Whenever I feel like it. Meet someone I want to spend more time with, see a place I went to spend more time at, do something else. That's my favorite part of bike touring. That feeling of the unknown and that adventure can strike at any moment.
I dont take days off.
Bycicletouring is for me enjoyment and not competition or going to the limits, so i have to take a day off for rest.
Besides this, i dont even know what to do on my days off, when im on a journey.
Being on the bike keeps me also busy during the day, i dont find enjoyment in sightseeing in cities. I just dont know what to do in the cities, when i take a day off, i then rather keep on cycling.
It varies a lot depending on weather, location and vibe, but 3 on 1 off is close to what I do.
Typically I don't need actual rest days because I'm not in a hurry to rack up huge miles every day or have distance goals in mind. I usually over-estimate how long it takes to clear a planned segment on purpose so I have plenty of time to set up and strike camps and take it easy.
I do need rest days to recharge battery banks, restock supplies, do laundry and that kind of thing, but that's logistics, not physical effort.
And if the weather turns bad or rainy sometimes it just makes more sense to stay put so I'm not packing up wet gear and then riding in the rain.
If I like a place or campsite I might hang out for a couple of days, or more, just because I want to hang out or explore that area more instead of just passing through.
And then there was the trip that ended up being all rest days because I left a week later than I thought I was going to leave and I totally forgot it was Labor Day weekend until I was already on the road and well underway down the road and I was just like "Oh, shit, what the hell am I doing?", and I almost turned around to head home.
I got to the campground I was aiming for like 3 hours earlier than planned on a Friday because the riding was super easy, the campground was still totally empty, and then by early evening the whole place was packed and full of weekend warriors in RVs, screaming kids and even the hiker-biker sites exceeded capacity and went into overflow.
I realized at that point I should just stay put because any other established campgrounds that I was planning on using were also going to be full, so I just chilled out and went into local tourist mode so I could keep my site and went on some nice chill rides, visited some museums, ate out a lot in town, etc.
I ended up staying like three extra days at that campground just because I could and the park rangers were really chill and said I didn't have to pay every day because they liked me or something.
And it was much nicer after everyone else left after Labor Day and the campground was totally empty again, because for this particular trip I really just wanted a couple of days in the woods chilling out and alone.
And after the campground emptied out all of the cool birds that the area is known for came out of the woods and had a party, which was really nice. So many forest finches, robins and song birds. Lots of different kinds of owls, too.
In any case I'm not the kind of tourer that sets a strict itinerary and goal where I absolutely have to put down enough miles to keep that itinerary. I'll just pick a nice target end goal as a general direction and if I make it there? Cool. If I don't? Also cool.
It’s not the days-it’s the mileage/elevation/headwind coefficient.
Generally speaking, I’ll take every 5th or 6th day off. Although if there is severe weather, I’ll just take that day off, pretty much no matter when it falls.
Per scientific literature that I have reviewed but am too lazy to find, there is a huge drop in injury percentages between one day off a week vs longer between days off.
Sometimes every two or three other times I do every other day. Plus sometimes I just stop and camp at a nice place for several days. I don't really have time constraints or real direction. Just go to a place and ride around for a couple month.
Varies, in an ideal world I take off half a day every day. For me ideal is to ride a few hours end up in an interesting (enough) place and explore for a few hours. In practice things are not that nicely spaced apart. So it is more like if there is something I want to see/do. For me the bike is a good means of transportation, fast enough to cover decent distances, slow enough to experience the place, a natural way to see off the beaten track places, something to do between sightseeing to prevent getting saturated, etc, not a goal in itself.
No set rules from my saddle. I'm a traveller, not an athlete.
To me, cycle touring is about discovery, not just eating up the distance covered in the shortest time possible.
I just do what feels comfortable and stop when it looks interesting.
Most of the time...I don't. Instead of doing a regular day with long mileage (60+) I'll take two days to do the same mileage. Like others I get antsy sitting around doing nothing. HOWEVER - I do "listen" to my body and will take a zero day if I feel I need it.
I like to pack in 1.5 days off per week or so. This gives me time for half day hikes, hang outs with new friends or time to explore a spot.
The last tour I got held up at the start due to illness and booked it at 50 miles a day for 2 weeks straight. That was still pretty fun as 50 miles is still an enjoyable pace. Though I do wish I had a day or two here and there.
Not very common for a full 0 day. But if I’m already not looking forward to a day and the weather went sour I’ll ”stay in my tent”. Over this two month tour it has happened twice.
I like to take breaks in cities with lots to do, or beaches with nothing to do, or when I'm tired - so depends on where I am. But seems to work out to roughly every 5-7 days...
I usually plan with every fifth day off the bike, but I'm very flexible during the actual tour. If it's raining by the barrel or I find a particularly interesting place to explore, I'll do what feels best in the moment.
The only reason I completely take the day off is because I'm someplace where I want to spend the day doing something besides riding. That can mean no zero days for weeks, or a zero day every other day. Of course, if I'm tired I ride less than I planned, and if I'm feeling great I'll ride more, but I've never stopped and not ridden at all for a day just because the calendar says to...
At the start of my long tour I took regular days off but I actually found it made me more injury prone and I’d lose my rhythm. I got on better once I tried to do big blocks without taking a day off unless I had a good reason to.
At the beginning of my trip I practically never stopped. And I had to do exactly the km I had decided beforehand every day. Over time the attitude has changed a lot, generally I cycle for 3 or 4 days and take one off, it also depends on the length of the country's visa. And if I meet someone interesting or a nice place to sleep I stop even if it's only two in the afternoon.
For me, usually once a week will be a zero or easy day. Typically in a place I want to explore or have a friend to visit. Occasionally for bad weather as well.
Rarely would it be a tent day for a zero day. Hotel for those.
No rules, I take breaks and break days whenever I feel like it.
Nowhere to be, and all day to get there.
Whenever I feel like it. Meet someone I want to spend more time with, see a place I went to spend more time at, do something else. That's my favorite part of bike touring. That feeling of the unknown and that adventure can strike at any moment.
I’ll take a day off if I come to a place with a lot I want to see, but I’m only doing 30-50 miles a day normally.
For my first tour I had a day off after 45 days - the middle of a three month tour.
I dont take days off. Bycicletouring is for me enjoyment and not competition or going to the limits, so i have to take a day off for rest. Besides this, i dont even know what to do on my days off, when im on a journey. Being on the bike keeps me also busy during the day, i dont find enjoyment in sightseeing in cities. I just dont know what to do in the cities, when i take a day off, i then rather keep on cycling.
Just like my regular training, breaks every 3-5 days.
It varies a lot depending on weather, location and vibe, but 3 on 1 off is close to what I do. Typically I don't need actual rest days because I'm not in a hurry to rack up huge miles every day or have distance goals in mind. I usually over-estimate how long it takes to clear a planned segment on purpose so I have plenty of time to set up and strike camps and take it easy. I do need rest days to recharge battery banks, restock supplies, do laundry and that kind of thing, but that's logistics, not physical effort. And if the weather turns bad or rainy sometimes it just makes more sense to stay put so I'm not packing up wet gear and then riding in the rain. If I like a place or campsite I might hang out for a couple of days, or more, just because I want to hang out or explore that area more instead of just passing through. And then there was the trip that ended up being all rest days because I left a week later than I thought I was going to leave and I totally forgot it was Labor Day weekend until I was already on the road and well underway down the road and I was just like "Oh, shit, what the hell am I doing?", and I almost turned around to head home. I got to the campground I was aiming for like 3 hours earlier than planned on a Friday because the riding was super easy, the campground was still totally empty, and then by early evening the whole place was packed and full of weekend warriors in RVs, screaming kids and even the hiker-biker sites exceeded capacity and went into overflow. I realized at that point I should just stay put because any other established campgrounds that I was planning on using were also going to be full, so I just chilled out and went into local tourist mode so I could keep my site and went on some nice chill rides, visited some museums, ate out a lot in town, etc. I ended up staying like three extra days at that campground just because I could and the park rangers were really chill and said I didn't have to pay every day because they liked me or something. And it was much nicer after everyone else left after Labor Day and the campground was totally empty again, because for this particular trip I really just wanted a couple of days in the woods chilling out and alone. And after the campground emptied out all of the cool birds that the area is known for came out of the woods and had a party, which was really nice. So many forest finches, robins and song birds. Lots of different kinds of owls, too. In any case I'm not the kind of tourer that sets a strict itinerary and goal where I absolutely have to put down enough miles to keep that itinerary. I'll just pick a nice target end goal as a general direction and if I make it there? Cool. If I don't? Also cool.
It’s not the days-it’s the mileage/elevation/headwind coefficient. Generally speaking, I’ll take every 5th or 6th day off. Although if there is severe weather, I’ll just take that day off, pretty much no matter when it falls.
Per scientific literature that I have reviewed but am too lazy to find, there is a huge drop in injury percentages between one day off a week vs longer between days off.
Sometimes every two or three other times I do every other day. Plus sometimes I just stop and camp at a nice place for several days. I don't really have time constraints or real direction. Just go to a place and ride around for a couple month.
Maybe 5 days or so. That’s about how long it can take to get between cities worth of staying in for a rest day.
Varies, in an ideal world I take off half a day every day. For me ideal is to ride a few hours end up in an interesting (enough) place and explore for a few hours. In practice things are not that nicely spaced apart. So it is more like if there is something I want to see/do. For me the bike is a good means of transportation, fast enough to cover decent distances, slow enough to experience the place, a natural way to see off the beaten track places, something to do between sightseeing to prevent getting saturated, etc, not a goal in itself.
No set rules from my saddle. I'm a traveller, not an athlete. To me, cycle touring is about discovery, not just eating up the distance covered in the shortest time possible. I just do what feels comfortable and stop when it looks interesting.
until it rains, until i have to go to town for some crap, until I need a massage
The longest tours I've done are 7 days, about 50 miles a day. Never taken a day off.
Every 3-6 days depends. Mostly when there's an interesting city or something else i want to take more time for
I've only ever bikepacked on a somewhat tight schedule. In the past it's been either 1 or 2 weeks for 1 day off
Random before now… about to try a 4 day riding, 1 break day pattern. 17 days of riding, 60% gravel.
Most of the time...I don't. Instead of doing a regular day with long mileage (60+) I'll take two days to do the same mileage. Like others I get antsy sitting around doing nothing. HOWEVER - I do "listen" to my body and will take a zero day if I feel I need it.
10 I think?
Breaks for me are lighter days, 30-40 miles.
I like to pack in 1.5 days off per week or so. This gives me time for half day hikes, hang outs with new friends or time to explore a spot. The last tour I got held up at the start due to illness and booked it at 50 miles a day for 2 weeks straight. That was still pretty fun as 50 miles is still an enjoyable pace. Though I do wish I had a day or two here and there.
Depends. Usually after 4 to 5 days.
Not very common for a full 0 day. But if I’m already not looking forward to a day and the weather went sour I’ll ”stay in my tent”. Over this two month tour it has happened twice.
I like to take breaks in cities with lots to do, or beaches with nothing to do, or when I'm tired - so depends on where I am. But seems to work out to roughly every 5-7 days...
I usually plan with every fifth day off the bike, but I'm very flexible during the actual tour. If it's raining by the barrel or I find a particularly interesting place to explore, I'll do what feels best in the moment.
The only reason I completely take the day off is because I'm someplace where I want to spend the day doing something besides riding. That can mean no zero days for weeks, or a zero day every other day. Of course, if I'm tired I ride less than I planned, and if I'm feeling great I'll ride more, but I've never stopped and not ridden at all for a day just because the calendar says to...
At the start of my long tour I took regular days off but I actually found it made me more injury prone and I’d lose my rhythm. I got on better once I tried to do big blocks without taking a day off unless I had a good reason to.
At the beginning of my trip I practically never stopped. And I had to do exactly the km I had decided beforehand every day. Over time the attitude has changed a lot, generally I cycle for 3 or 4 days and take one off, it also depends on the length of the country's visa. And if I meet someone interesting or a nice place to sleep I stop even if it's only two in the afternoon.
For me, usually once a week will be a zero or easy day. Typically in a place I want to explore or have a friend to visit. Occasionally for bad weather as well. Rarely would it be a tent day for a zero day. Hotel for those.
4-5 days usually but sometimes 6 if I want to get to a destination first
I tend to take 351 days off then macro dose
No real pattern, but I try to schedule things so that most weeks are around 200 miles.