Five myths about bike tours
Thinking of taking an organized bike trip this summer or fall? There are dozens of tour companies out there, at a variety of price points, ready to take you to Croatia, Cuba or California on two wheels. But how about fitness, distance and bringing your family along? Here are five myths about bike tours.
1. Bike trips are only for hardcore riders.
Sure, there are companies that are geared to hardcore bike riders. But they’re in the minority. The vast majority of bike touring companies offer a range of tours for riders of varying abilities. These are active trips, but the idea is to use the bike as a way to see the destination from a different vantage point.
That’s the approach pioneered by a Toronto-based company, Butterfield & Robinson (B&R), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Company president and CEO Norm Howe says that “I like to think that the biking is really just an elaborate excuse to allow our travelers to sit down to enjoy the delights of the dinner table with a clear conscience, feeling virtuous for having earned their desserts ... for B&R, the bike is really just a catalyst to deliver our travelers into the middle of a foreign landscape, to immerse them in the sensory richness of a region, to help them slow down and savor local life.”
That said, there is a practical side to how these trips are put together. Trish Sare of the Vancouver-based Bike Hike Adventures says that “a company should also classify the rating of the biking trip for you. Our trips are rated easy, moderate, challenging or strenuous. This makes it easier to select a trip that matches your interests and abilities.”
2. I’m not that fit, I can’t ride 30 or 40 miles a day.
“It's a vacation, not a race,” says Andy Levine of DuVine Cycling + Adventure Co, a luxury bike tour operator based in Boston. “We have trained, experienced guides, e-bikes and full van support available throughout the trip. Some people might be able to ride 30 miles and others might do less. But everyone always seems to make it to lunch at the same time.”
B&R takes a similar approach, says Howe. “As long as you know how to ride a bike and can walk up and down the stairs and enjoy a casual stroll or an occasional game of tennis, you should be fit enough to enjoy a bike trip.”
B&R has trips designed for more serious bikers, but most trips average “a leisurely 25-30 miles per day, and if that’s too intimidating, we have pedal assist e-bikes available. We make sure to plan our rides with plenty of breaks along the way,” such as photo ops and wine tastings. Plus, “There’s also always a van driven by one of our guides sweeping the bike route and giving the occasional lift up any hills that look too steep.”
It also goes back to taking the company’s advice and letting them help you choose the proper level tour. Levine of DuVine says that “We offer training guides in advance of your trip, so that guests know the level of activity they should do to be ideally prepared for a trip. It might be going to a spinning class once a week for a month.”
3. I would love to do a bike trip with my family, but that doesn’t make sense since we ride at different speeds and levels.
It’s not as big an issue as you might think. Riders on most bike tours are spread out, or ride in very small clusters, meeting up at lunch or at day’s end.
Howe of B& R says “Most kids can start to enjoy the riding from the age of eight and up. We believe in designing bike trips that allow everyone to go at their own pace and to cover their own distance. We almost never bike as a group. People have their own bikes and their own route instructions, either with a GPS or a hard copy. Really young kids can get pulled behind their parent. I dragged my two-year-old daughter Grace all over Tuscany.”
On the other hand, who said that you have to bike all day?
“Our most popular option is to plan a family itinerary that includes some biking but also includes other activities that appeal to everyone’s abilities,” says Sare of Bike Hike Adventures. “There are so many family-friendly activities available in destinations such as Costa Rica, from hiking or zip-lining to whitewater rafting."
4. I’m too old for a bike tour, it’s really aimed at active younger travelers.
Actually, most 20- and 30-year-olds aren’t that interested in bike tours because they’d rather save the money and put a trip together on their own.
“We see more riders in their 40s, 50s and even 60s rather than in their 20s and 30s,” says Sare of Bike Hike Adventures.
B&R trips tend to skew older, Norm Howe says, noting that “The age range is from the early 40s to 60s, but with outliers on both ends. We have riders stretching into their 80s, and the pedal assist e-bikes have added another 10 years to the bike trip careers of those who knees or lungs or other body parts were leading them to retire the concept.”
5. The cost of a bike trip is prohibitive.
They can be expensive, but they needn’t be prohibitive. The least expensive options are from tour operators who offer self-guided trips, when only the route and accommodation is included.
“These trips are bare-bones and would only be recommended for the most confident, independent and savvy cyclists,” says Sare of Bike Hike Adventures. “Fully organized biking tours vary widely too, and there is usually one to match any budget. There are operators specializing in everything from budget biking tours to luxury biking tours and everything in between. When looking at the pricing of a fully organized biking trip, it also important to keep in mind how many intangibles are included. Local knowledge provided by your local biking guide is priceless as is the access to the lesser known, off-the-beaten-track places.”
The more important question might be whether you are getting value for your money.
“You're creating memories of a lifetime," says Levine of DuVine. “People still rave about the picnic in the Tuscany countryside that they had five years ago but they don't remember the lunch they had yesterday.”