Bicycle touring

Bicycle touring is a type of travel or leisure activity which involves touring, exploration or sightseeing a region by bicycle. Although some sporting events, like the Tour de France, are called "tours" true bicycle touring is non-competitive; it is done for enjoyment and travel rather than sport and, as such, is a little bit like backpacking with the use of a bicycle.

Why tour by bicycle?

Historically, bicycle touring offered one of the few low-cost means to explore a country. Today's cycle tourists maintain that the combination of human-scale speeds and being in the open air make cycle touring a pleasant way to immerse oneself in the culture of an area.

A bicycle tour can be anything from a day ride, to a ride over many days, weeks, months or even years: some people have ridden across continents, and some have ridden all throughout the world. An average person of reasonable fitness is able to comfortably ride (depending on terrain and weather) 30-80 miles (50-130 km) in a day.

Types of bike touring

There are many different types of bicycle touring:

Many cycle tourists who prefer to sleep in a bed and have a roof above their heads stay overnight in youth hostels, hotels, pensions or B&Bs with local cafes, restaurants or local markets providing food for these travellers. This sort of bicycle touring, often referred to as credit-card touring, is very common in Europe.
In loaded touring (also known as self-supported touring) bicycle travellers take all their needs with them which include food, cooking equipment, and a tent for camping during nights.
Expedition touring or fully-loaded touring is travelling extensively, often through developing nations or remote areas, with the bicycle fully-loaded with food, spares, repair tools, and camping equipment so that the travellers are largely self-supporting.
In supported touring a support vehicle is used to carry most of the rider's gear from one destination to the next. This can be organised by the cylists themselves or with commercial companies who offer guided bicycle tours: these include pre-booked and pre-paid lodging, luggage transfers, route planning and often some meals and rental bikes.

The touring bike

To go cycle touring you'll need to have a bike that can carry some luggage. Although many different bicycle types can be used, most cycle tourists prefer a special touring bikes which is built to carry larger amounts of gear and water, and can be ridden more comfortably over long distances. Typical characteristics of a touring bicycle are: a longer wheelbase for additional stability and heel clearance, frame fittings for front as well as rear carrier racks, water bottle mounts for three bottles, frame fittings for front and rear mud guards/fenders, a broader range of gearing for the increased weight of equipment and touring specific tires which are wider and more resistant to flats.

Travelogues

Many cycle tourists have published travelogues of their tours (either traditionally in books or magazines or on the Web) that are both entertaining and informative. Some notable examples are Thomas Stevens, Ken Kifer, Dervla Murphy, Josie Dew, Heinz Stücke, Alastair Humphreys, Janne Corax, Claude Marthaler and Ian Hibell.

Bike touring asscociations

Many associations for cyclists, such as the Cyclists' Touring Club in the UK and Adventure Cycling Association in the US, began as small touring clubs, organizing tours and accommodation. These clubs gradually evolved into advocacy bodies campaigning on behalf of cyclists.

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Why tour by bicycle?

Types of bike touring

The touring bike

Travelogues

Bike touring asscociations

See also