Bike Vacations

Bike Vacations - Beginner's Guide For Success

Imagine a vacation that offers all of this: leisurely rides off the beaten path, stirring vistas, low impact workouts, guilt-free dining, new friends, and an affordable price tag.. If you're tired of the usual drive, eat, hotel, tourist-trap vacation; a biking vacation is worth checking out. And the best part is that you can be a Sunday bike rider and still have plenty of fun.

Recently I took my first-ever bike vacation. Here's what I learned.

Vacation Packages Most every vacation package includes pre-arranged, overnight stays at hotels and B&B's, full or continental breakfasts; and luggage transfer - generally on local buses, taxis or support van. Each day you are expected to ride between 30 to 50 miles to your next overnight accommodation. Most packages are either five day or seven days in total length, but you won't be riding everyday. Actual riding days for a five day vacation will be three days, and for the seven day vacation you can expect to ride five days. Non-ride days provide an opportunity to relax and take in the sights.

Supported versus Unsupported You can choose between supported which means you have a driver and van following you or unsupported where you are on your own. While unsupported can be cheaper, I'd recommend the supported option for the beginner. If the weather turns frightful or you get fatigued, it's nice to have a lift nearby. I had the cell phone number for our van driver, so I knew help was just a phone call away. Also, on my trip a couple of riders collided with one other and needed medical attention, another plus for the supported option. Often the driver will serve as your guide and can direct you toward choice local restaurants and activities.

Daily Ride Length As a beginner, I'd recommend the shorter 30 to 35 miles a day option. This translates into four hours of moderate to slow riding. You can enjoy a full breakfast, ride for two hours, have a light lunch and arrive at your destination by three in the afternoon. You'll have plenty of time to stop along the way and enjoy the sights.

Dress and Climate Spend some time preparing for the climate and weather. If you're going to a cool, wet climate invest in rain gear and bring lots of layers. For warmer climates, think clothes you can sweat in and stay comfortable - loose, breathable fabrics.. Sun screen is a must no matter where you go. Your bike will typically be outfitted with saddle bags or panniers. You can use these for extra clothes you may need during your ride - don't skimp here - the weather can change quickly and you'll want extra clothes close at hand. In wetter climates, stuff your clothes into large plastic bags to keep them dry; your panniers may not be waterproof.

Terrain and Riding Surface For the beginner, long flat runs and gently rolling hills will be your best choice. Avoid mountainous venues and dirt roads for your first trip. Likewise; try to avoid busy city streets, the traffic can be worse than a steep mountain climb.

Training Here's the best part. You can enjoy a bike vacation with surprisingly little training. Most of the others on my tour had never biked more than a few miles at any one time. One person only trained on a gym bike, and while I wouldn't recommend this strategy, she made it just fine. Optimally, I'd recommend riding five miles on streets at least a couple of times a week. Try to start your training a month in advance of your trip.

Cushion Bring your own padded, bike seat cushion and wear padded bike shorts. These will make a huge difference in your comfort, especially if you haven't spent much time in the saddle.

Don't be afraid to try a bike vacation. Imagine cruising along a quiet county lane, unhurried and all under your own power. And for an added bonus, it's green!

By Wes Karchut - Wes has an extensive background in investing and finance. He is also an avid writer, mountain biker and hiker.

Good midwestern singletrack biking vacation destination?
Hello, A group of us are looking to take a mountain biking vacation next summer and we're just looking for some suggestions. We would like to do a week-long trip, with about 4 days of biking and the rest of the time available for driving. Now, economical times being what they are, we have some restrictions on where we can travel. As much as we would love to go to British Columbia or Moab, we will need to stick closer to our homes, which are in Wisconsin and Minnesota. So, does anyone have any good ideas of places to go biking (again, singletrack mtn. biking, please) in the central North America area? If you have a map of the continent in front of you, please imagine or actually do this: Put your pencil on Buffalo, NY, and draw a circle counter clockwise from Buffalo through Ontario, Manitoba, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, a bit of Oklahoma, northern Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, some of Pennsylvania, and back to Buffalo. It does not need to be a perfect circle. An oval would be acceptable as well. Do you know of any great places to spend 4 days mountain biking anywhere inside that circle/oval? We're looking for some challenging trails that are good for full-suspension bikes. Suggestions for lodging (vacation properties, interesting hostels, or camping preferred, no hotels please) and fun area nightlife or decent brewery tours in the area of the bike trails would also be welcome. Thanks everyone!

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Help with girl I am interested in?
Girl works at the same place I do. Whenever I talk to her she asks me what I am doing and stuff and suggests that we do some stuff together, like riding a bike. She bikes a lot but I only have a mountain bike. She would be like, "u should get a road bike, u can come biking with me". She will show biking vacations and stuff and tell me that I should consider going with her. She invited me to her house a couple of times earlier but I said I had stuff to do then. I started talking to her more recently though. I invited her and couple of our friends from work for dinner at my place and I think it went fine and afterwards she wanted me to come with her to some kind of dance party. I went with her and since I have been drinking a lot of wine, I wasn't in a position to dance and I came out and sat on a thing talking on the phone. She came out and I told the reason I was there. When we were driving back I told her that I was sorry, and she was like "there is nothing to be sorry for". When she dropped me we made plans for going to the dog park the next day. But her dog was injured and was not able to come. Monday was fine, and the coming weekend she was about to go for a bike race that she invited me and some of her friends to go a long time ago. I was thinking about it on wednesday and texted her that I might go with her. I talked to her about that the next day and she was not very enthusiastic about me coming since none of her friends were coming and I would be bored. She would be riding all day with a team and they have plans with the team. But she invited me to come hang out for a day though (instead of us going together for two days). She kind of looks standoffish and I don't know what I did wrong. Mayb I was extra nice to her. Please let me know. when I talk to her she talks normally, I think but not asking me to ride with her or other stuff like she used to be a week earlier. I can't explain her behaviour. Please look at my previous question about a conversation that happened yesterday. let me know how to reconnect with her, mayb I should tell her that I am buying a rod bike too, something like that. I know the description is long but I can't help it. Thanks for u'r inputs.

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Are there any good outdoor adventure vacations?
I am 18 right now and am going to turn 19 january 26th. I was wondering if there were any good group hiking or biking vacations that i could go on with a random group of people around my age? It can be in the U.S.A. or anywhere overseas.

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