Cycling Adventures
Wheel Life column - November 25, 2000
by Todd Litman and Suzanne Kort - Victoria Transport Policy Institute

Our wonderful dental hygienist, Nancy, has become an avid bicycle commuter. She's planning to cycle tour in Europe with some of the money she's saving on car expenses. The other day, between flossing and polishing, she asked how to start planning such an adventure. Here are our suggestions.

There are many ways to bicycle tour, ranging from just-follow-your-nose to totally-planned-and-catered-by-professionals, and various permutations in between. Regardless of what style you use, you'll find bicycle touring a great way to explore a new area and meet people along the way.

Get advice from friends and travel writers familiar with the area you plan to explore. It helps to know the local language and customs if you plan to cycle someplace exotic, but communication isn't a problem in most of Europe, North America, New Zealand or Australia.

You can simply arrive in the region, find a good map that shows backroads, and ask locals for suggestions of a good cycling route and places to stay. Be prepared to camp out, and to always carry a day's worth of food, in case you can't find an open restaurant or store. This spontaneous approach will probably get you into some interesting situations (like the day you get totally lost, or the night you slept in a graveyard), which will make good stories to tell on your return.

You can also use Internet searches and tourist agencies to obtain information on places to stay and things to do. If you are not prepared to camp, you'll want to make reservations at hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, which means having a route plan and itinerary.

If you want more support you can join one of the many guided cycling tours that are available. These range from low-cost group cycle camping trips led by volunteers, to fully-supported and highly pampered commercial tours. The level of physical challenge also varies. Some involve less than fifty kilometres a day on level ground, with plenty of stops along the way, while others are designed for maximum daily mileage. Most organized tours provide a support vehicle to carry your gear, and carry you if the riding becomes too difficult.

If you can't wait until next cycling season, there are plenty of places to enjoy a warm cycle adventure during our winter months, including New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, Africa and Central America.

A good source of information is the Adventure Cycling Association (www.adv-cycling.org), which publishes route guides for North America tours. www.bicycleweb.com lists dozens of organized bike tours. Here are examples to give an idea of what sorts of trips are available: Travel with Flair (www.interlog.com/~twf) - a Canadian company that offers bicycle tours in Italy (Tuscany and Umbria), Greece, Portugal, Tunisia and Spain. Adventure South New Zealand Mountain Bike Tours (www.advsouth.co.nz) - Small group bicycling tours exploring the quiet backroads of New Zealand. Bicycle Africa Tours (www.ibike.org) - Two and four-week cross-cultural bike tours to all regions of Africa for normal inquisitive active people.

You don't need to travel far to enjoy fantastic bicycle touring. Today's recommended cycling route is a lovely ride we enjoyed recently on one of the GVCC's regular sport ride. These pleasant rides leave 10:00 am every Sunday morning from the Cook Street Village Moka House. Highlights on this ride include Humpback Road along the old reservoir, and if you go soon, a chance to watch the salmon run at Goldstream Park.