What kind of bike tour fits your character the most?

Depending on your own character it’s always easier to choose the best bike tour for yourself. The three most important things you have to consider when planning your bike tour are your fitness level, your experience with cycling and your experience with bike tours. One additional important thing is the group of people you bike with.

In case you don’t have any experience with cycling or bike touring, we suggest to pick a day trip for the first time. Either it is a half day (3-4 hours) or a full day (6-8 hours) tour you still need a certain fitness level to avoid struggling on the bike. If you do any kind of sports at least three times a week, you shouldn’t have any problem completing a day trip on a bike. 

BUT

If you don’t have time to do so much training during your everyday life, don’t close this window right now, because there is a solution for you. In this case we suggest to use a pedelec (pedal electric) bike for your tour. Pedelec bikes or e-bikes are equipped with an electric support system and they make biking easier for everyone. The big advantage of riding a pedelec is that you will easily keep up with stronger riders and you won’t get tired so fast. Our experience is that people who don’t do regular exercises get tired on a conventional bike after riding 15-20 kilometers (10-12 miles). Same people on an ebike can easily ride up to 60 kilometers (40 miles) a day. Later in this email you will see what kind of different e-bikes exist.

If your fitness level is good enough for a day trip and you already have good experiences with cycling - e.g. you bike to work or bike with your friends/kids sometimes - either a day trip or a bike weekend can be a good choice for you. During a bike weekend you can already experience the difference between day trips and multiday bike tours. So, if you complete a bike weekend without big issues, the next step can be a bike holiday for you.

Bike holidays are suggested for people who already have some experience with bike tours, they have a good fitness level and have at least basic bike skills. If any of these three things is missing, you better choose a bike weekend or a day trip to avoid bad experiences and disappointment.

One additional thing you always have to think about is the group of people you are cycling with. Since you probably want to stay together and enjoy your time during the whole bike tour, it’s important to choose a tour type that is suitable for everyone. Don’t forget, children, elderly people and people with lower fitness level might not be able to complete large distances or they won’t feel comfortable to sit back on bike day after day.

If you travel alone, you don’t have to be aware of the skills and endurance of others, but in this case you might be aware of many other things. We will get back to this in another blog post. Thank you for taking your time to read this blog. If you would like to read the next one about how to define your travel budget, click here.