Ari's three tips for your end-of-summer road trip

But life tends to get in the way, and here it is, late summer, and you still haven’t hit the road. Let this be the kick in the butt you need to make it happen! And to help ensure the best ride possible, here are three helpful road-trip tips, born from countless travels and two-wheeled excursions.

Keep the mileage reasonable

It’s way too easy to overestimate how far you can comfortably travel in a day. I usually aim for about 250 to 300 miles when the objective is to have a relaxing, enjoyable ride on twistier secondary roads. That’s plenty of ground to cover, but still leaves time for other things like a leisurely meal, soaking your feet in a creek, or visiting a small-town museum or other local attraction. Yeah, you can do 500 or more miles if you want to (or 1,000 miles without stopping, if you’re a lunatic), but being in a hurry is no way to enjoy a road trip.

Another helpful rule of thumb for route planning and determining ride time is to assume that you’ll average 55 miles per hour. That feels slow, but factoring in gas stops and other pauses in travel, it’s proven to be a pretty reliable metric.

Pack right 

Packing trips people up, big time. The first mistake is packing too much. Whatever you’ve gathered up, halve it. Every extra pound and inch added to your bike is going to make it less fun to ride, so ditch the duplicates in your wardrobe. My dad had a great piece of advice when it came to worrying about forgetting to pack something: Do you have cash or a credit card? Then you’ll be fine. 

Next up, be strategic about how you pack. That means grouping items and placing them in your luggage in a way that makes sense. How often or urgently you might need something is a good criterion for grouping. That means a long-sleeve layer and rain gear ought to be at the top of your pack, whereas your camp mattress and stove can be buried deep. A small tank bag is super helpful for oft-needed incidentals like sunglasses, lip balm, ear plugs, etc. 

Don’t forget to drink! 

The evenings may be getting cooler as summer winds down, but the average temperatures are still hot and you should be drinking plenty of water throughout the day. Many riders rely on a bottle of water in their pack, but having to stop to take a drink means you’ll likely put it off until you’re really thirsty, and that’s a recipe for dehydration and an end-of-day headache. I’ve also found that when I used to carry a single 16- or 24-ounce bottle, I took smaller sips, to make the water last. 

A better option is a hydration pack. You typically get 64 to 100 ounces of capacity so there’s no need to conserve, and you can draw off that reserve any time you want, no stopping required. Proper hydration will keep your mind sharp and your energy levels up. Plus, being fully hydrated forces pee breaks, which is an opportunity to stop and explore.

Who knows, maybe one of those breaks will yield a summer road-trip memory to last a lifetime.