first timer

[spongebob123]

i am planning on going from ill  to cal next month. i am riding every day AND am training a bit with weights on my bike and back, this will be my longest trip i did go about ten years ago from st louis to elgin illinois, about 240 miles and it took me two days, but i was not practicing every day and i was sore for a week after that, so pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee any advice and i mean any advice would be greatly appreciated, i am going to go for 30 to 35 days for the trip,  is this crazy or about right for 1900 miles or so

[rvklassen]

Recommend you look at http://www.adventurecycling.org/features/howto.cfm

Also, peruse crazyguyonabike.com

[Westinghouse]

That's about it. There are plenty of books and web sites for general information. Choose your routes carefully if you can. Use a good grade of cycling shoes. They make quite a bit of difference. If ACA has a map for your route, use it.

[spongebob123]

Recommend you look at http://www.adventurecycling.org/features/howto.cfm

Also, peruse crazyguyonabike.com

thanks dude, i will look it up , ands i got one weird question, is there a better or worse  height for the seat to be at. just curious, again thanks

[whittierider]

is there a better or worse  height for the seat to be at

Proper fit, although not an exact science as some would have you believe, is essential-- extremely important for enjoying the bike and not injuring yourself-- and seat height is the most basic part of it.  For best efficiency and strength and least risk of injury, your knee should be bent at approximately 15° when your foot is at the bottom of the turn in actual riding.

It sounds like you need to have someone who really knows fitting help you out.  Many shops have a fitting service.  It may cost $100 or even more, and take an hour or two.  Besides measuring you all over and adjusting the seat up & down, forward & back, it may include swapping out the stem for a different length or angle, (hopefully the bars don't need swapping because that's a lot of labor!), and ideally even swapping out the crankarms for the right length.  What I don't like about the professional fitting services though is that they don't usually take into account things like age and past injuries-- just dimensions.  Unfortunately the range of available crankarm lengths is extremely narrow anyway, and it's nearly impossible for some people, particlularly short ones, to get the right length.  Professional fitting services also tend to start with the idea that the knee cap is supposed to be directly over the pedal spindle ("KCOPS" for short) when the crankarm is pointing straight forward, which I never agreed with and I see some in the industry don't either, as this article from Keith Bontrager shows.  I personally want my knees farther forward, ie, get the crankset farther back relative to the seat.  That might be because I'm a spinner though.

[spongebob123]

thanks dude, i know it was a weird question but at my size i always have trouble finding almost anything to fit  easy, 4 foot 12 inches, thanks again

[whittierider]

3' 24"?  What kind of bike do you have, or are you also wanting to buy one suitable?

[spongebob123]

i have a 26 inch road master, it is pretty light weight and since i know about nothing about bikes i think it travels pretty smooth,

[waynemyer]

A Roadmaster might not be the best bike for doing a loaded tour.  I wasn't aware that Roadmaster ever made a bike that was capable of loaded touring.  Make sure to do some loaded tests well ahead of your departure date.  If this bicycle is working for you, then great! 

The weight of a touring bicycle is a secondary concern to its functionality and durability.

[rvklassen]

i have a 26 inch road master, it is pretty light weight and since i know about nothing about bikes i think it travels pretty smooth,

You must be referring to the wheel size and not the frame size.  Otherwise you wouldn't be able to straddle the top tube.  There are various rules of thumb regarding saddle height.  If it's too low, you'll mess up your knees fast.  If it's too high, it'll be tough pedalling through the entire stroke - you'll lose power for part of the stroke.  The oldest rule of thumb, which is pretty good, is that if you have your knee locked and your pedal as far away from the saddle as possible, your heel should be on the pedal (you don't ride like that, you only measure).  The next question is fore-aft position for the saddle.  With the pedals horizontal, your front knee should be immediately above the pedal axle.  These two adjustments combined should pretty much give you the fifteen degrees mentioned by whittierider.  

The other issue with bike fit is making sure the distance to the bars is right.  At this point the saddle position is no longer a degree of freedom, but the bars can move either up/down or forward/back.  For touring the position is generally higher and closer to the saddle than for racing.  This is a matter of comfort and taste.  

[whittierider]

The next question is fore-aft position for the saddle.  With the pedals horizontal, your front knee should be immediately above the pedal axle.  These two adjustments combined should pretty much give you the fifteen degrees mentioned by whittierider.

As mentioned above, the knee-cap-over-pedal-spindle recommendation is becoming outdated, much to my delight since I as a spinner was never comfortable with the seat so far back relative to the crankset and now finally in the last several years have gotten satisfaction with the availability of reversible seat posts.  I do use the 15° leg extension though.  I just make the seat slightly higher with it so far forward.  My wife and sons prefer it this way too.

Edit: (added later)
spongebob123, the reason I asked, "3' 24"?  What kind of bike do you have, or are you also wanting to buy one suitable?" is because the next time you buy a bike, you need to stay away from 700c wheels.  It's not just about fit.  Even if it fits perfectly, getting there with a really short person on 700c wheels requires throwing the handling out the window.  The bike could feel great on a trainer, yet on the road it will not be well behaved.  I've seen it countless times at the Juniors races where parents got kids bikes with 700c wheels for the more common tire size, and the kid obviously feels awkward and weaves a lot, while the few who got smaller wheels have much better command of their bikes.

The common objection I hear to 650c is about tire availability.  650c tires are plenty available if you order online, which I do for our 700c's anyway.  The last time I bought a tire in a bike shop was probably 10 years ago, and, come to think of it, that was a 650c anyway, for one of our sons when he was on the tiny Quintana Roo triathlon bike.  Several of the best tires made are available in 650c at biketiresdirect.com, for a lot less than you'll pay in a bike shop.

[rvklassen]

The next question is fore-aft position for the saddle.  With the pedals horizontal, your front knee should be immediately above the pedal axle.  These two adjustments combined should pretty much give you the fifteen degrees mentioned by whittierider.

As mentioned above, the knee-cap-over-pedal-spindle recommendation is becoming outdated, much to my delight since I as a spinner was never comfortable with the seat so far back relative to the crankset and now finally in the last several years have gotten satisfaction with the availability of reversible seat posts.  I do use the 15° leg extension though.  I just make the seat slightly higher with it so far forward.  My wife and sons prefer it this way too.

None of these are hard-and-fast rules.  At one point I moved my saddle a bit too far forward (maybe a cm or two) and discovered that yes, there's a reason you don't want it too far forward.  But what's just right for one person isn't going to necessarily work for the next.  In fact, whether 15 degrees is right (which is even harder to measure with just one person than knee-cap over pedal)  depends on the rider.  Particularly on the ratio of the lengths of the bones immediately above and below said knee-cap.   I would say start with getting the height about right, and then follow one of the rules of thumb for forward-aft, and then ride it.  If you're not sure, move the saddle a cm or less forward or back, and ride it some more.  Eventually you'll figure out what works.  For someone who started the conversation with "is there a right height", this is bound to be an improvement.  For someone who has had a carefully tuned fit, it does eventually get to the point where 2 mm up or down is noticeable.