Very cool. He did not say, but I assume, he was totally alone? That is very brave. And those skinny tires? I would have assumed a mountain bike or something similar?
I would like to do something like this with a group of people.
I would like to do something like this with a group of people.
Yup, I was alone.
I think a cyclocross bike with slick tires would be the best choice, assuming you want to do 100+ mile days. The 28mm tires were fine–the issue was fork clearance when they started to pick up dirt on the wet sections. If you wanted to ride on the dirt (mud) roads here you'd want at least 35mm.
Note I'm not particularly in shape, not "brave" by any traditional sense of the word, and hadn't ridden a bike in 15 years before my first bike ride, from Poland to Turkey (the above is my second). I have traveled quite a bit before then though.
I'd recommend knobby tires. There are a good number of other riders I met along the way, but only one was using a road bike.