Bike Tours for Beginners

[withm]

check out Vermont Bike Tours. They are located in Vermont but run tours all over the world. I am going to Belgium & Holland with them in the fall. I have several friends that say their trips are fantastic. If you send for the catalog and DVD you will be may be hooked as quickly as I was.

http://www.vbt.com/

No affiliation, and can't wait for my trip to start.

Martha

[DeniseGoldberg]

...Since I am going to have to save $ for my little bike tour treat, I am probably looking at the September time frame. So, please keep the suggestions coming. And if you do a great ride in the Spring/Summer, please let me know! Anywhere in the US (minus Alaska/Hawaii) would be interesting.

I wasn't going to jump in here since my experience with supported tours was a long time ago - I switched to solo self-supported tours back in 1998, and I haven't looked back yet (although I don't rule out going on a supported tour again someday to allow me to ride somewhere that I am not yet comfortable on my own). But - I suspect that some of my thoughts may be useful as you attempt to choose your own first tour. It's quite possible that you've already thought of all of the questions, but just in case - here goes.

There are a lot of touring companies, both here in the US, and world-wide. And as you would probably guess, they are at all levels from a standpoint of price, the quality of their trips, the type of support that they offer, the places they visit, the miles available to ride, available activities in addition to biking.

First, decide on what is most important to you. Do you want to ride all day? Do you want to add in some hiking? Museum visits? Will you be happy if the riding distance is less than your daily target?

My usual purpose in going on a 1 or 2-week bike trip is to bike. Occasionally I want to add in some hiking, or I want to visit a special place in the area where I am touring. That's not true of everyone though; some folks would prefer to bike for part of the day and visit museums for part of the day. You need to decide what's most important for your happiness.

But - even though I say I want to spend most of every day biking, there are exceptions to that rule. Many years ago I went on a Backroads trip to Bryce, Zion, and the Grand Canyon. It was a 9-day trip with long biking mileage, but we had a day off in each of the 3 parks to go hiking. It was a fabulous trip.

Is there an area of the country that particularly interests you? You specifically asked about continental US - but without going to far afield, you could also find some interesting tours in Canada.

Ask for a detailed itinerary; do not rely solely on the description in the catalog or the web site. The detailed itinerary should include information (by day) on how many miles you can bike, and what other activities / sights are available.

Ask about the type of support that is available. Maybe you'll decide to take a trip with longer than your normal biking mileage each day - and you'd like the option of jumping in to the van rather than riding the full distance. Maybe you've decided to visit a hilly area and you'd like a lift up some of the hills. Maybe you've decided to take a tour of California wine country - if you decide to buy wine at some of the wineries you ride by, will the touring company pick it up for you and transport it to your home for the night?

Do you want to stay in luxury hotels? B&Bs? Camp?

Ask for references - especially for the tour that you've decided you want to take. As a solo woman, ask for references from other solo travelers. Assume that the touring company will only give you good references - so post a question on this forum too. It's quite possible that another forum member will have traveled with the touring company (if not on the same trip).

You're looking at traveling in September. That can be a fabulous month for a tour, but if you're looking at a date late in the month you can also run into weather issues depending on what area of the country you decide to visit. That's not to say that September is a bad month for touring - it's not. Just be prepared for whatever the weather wizards decide to throw at you.

Remember that someone else's definition of flat can be your hilly. As bcipam mentioned, the perception of hills in different parts of the country can be very different. In my experience, the hills in the northeast US tend to be short and steep, while the hills in the western states can be very very long (but perhaps not as steep for the full distance).

As you look at the cost of the tour, also look at whether the cost includes a rental bike or if that is an extra cost. Companies like Backroads and Trek Travel include a bike in the cost of the trip; for other companies renting a bike is extra.

Have fun planning and taking your trip! And be sure to tell us what trip you decide to take; I'd love to see a trip report too (at any level, you can see some examples in the Adventure Stories section).

--- Denise

[Kathi]

TRIRI, Tour of Rural Indiana, was my first tour. It's a tour of Indiana State Parks. They do a summer tour and a fall tour. Depending on the park you have a choice of camping or staying in one of the state park lodges. One of the things I like is they serve you breakfast and dinner.

The fall tour goes to parks that have lodging so if you prefer to stay in a state park lodge you have that option.

There can be some long days, you can't move the parks, and Indiana is hilly. Short hills but lots of them. Northern Indiana is a lot flatter than southeast and southern Indiana.

The organizers are sponsored through Bloomington Cycle Club and they are great. I've done 4 summer tours and 1 fall tour.

If possible the organizers arrange little side tours. One year we went to an old car museum another timewe went to a cat (tigers, lions, etc.) rescue center. They make a point of pointing out local things of interest. In southern Indiana we rode a train, with our bikes, to cut out the worst of the hills.

So far it's been the best organized and friendlest tour I've done.

Fall TRIRI is in Sept.