Cyclist0812

Greetings everyone. I'm looking to do some bike touring in February and wondering where people would suggest looking. Ive never done any touring but am a cyclist and am very interested in trying it. Without the experience and looking to do it internationally I'm looking for a reputable guide that offers multiday trips in the 2-3 week range but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I don't want any luxury vacation style tour, but something that allows me to feel the culture and environment im traveling in instead of traveling through it to the next 4 star hotel.

Ive heard Thailand would be a good choice for the time of year and what it has to offer. Anybody have any suggestions? Thanks.

Machka 

How inexpensive? For example, what are you thinking for airline costs?

Newspaperguy

Where do you live? How far are you willing to fly? Do you speak languages other than English?

Chris Pringle

There are so many places. The airline fares kill it for a lot of people when going across the ocean. Yes, Southeast Asia, esp. Thailand and Laos are great destinations. Most parts of Latin America are also good in February: Mexico, Costa Rica/Panama, Ecuador. You should be able to find guided tours at reasonable prices in all of these countries.

Cyclist0812

I would be flying out of San Francisco, CA. Willing to fly as far as I need to explore an amazing part of the world. I haven't narrowed down my budget 100% yet because I'm not sure where I'll end up monetary wise in a couple months. I'm thinking roughly $4,000 budget if that's doable for a trip like this. I speak some Spanish, ( I traveled Peru for 2 1/2 months) but no other languages. I remember the airfare for that trip was also the biggest expense. Appreciate the responses so far!

Machka 

Here's a starting point ... open up the websites for a few airlines, check their policies on bicycles (most US airlines charge quite a bit, so you might want to try a few others), and then do some checking to see how much it might cost to fly to various places.

Depending on where you want to go, you could end up spending half that $4000 budget just on air travel, so that factor might narrow your choices.

Newspaperguy

If you speak Spanish, Central America and South America have opened up for you. Costa Rica is a beautiful country and quite friendly. I was there a couple of years ago. People say the drivers are crazy there, but I had no bad experiences. I'd like to see more of that part of the world. Panama is supposed to be quite a safe place to visit.

One other suggestion which would save you considerably is to try a tour in California. For a first tour, your own state has the advantage of familiarity, just in case something goes horribly wrong along the way. Last year, at the end of January and beginning of February, I cycled from San Francisco to San Diego, partly on the coastal highway and partly on and around US 101. I had one rainy day and one windy day the whole time. For me, as a Canadian, it was a wonderful international experience, but for someone who lives in that part of the U.S., I can see where they would want a change of scenery and a new experience.

saddlesores

you'll get a lot further if you DIY instead of depending on a guided tour.
no reason you can't do it if you research properly, and do a couple 2-3
day tours in your local area.

if you can get to singapore, then you have plenty of budget carriers that
offer cheap flights to thailand, cambodia, vietnam, laos, indonesia, etc.

many routes suitable for first-time tours, with inexpensive accommodations
located at decent intervals. no need to carry tent or cooking gear. your
daily budget should be under $25. (whereas a guided tour could cost you
$100/day)

Newspaperguy

I second the idea of a solo, self-supported tour. You can move at your own pace, whether faster or slower than the group's pace. And you can stop anywhere along the way if you see something interesting or make a diversion if you have the urge to do so.

djb

I would suggest taking a peek at the Velo Quebec website. They offer all kinds of supported trips here and there, some during the winter, there might be some of interest.

axolotl

Northern Thailand is indeed a great place to tour from Dec. to Feb. because of the cooler temperatures and drier weather compared to the rest of the year, as well as the rest of Thailand. It's a pretty region with some diverse places to visit. I went north from Chiang Mai along the borders of Burma and Laos, then back to Chiang Mai. Thailand is as easy a country to tour in as in western developed countries. In some ways it's easier because as someone else said, you can leave camping gear and cooking equipment at home. There are plenty of guesthouses geared toward foreign tourists, and delicious food is available everywhere. Bottled water is readily available, even in small villages. Costs are unbelievably cheap for the generally high quality of both food & lodging. On my first tour there, outside of Bangkok I was paying between US$4 - $10 for a room each night with a private bathroom with a hot water shower. The US dollar has dropped 25% since then, but I was back about 4 years ago and prices were higher but still very cheap. Roads are fairly good, and the Thai people are friendly and welcoming. I realize that it may seem daunting to head off to Thailand by yourself for your first bike tour, but since you've traveled to Peru already, I suspect that you would be fine. You can usually get reasonable fares from the US to Bangkok, though flying into Chiang Mai would be even better. There is also train service between Bangkok & Chiang Mai, and you can take a bike easily.

Northern Laos is also a great place for touring in the winter months, but it's somewhat more challenging. Accommodations are often more rustic, food more basic, and the language barrier is even greater.

If you really want to go on an organized tour, perhaps seek an outfit based outside of the US. US tour outfitters seem to typically provide luxuries at premium prices, and US liability insurance may be a major contributor to higher tour prices as well. You can travel on your own in Thailand for a fraction of what a tour operator will charge, however, and you will still be living quite well.

Cyclist0812

First, thanks for all the well thought out responses, they've been great!

I definitely agree that a DIY unsupported tour would be better than one with a guide. Its always a pain traveling in a group and the freedom of doing exactly what I want at the time is great. I'm looking for a guided tour because I don't want to deal with shipping a bike and watching over it the entire time traveling. I might like to travel longer after the bike portion and maybe hike somewhere etc. So not having to lug around a bike would be ideal. If there was a way to rent a bike to tour on for cheap then that would be a viable option too.

I thought about touring my state California, but February is one of the wettest months of the year and didn't think it would be too fun constantly battling with the elements. Whats it like touring in the rain? I do some day want to ride from north to south border to border but ideally that would be in good weather.

Newspaperguy

If you'd like to go to Thailand for bike touring without bringing a bike, look at Velo Thailand. The company rents bikes at a reasonable rate. For two weeks, you'd pay around $114. There are going to be other bike rental places, so look around and see what you find. When you're not riding, keep the bike stored in your hotel room.

valygrl

You need to go to New Zealand. South Island.
Guidebook: https://www.paradise-press.co.nz/ppguides.html
Flight: expensive but worth it
Timing: February is good. I went Feb-April and had mostly good weather (other than wind, which you just can't get away from).
People: Friendly!
Services: towns are close together, food is good, water is clean, roads are reasonable. Many towns have "holiday parks" (=campgrounds) which may have indoor accommodations as well, like a cabin or bunkhouse. Holiday Parks have kitchens, almost universally, so you don't have to carry much cooking gear. Towns that don't have a holiday park may have a pub that rents rooms, and of course more traditional hotels.
Scenery: insane!
Hiking opportunities: world class, there are a bunch of "tramps" that get booked up months/years in advance, but I bet with some research you can find something. There are guide services and huts for some of these, that you are required to use, and I bet it would be easy to arrange transport of your bike (or you).
Other services - lots of hostels ("backpackers"), tourist bus services that can take you and your bike between towns if you want to take a quick hop by car.

BlueShoe

Valygrl:

Can you recommend a bike tour company for New Zealand?

valygrl

No, I went solo/self supported, but I saw people with tour companies, I know they have them there.

Niles H.

February is dry, sunny, insect-free, and beautiful in many parts of California. Not in SF, not along the North Coast, but in many other areas beautiful weather predominates.

None of the other destinations has perfect weather.

The American West has it all. New Zealand has nothing over California. Quite the opposite. We are often lured away by various influences who want us to believe that we have to go far away to find something -- something exceptionally beautiful or exotic. It's all right here.

This guy, Dennis Coello, is right on about this. I've gone through the same sequence myself -- traveling all over the world for years just to realize what we have right here.

This is a great book on touring,

https://www.amazon.com/Touring-Two-Wh...coello+touring

You can find copies in good condition or better for a song at amazon.com

Unless you want a first edition paperback, in which case it will be a bit more:

https://www.amazon.com/Touring-Two-Wh...coello+touring

Coello has a number of other books that might also be of interest,

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...coello+touring

He has a good philosophy of preparing for touring: "Be ready for anything, and enjoy it all."

If you spend just some of the money (the money that would otherwise go to the airlines) on some smart touring gear for additional conditions, it will open up new ranges -- a lot of new territory and seasons for you. And this gear can be used for many tours (unlike airline tickets and the money they take, which are pretty much gone into the ether at the end of their brief use). You can tour comfortably and well in colder temps and in snow, for example -- and there is a lot of beauty out there in February. And few crowds.

Over 99% of bike tourists who "do" or "see" or "tour" California, really only see less than 1% of what it has to offer. Even people who live here rarely see some of the best that is here.

Check out CGOAB for what it's like touring the Carizzo Plain area, for example. There are ancient archeological sites. There is some of the most interesting earthquake- and fault-related geology there. And only nine inches of rain per year on average, along with unusually high numbers of clear, sunny days.

There are many other great areas to see in California and the Southwest, areas not often seen by bike tourists.

That said, it's certainly up to you how you want to approach all this. My recommendation would be to at least consider and check out the above sorts of possibilities.

Then if you decide on Tasmania or some other far-flung, expensive simulacrum of California and the West, or other alternatives to California and the West, you'll at least know more about the possibilities and realities, and what relative value you are getting for your money, time, and effort; and you'll have a better sense of what is here, and what you can do here; and you'll be making more informed decisions.

fietsbob

If you can afford to get there and you can keep your daily cost of living down..

I found it cost less touring and camping than keeping up rent , utilities and all that
staying in an expensive college town.

Newspaperguy

Last winter, I was touring in California and the San Francisco weather was beautiful. In fact, the only rainy day I had was around Santa Barbara. In San Diego, it was cool and overcast. Anything can happen.

For this winter, I'm planning another bike trip in California, but seeing other parts of the state. Yes, I know rain is possible and in one area, it's possible although unlikely that I'll encounter snow. I can prepare for such conditions. Whatever happens, I'll have a wonderful time. And if I wish to come back to your state in the future, I can find plenty of other areas to explore.

Niles H.

Yes, San Francisco can also get some good weather. I didn't mean to imply otherwise, just to say that it is not as likely as in some other parts of the state. The Bay Area can have beautiful, springlike weather in February. Even plenty of it. But it can also get some storms; and the likelihood of fine weather is higher (or even higher, might be a better way of saying it) in other parts of the state. And SF is not as warm as many other areas, even in the Bay Area.

It really does amaze me how little of this state most people experience, and it's one of the most beautiful and diverse areas in the world.

The area along the Eastern Sierras is way underappreciated and mostly unseen by tourists, along with many other parts of this very large state.

DropBarFan

Last year I was at Chinese Embassy in DC picking up visas for some friends & met a fellow biker in line who was arranging his third trip to China, IIRC he liked touring in the southeast. dunno if he went during winter but AFAIK it's not real cold then. He didn't seem to know much Chinese & had an old 70's Falcon/Eddy Merckx bike. I guess now with so many tourists in China language & accomodations are not a huge obstacle. Well the non-biker friends went to northern China (winter), traveled by train & auto, & loved it. They took videos of the modern trains, vast #'s of high-rise apartment buildings etc, really impressive.

Rowan

So where did Tasmania come into this? It hasn't been any part of this discussion.

Rowan

What I would do is consider the things interest me (natural history, cultural history, scenic values, things to do), make a list and the places they occur, look up the airfares there, then do a google search on bicycle tour packages involved those countries.

Backroads is, as far as I know, a prominent bicycle tour operator in North America, and should have connections internationally. An email to them listing your interests might elicit some information that may assist you in making a decision.

We stopped off to see nancy-sv, who has posted extensively on these forums about her family's bike tour from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. She was particularly enthusiastic about Colombia as a cycle touring destination. So much so, that she aroused our curiosity about it for future tours we might plan.

Colombia is quite well known for its bicycling, and that was confirmed by nancy-sv. So you might consider that country as a convenient, nearby, cost-effective destination. Google search for Colombia bicycle tours and you might turn up what you want. Just a suggestion.

djb

I took it as just a name of a country to compare flying somewhere far away with an expensive flight.
As he stated in his well thought out California promo, its up to the individual to balance the cost of a ticket vs exploring closer areas and putting that money into whatever.
I must admit, part of the fun of going to a far off place is exactly that, its far off and most likely very diff from what you know.

Rowan

Tasmania is not a country. I am not denying that it and the country to which it is attached are expensive holiday destinations right now because the American dollar is so weak against its currency.

No, I am fascinated why the poster in this case should interpolate Tasmania into the thread when it wasn't mentioned. And neither was the country in which it is located.