some incredible journeys travelling over 46,000 miles (74,000 km). Which took them up to 4 years in total.
Allowing yourself to take a bit longer then what you expected, is a good idea. You don’t want to be rushing a trip like this. Unless you want to beat the record. I recommend taking your time, if you rush or focus too much on smashing through the miles, all enjoyment will go out the window. That is why a average 50 km per day (or 31 miles per day) over the entire trip duration is recommended.
Of course you can cover much more distance then this everyday. When I was cycling America I average around 90 to 100 km per day. This was for cycling a total distance of around 5,000 km. If you can maintain this for over 29,000 km total trip then go for it.
How to cycle the world?
- Get a decent touring bicycle. Don’t sweat too much on getting the most amazing gear. Just a good enough bike, tent, sleeping bag and other essentials
- Plan and prepare a little. Figure out roughly where you would like to go.
- Say goodbye and get on your bike and start.
Things to consider
You could plan everyday of your trip before you head of. Or at least look into what visas you will need and boarder crossings. But this is how people can get overwhelmed with too much researching and information to consume. It is probably best to plan as you go.
You may want to train before you start your trip. I wrote a article talking about how to train for a bicycle tour. Although this is not essential if you have some base line of activity you should be fine. Also you will have almost 2 years to train.
You could save your pennies or take a online business on the road with you. Save as much money as you think you will need for this grand adventure. But you don’t need that much money to get going. The expenses for travelling by bike is very little. The only main expenses is food and that is about it. You can do it on the super cheap. Camping for free or staying at peoples homes. Will talk more about the costs of bicycle touring around the world.
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There are many different routes and different total distances that falls under cycling around the world. Speed and distance travelled each day plays a part also. So for each person it will be different
How much does it cost to cycle around the world?
You can expect to spend $15 to $25 per day for expenses to cycle around the world on a fairly cheap budget. From my own personal experience I spend about this much each day. But my main expense is food and most camping I don’t pay for.
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