Bike Touring for Beginners | Cycling in the Rain

It wasn't supposed to rain. The weather was supposed to be sunny and beautiful, but it turned out to be cold, grey and wet. Did it matter? No. This is a four day, credit-card-touring trip, staying in hotels and motels. 240km around the Barrington Coast riding from Dungog to Gloucester, on to Bulahdelah, across to Tea Gardens and back to Dungog. Some parts were spectacular, beautiful and deeply satisfying. Other parts were a massive physical and mental challenge. All of it was worth doing.

[@benjaminauer]

Love it, keep enjoying your trips mate :)

[@dianesilverstein6475]

So glad i stumbled upon your channel! In the 1990's and early 2000's we did lots of loaded bike touring here in America and loved it!! Now we can live vicariously through you! Safe adventures!!

[@spdaltid]

V. Nice! My back yard as a youth in the '70's! Left there in '77 and Australia in '87. Seems the condition of the roads remains about the same... but I can almost smell the rain and eucalypts from here in Japan. Thanks for the flashbacks!

[@SuperLonerunner]

"WoW ! the background music is a bit of a James Bond...James Bond of the road indeed ! yeah !!! "

[@randelscyclevlogperthwa7342]

Nice little trip, thanks for sharing. Got two Konas, Olive and black, interestingly they went from 36 spokes to 32 a year later, I had to replace my 32 spoke rim with a swiss dtx as it started splitting. I'm with you on the drop bars but pretty impossible to get flat bar tourer. also the jacket you wore seemed to be heavy and not waterproof, interesting choice

[@mauricetangredi8237]

Another great video Mike. Hard work but you made it. Looking forward to your next adventure.

[@paulninnis14]

Hi Mike, thanks another great video. FYI that whole area around Scott's Rd, can be wet most of the time. I think a low watertable

[@mike-coles]

Ha ha! I wish I’d know that before I went down there! At least I didn’t loose a shoe in the mud..

[@reoun1654]

mat Ryder doing his US ride follow him as well👍👍👍 good video mate!

[@DreamingCyclist]

That looked pretty brutal, but you made it! I appreciate the advice to start with credit card touring and sensible daily distances.

[@mike-coles]

Brutal? Yes. But it was deeply satisfying as well.

[@WorldBudgetWheels]

May be I am a cyclist, so I didn't find it that brutal as it can be here in some parts of India.. 😢

[@jimmyf9152]

Great little adventure there Mike! That road was super muddy! Didn't see you wearing a waterproof jacket. Do you not take one with you?

[@mike-coles]

Believe it or not, I don’t own a waterproof jacket. Since I returned home, I have been looking for one!

[@trevortilley5028]

Another great video. Thank you.

[@marciooki5820]

Shoes on the table 😮

[@mike-coles]

Inline with the aircon, so they dried out! I was going to microwave them, but thought the cleats might explode..

[@WorldBudgetWheels]

​@@mike-colesyes, anything metal is not safe in microwave..., good you didn't do that.. 😊

[@Numbers4008]

Nice work on this tour, where do you get your route information?

[@mike-coles]

All roads except day 4 I had ridden before. I then use Komoot and pay part attention to hills and road surfaces.

[@davidjohnston1374]

Awesome little trip Mike, loved the video so I shared this video to our Facebook Group Bikepacking and Touring Sydney. We only started this group just over 2 Months ago and now have over 600 members so the group was warranted as there's no actual Bike Touring forum in Sydney. If you wish to join, you're more than welcome. Much of that area you covered in the video I've done numerous times but on a Motorcycle. So I hope it's all good to share your video and that it helps some of the new People begin their bike packing or touring and hope some subscribe to your YT Channel. Cheers Dave J.

[@mike-coles]

Thanks for sharing. I joined your group a couple of days ago. It’s a good group 👍

[@nathanjsimpson]

Based on some of the roads you had to travel on, why did you choose the Kona over the Canyon? I've got a rigid Marin Nicasio+ with drops and I've pretty much decided on the Grand Canyon 8 as I think the suspension and wheels/tyres and ride position would give a better, and more comfortable, ride on some of those rougher surfaces. That said, the Kona looks very nice. There is something beautiful about a non-complicated bike.

[@mike-coles]

Ha ha! As I cycled out of Dungog I thought the weather was going to clear up and I’d be riding paved roads for four days! However, apart from Scott’s Road, the Kona was the right choice.

[@nathanjsimpson]

@@mike-coles with such a fine selection of bikes to choose from, how do you determine which bike to take out of the rack for your trips? A trip with only sealed roads make the decision easy, but fire trails can be a real mixed bag and sometimes you won’t know what you’ll get until you’re faced with it.

[@ajlongworth69]

What's the bike your riding please Mike

[@mike-coles]

There’s a detailed description of the bike towards the end of day 3. It’s a modified Kona Sutra touring bike 👍

[@ajlongworth69]

@mike-coles cheers mate I had to go out and just finished watching it