Planning a Bike tour: 4 things to consider
My Dad took me on my very first bike tour when I was 18 years old. I had just graduated high school and sports really weren’t my thing. On our first trip, a bike tour across Iowa, we were a misfit duo. I wore jean shorts and rode a bike that was too small for me. We carried all of our gear on the back of our bikes and, lemme tell you, it was not lightweight. Somehow, though, it became a passion. Since then, we have gone on a bike tour every year. I know that cycling and bike tours can feel inaccessible, but if there is anything I learned on my first bike trip, it’s that anyone can go on a bike tour if they put their mind to it—no fancy gear required.
Hi, I’m Jeff. I’m Kelsey’s Dad. She asked me to contribute in honor of Father’s Day to a blog on how to prepare a bike tour. So, I’m going to take a stab at that. I think there are four factors to consider when planning a bike tour.
#1 Where do I want to ride?
First, where do you want to ride? Maybe you’ve heard of a great place. Maybe you have ulterior motives (visiting the land of your ancestors, making it in the “backyard” of someone as a way of encouraging them to join the tour, or challenging your body and mind---I have used all three of these). If not, you can do a search. You can search the routes of the Adventure Cycling Association. You can read blogs like “Crazy Guy on a Bike” to see what others have said about routes. You can search bike tour companies’ websites and peruse their location offerings and itineraries (you're not going to sign up for their tour, but you are going to steal ideas from them).
#2 How far do I want to ride?
Factoring in how far you want to ride will affect your decision about where you ride. Are you looking to ride for seven days? Ten days? A month? A year? All of my experience has been with organizing one to two week tours, so I’ll offer advice for that time frame. Figure out how many miles you want to ride per day. I suggest an average of fifty miles. Add in a couple of rest days, so your trip doesn’t become a forced march. Then see how far you can go in seven days (with two rest days 250 miles) or 10 days (with two rest days 400 miles) or two weeks (with three rest days 550 miles). You get the idea.
#3 How do I want to ride?
Next, decide if you want to make your ride a self-supported ride where you carry all of your gear on your bike, or if you want to have a Support and Gear (SAG) vehicle as part of the tour. A route that is a loop and brings you back to where you started is good for a self supported tour. You end up back at your car. However, a self-supported tour does not have to be a loop. You can often fly in and fly out of somewhere near to your start and end points, or you can find ways to get back to where you started to retrieve your car (by rental car, bus, train, flight, etcetera).
#4 Who do I want to ride with?
Plan your ride and then invite them. I have always ridden with friends and family. I extend an open invitation, knowing that there will be a wide range of cycling proficiencies. I have one friend who rides 20,000 miles in a year. My son is an ultra-marathoner. My daughter is a bike tour guide, but some of my other friends and relatives don’t ride that much. If you want your group to be more homogeneous in terms of bicycle riding stamina or proficiency, narrow your list. For a heterogeneous group, especially, it is a good idea, as the trip organizer, to set some training goals. For example, suggest each member try to log at least 500 training miles in the six months prior to the trip. Setting those goals helps the group build cohesiveness as everyone reports back on how and what they are doing to meet them.
