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Types of Bicycle Tours
By spokesman | March 22, 2008
Bicycle touring can take many forms. At one extreme, the rider plans the tour, carries all of his supplies and has no support along the route. At the other end of the spectrum, you can use a tour company that plans the route, carries you luggage and provides support along the route (repairs, snacks and shuttle service if needed). In between, there are many variations. This post discusses some of the different types of bicycle tours.
Self Contained/Camping - This type of tour is for the most rugged cyclists. The riders must carry all of their supplies and since they are camping this will include a tent, sleeping bag and other camping supplies. The extra weight associated with these items makes riding more difficult. In addition, a fully loaded touring bike will also handle differently from an unloaded bike. This type of tour does not have any sag support, so the rider needs to be able to repair any breakdowns that occur and must push on through any bad weather.
Self Contained/Motel - For this type of tour, the rider stays at a motel, hotel or Bed & Breakfast each night. The rider doesn’t have to carry camping supplies (tent, sleeping bag etc) which are quite bulky and add extra weight. However the ride still needs to carry everything else such as clothes and tools. As in the previous type of tour, the rider still has to deal with mechanical breakdowns.
Luggage Transport/Motel or Camping - On this type of tour, the lugage is transported to the destination, so the rider doesn’t have to carry it. There may or may not be sag support along the route. Often a group of cyclists will travel this way. They will get a non-biking friend or spouse to travel with the group by car, transporting the luggage and providing emergency sag support. Many state tours use this type of tour. On large ones, such as Bike Virginia, a tractor trailer truck transports all of the luggage and camping supplies for the riders. Vehicles drive the course to provide sag support and there are designated rest stops along the route for water and food. Many European tour companies often partially supported tours that fall in this catergory.
Fully Supported - This is the type of tour offered by many touring companies. The luggage is transported by the tour company to the destination each day. The rider is also supported along the way with either a van riding along the route, a guide riding with the tourists or usually both. The guides do all repairs. There are designated rest stops but the van will pick up the rider at any point along the way for any reason. This is the type of tour offered by companies such as Backroads and Vermont Bike Tours.
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Topics: Touring |