I have some time off this summer (few months) and would like to take a long cycling tour. Or perhaps a few shorter tours. I'm seeking some advice on destinations.

I would like to take a supported trip so I don't have to purchase adn carry a ton of equipment. Indoors would be preferable but not necessary. Pavement is a must.

I have road bike and have managed 150-200 km days at a pretty good clip. I don't mind several days of long distance cycling. Lord knows I stored enough "energy" for it this past winter

Where are some of the best fully supported tours based on safety, scenary, and costs?

Are fully supported tours worth the additional cash or should I simply plan the tour myself and reserve accommodations?

Did a fully supported tour in '07.

Pro's:
No thinking req'd- just get on bike and follow the route, stay in the hotel they planned and eat where they say.
Ride a road bike (lighter, faster, more fun, less stuff to break).
Somebody's there to help fix things (including you) or to sag your tired butt.

Con's:
No thinking req'd (I mean part of the fun is figuring stuff out, right?)
EXPENSIVE AS HELL. Doing it yourself will save you probably half and you'll eat better and stay in nicer digs. Camp or do Warm Showers and you'll cut that cost by at least half.
Tour group will have a very fixed schedule and you WILL NOT DEVIATE FROM IT!!!! You'll feel rushed. The daily mileage is FIXED...today will be 37 miles and tomorrow will be 120...shut up and do it.

I agree with bobframe.

Self supported tours are the best. You get to decide how everything goes... route, mileage, how much to sleep in, scenic loops that deviate from your route plan... Sure, you haul your gear, but are you in a hurry? Do you have to keep up with the roadies out on a club ride? No, in fact they'll cheer you on as they pass like a flock of hopped up birds getting a late start on racing the winter south and you'll feel like you're standing still... but you'll feel good about it! You'll tell people that 100km can be a "long day" on a loaded touring bike. And depending on the terrain, you would be absolutely right.

Seriously. Money cannot buy a great touring experience. Just plan it. Load it. And ride it.

Look up your local cycletouring club and see what they're doing this year.

For example ...

The Elbow Valley Cycle Club in Calgary, AB has several multi-day tours:
https://www.elbowvalleycc.org/events/...iltDifficulty=

I see that their longest upcoming multi-day tour is 9 days and goes from Hope to Barkerville, B.C.
https://www.elbowvalleycc.org/events/...sp?eventid=320

Or here's the Vancouver Bicycle Club and their tours:
https://vbc.bc.ca/tours-2
They've got a 9 day tour in August from Castlegar to Princeton

So have a look to see if your local club is going somewhere interesting, or if the touring club in the area where you want to ride, or near to where you want to ride, is going somewhere interesting.


-- Touring clubs like these are a great choice because their price is much lower than commercial touring companies. It might be a tiny bit more than doing a self-supported tour, but not much.

-- The tours I've done with the Calgary and Edmonton touring clubs have also had an element of flexibility to them. The Golden Triangle, for example, follows a set route, but you can leave when you want to leave as long as you've got your stuff on the van by a certain time. You can stop and eat at the many rest stops, or keep riding as you desire. You can ride as fast or slow as you want. You're under no pressure whatsoever to keep up with anyone. And you definitely do not feel remotely rushed. Once you arrive at the destination for the day, you're free to do whatever you want ... take a nap, go for a walk, ride some more, read a book, sit around and chat ... whatever takes your fancy. I did a hub-and-spoke tour with the Calgary club, and on that one we decided on our route for the day during a brief morning meeting each morning ... and different cyclists headed off in different directions each day. No fixed route at all.

-- The tours I've done with the Calgary and Edmonton touring clubs feed their riders VERY well. It's like a rolling picnic with a wide variety of excellent food.


Another option might be to check out Cycle Canada
https://www.cyclecanada.com/
They've got several supported tours, and they are more expensive ... but maybe that's what you're after. If you've got the money to spend, all the tours listed on their site look appealing to me!

Fully supported tours don't really appeal to me. To some extent it seems that they defeat a couple of the purposes for touring. You would lose the feeling of crossing the distance without relying on cars. You would lose the feeling of independence. And you would lose some of the opportunities to interact with the local folks. Then there is the cost...

You don't give any clues of whether you prefer the US, Europe, or somewhere else. I will limit my comments to the US since that is where I have toured.

The Trans America is a great route and can be easily done is your time frame. If you want to get a feel for what the rest of the US is like it is a great experience.

The Pacific Coast is beautiful and very well suited to cycling. Camping is readily available and cheap.

The new AC Sierra Cascades route (my personal choice for this summer) promises to be beautiful and challenging.

If I had more time, as you apparently do, I would ride down the Pacific Coast and back up through the mountains on the Sierra Cascades route. That way you would hit much of the best scenery in the US. You would also have a chance to become a bit more road hardened for the mountains before you get to the Sierras.

What ever you choose, have a great trip.

1. If you are talking about 2 months worth of supported tours, I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up speding more money going that route than you would buying the gear you need for a self-contained tour, especially if you do a camping supported tour, since you would generally need a tent or some other shelter, sleeping bag and pad anyway.

2. Whether or not fully supported are worth the extra cash is entirely dependent on you. The differences are mostly one of convenience. Route mapped out and maybe even marked on the ground. Food and accomodations arranged fror along the way. SAG service. Luggage transport. I have done both supported and self-contained tours. I enjoy the latter much more for the reasons already noted, but I won't automatically eliminate a good supported tour from consideration.

3. Without knowing exactly where you are and how far you are willing to travel (travel cost is another factor you must consider), it's difficult to recommend specific events. I have done three Cycle Oregons and consider them extremely well run and well supprted, and the routes have always been stellar, if you can put up with oover 2,000 people for a week, that is. But don't look at that for this year since it sold out in about 2 weeks. Maybe you can get a copy of the Cyclist's Yellow Pages from Adventure Cycling Association (they also run supported and self-contained tours). The Yellow Pages contains a wealth of information about cycling tours, touring companies and events.

Some tour companies
Bicycle Tour of Colorado
Colorado Rocy Mountain Bike Tour
PacTour
America by Bicycle
Cycle America
Western Spirit
Adventure Cycling

I'd recommend trying to do the Icefields Parkway in BC or Pacific Coast of the USA.

I've never done a long supported tour, only week-long ones, they are pretty fun but I do think that they get expensive really fast, so if you want to maximize your dollar/mile on a longer trip, and are willing to carry your own gear, purchasing equipment for self-supported trips is worth it. Once you buy the gear, you'll have it for many years, so you can amortize the cost of the equipment over that, instead of paying for one experience.

You could also do a "credit card tour" - where you just carry clothes and stay in hotels - if you have the $ for that, it can be really fun. COst does add up pretty quick, but if you don't like camping, it's totally do-able. You can put a light rack on your road bike, and just plan your own trip.