Create The Perfect Cycling Get Away
The experience of touring is unbelievably breathtaking when you’re traveling on two wheels, you feel so alive while taking in the atmosphere and culture of where ever you might be.
You create feelings and memories that last a lifetime.
I’ve been on cycle trips all over the world either by myself or with my friends or family and I cherish these memories, if I close my eyes I can still feel the excitement of each incredible moment.
Nothing quite beats arriving at your desired location after hours of pedal power and taking in the sights and sounds on your route through a new destination.
How to begin a trip
The most important part of creating a cycle holiday in my opinion is to bear in mind that you’re doing it for enjoyment, usually as a holiday so if ever it feels like things are affecting you negatively, take a step back, smile, breathe and remember it’s for fun.
Obviously creating some type of plan will give you more control on the outcome of the trip and you could even create possible back up plans for unforeseen circumstances.
I would suggest the minimum planning should be; knowing where you are going, when you will be coming back and also knowing that the bike and kit you have with you is safe to use.
Start with a simple trip as your first cycle holiday so that you can learn from yourself, what you enjoy, what you planned well and what you could improve upon for your next trip.
Everyone is different and will want and need different experiences so for example some people may want to make their trip into a super hard challenge in that each day is a long hilly cycle ride starting early in the morning and finishing late in the evening whereas some people may wish to do small distance rides with a day or two rest in between riding so they can recover and check out the local area.
The planning of your trip
Create your start and finish points. It is best to use a map so that you can be sure that, firstly, there are routes that you can take from point A to B and secondly that those routes are suitable for bikes. If you struggle with map reading then there are some great apps and websites out there (such a strava and mapmyride) for cyclists to create and check possible routes plus if you have a bike computer with built in mapping then you can send these routes to it to make navigation during your trip really simple.
Work out what type of travel you may need to get to your start point, for example I live in the UK so to get to any country other than the UK is not possible without transport to start me off as the UK is surrounded by water. So unless my trip is planned through my own country, I usually take a ferry, train or plane with my bike to my start point and I end at a point that I can get back to the UK with my bike.
All the above modes of transport currently accept bikes as luggage, however I recommend trying to avoid flying, not only because flying is one of the least environmentally friendly modes of transport but also you will need to store your bike safely for the travel which means you usually end up needing to store your bike box upon arrival meaning that you will need to travel back from the same airport that you’ve stored your bike box near.
Most ferry’s accept people with bikes as foot passengers meaning you won’t usually pay any extra for your bike to be on board with you and ferry travel can be extremely cheap.
With hotels or campsites, you can either book them in advance of your trip or you can book them during your trip depending on if you want to have more freedom with where you stay. Both variations have pros and cons. Once you have done one or more trips then you can explore these different options a little further.
For your first trip I would recommend having hotels booked in advance and keeping the distances between each hotel sensible that you can realistically cycle.
When you book in advance, you can find super cheap hotels keeping the cost of the trip down and you can plan the entire trip from start to finish knowing exactly where you will be going each day. Plus if you really want to, you can even look for places to see, eat at and drink at along the route as well as visit near your hotel.
Most hotels in Europe that I have stayed in allow you to take your bike into your room which is nice as you know that it is safe and you can easier prep it for the next ride however please be respectful with this and do not drag filthy bikes through hotels, if your bike gets dirty then lock it up safely outside.
Your kit
The biggest tip I can give you here is to travel light and service your bike before you leave.
You will be carrying your luggage with you so make sure it is within a very comfortable backpack or better still get some bike panniers or a large seat attaching bag and keep the weight minimal. Also make sure you have your luggage in water proofed bags as there is nothing worse than being rained on and having nothing dry to change into.
Think twice if it is essential before packing your kit. You can always buy things on route that you may suddenly require but you can’t leave things or throw things away that you’ve over packed.
The best kit I recommend is to have spare cycle clothes with possible warmer items in case the weather changes. A change of clothes for the evenings that is lightweight and can be worn each evening as it shouldn’t get dirty just popping out for dinner or taking a wander through the town/village. Bike repair essentials like spare inner tubes, spare chain links, spare brake pads and tools to fix these usual bike problems (don’t bring your entire toolbox). Plus nutritious and energising food items that are small that can be eaten during the ride in case you can’t find somewhere to purchase any.
Enjoy the holiday
Hopefully by now you are buzzing to try out a cycle trip. If you can cycle then you should attempt to do at least one cycle trip in your lifetime. Give it a go. To travel on holiday and tour by bike is one of the most amazing things you can do on a bike, you will experience breathtaking scenery, the true sound of nature and the vibrant city thrills along the way.
If you travel with friends or family then you get to share these incredible experiences and each of these moments create exciting stories that you can share for a lifetime.
