My first bicycle tour

I'm hoping to do a combination of couch surfing/ staying with extended family/ friends of friends and the odd hotel, so going to try and travel light. This means I can hopefully get away without taking a tent, sleeping stuff or cooking equipment.

Don't know if you're familiar with it but I would recommend Warm Showers over Couchsurfing. It's a similar deal (you search for people and message them to see if they're up for putting you up) but it's for cycling tourists only. The main difference in my experience was couchsurfing hosts tend to be young/students who wanna party with you and hear your crazy stories, warm showers hosts tended to be ageing women/couples who's (usually cycling-mad) children have flown the coop and just want to mother you for a day....I know what I preferred after a long day on the road.

Also Southern US ain't like England, there will be great swathes of land with literally nothing there, I would want the safety net of cooking provisions and some form of sleeping set-up to see me from one town to the next. That said, doesn't mean you can't pack light: a lightweight sleeping bag, roll mat, a mess tin and a lighter should be enough and will be worth it's weight in gold when the time comes (and it will) that you really need it.