Top 10 Tips For Cycling Tours & Holidays

Top 10 tips for cycling tours. More and more of us are now looking to take our cycling experience with us when we travel, but making the progression from commuting and riding around your hometown on a Sunday to a week or more's touring abroad by bike can seem like a big step. Will you be fit enough? How will you get your bike there? What kit will you need? Here are GCN's top 10 tips for cycle touring. Wash bag. After an enjoyable, or hard, day in the saddle, you'll need to wash your kit every day. Make sure you use a string wash bag to put your kit inside. This will keep your prized possessions together when washed, so they don't get mixed up with everybody else's. Bike box. We have several videos showing you how to pack your bike. Whether you're travelling by train, plane or automobile, you'll need to transport your bike safely, and a bike box or bag, or even a cardboard box, is perfect for this. Don't pack your bike shoes and pedals in your bike bag or box. You can hire a bike if it goes missing in transit, but to replace your shoes is a different matter altogether. Cycle luggage. As well as transporting your bike correctly, GCN uses dedicated bike luggage while travelling. It can be easier to transport your riding kit, tools, helmets and essentials using luggage tailored for cycling. Tour operators offering guided trips will use a grading system from beginner to intermediate to challenging, and this is a good indicator of what level of fitness you'll need before you go on that particular trip. If you're cycling on a group trip, there will likely be a support vehicle that can scoop you up if you need it. People don't sign up with the intention of spending time in a van, but it's comforting to know it's there. In practice, most travellers start off nervous or worried, but then surprise themselves. For instance, many don't notice the distances they're covering. When you cycle at home, you go out for an hour or two and then stop. When you're riding on a trip, you have the whole day to do the same distance. It's not just riding from A to B, there's lots of places to visit en route. Whether it's for lunch, a good photo opportunity, to sightsee, if you cut a 50km day down into shorter rides, suddenly it's not so hard. If you're heading off on an independent cycle trip, this won't be a problem. You can go at your own pace. Just don't be over-ambitious with your distances when you're planning your itinerary. If travelling on a group tour, there will naturally be cyclists of different levels. You'll usually find someone who is of a similar speed to you, and there are often two guides – one at the front and another at the back, or in the support vehicle, who'll help you out if there are any problems. At the end of the day, it's not a race or a training camp. If you go too fast, then you miss the highlights and sights en route. It's about taking your time and enjoying it. If you're an experienced cyclist going on a harder grade trip over more technical terrain, you're more likely to want to take a bike that you're familiar with. Most airlines will charge for transporting bikes, a service you must pre-book. Before travel, you'll need to package your bike properly, which means dismantling it. You can get a company to do this for you, but bear in mind you'll need to be able to rebuild it yourself at the other end. Remember that you will be responsible for any problems with it. Take a basic tool and repair kit, including spear inner tubes, in case you get a puncture. Hiring a bike is the easier option, involving no excess baggage charges or reassembly. Also if something goes wrong with the bike, it will be replaced or repaired by the hire company. Bike hire and fit is often included in an organised tour. Any dietary requirements, anything you can't get at home, take your own food with you. Take specific spares for your bike, the kind of spares you couldn't possibly buy along your route or destination. For example, a rear mech hanger. Brucie bonus number 11, customs and laws. Know the country's laws and customs before you head out on your trip.