I'm trying to get together 1-3 other people for a 1-2 week tour of the midwest some time in early summer—that is, the latter half of May or any time in June. We'd be camping or staying with warmshowers hosts. I have a new 2-person tent and ultralight cooking stove/cookware i'll bring and share.

Why the midwest? I live in Chicago, don't have a car, and like the idea of not spending money traveling to a start point just to ride a bike. Though I wouldn't mind taking Amtrak somewhere to accommodate a start point nearer to you than Chicago.

I've never toured before, but I love to camp, i've ridden 100+ miles a day on several occasions, and a few friends and relatives have toured and given me the low down on what to bring and watch out for. I'd say we'd average 70 miles a day, or 80-85 if we take a day's rest in the middle of the trip.

So about me. I'm super easygoing and kind of a nerd. I'm 23, a journalism student at Columbia College Chicago. I wrote for newspapers in my home state of Ohio for three years before coming to the Windy City. Feel free to stalk me at brandonsmith.com and its about page; twitter.com/greenletters and, yes, even facebook.com/brandoniamsmith — just mention warmshowers in the friend request!

Oh—and I don't want to be ageist, but 20/30-somethings would work best as partners I think. Or at least a 20/30-something mindset!

Happy touring everyone!