Looking for suggestions for 3/4 month bike tour anywhere in the world,. For newbies.
 

Hello everyone,
Having recently gotten married, myself and my wife have decided to quit the jobs we dislike, throw caution to the wind and go have an adventure for at least 12 months. As part of the adventure we're looking to do a 3/4 month tour anywhere in the world other than Europe. We're both fit, but neither of us have done much cycle touring before. Is there any route that people would recommend. I checked the usual Lonely Planet bike routes etc but wanted the input of an active community.

Thanks in advance,
Graham

Welcome to the forums! Let me be the first to invite you to tour the US. Maybe a coast to coast trip.

What are your priorities for a cycling destination? Scenery? Culture? Low cost? Safety? Something else?

Without the benefit of knowing more details, much of southeast Asia is an excellent area for touring. If the cycling portion of your trip falls during the months of December-February, northern Thailand and northern Laos have near-perfect weather, in addition to being great areas for touring.

Also, when is your planned start date?

I agree with Axolotl about Laos/Thailand but I think you've missed the window to tour those countries this year. When we were there last year in early Feb., they told us that past Feb. isn't so nice because of the burning season.

I was thinking South America riding Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, but it might be too much if you are not experienced bike tourers due to terrain with high elevations, desert, lots of off-roading, etc.

If you can wait a little bit until the summer, my personal recommendations are North America and northern Asia. In North America: Vancouver to San Diego, Vancouver-Banff-Glacier Natl Park-Yellowstone, Toronto-Montreal-Nova Scotia. In Asia, Japan (I hear is a considerably less expensive this year) with great roads, very bike-friendly, beautiful sceneries, and rich in culture, traditions and foods. Korea has also a lot to offer, I've been told.

Don't under estimate the availablity, cost, and cleanliness of water. You will be using a lot of it.
I don't like to worry about getting sick from food, either.
North America gets my vote, especially in rural areas.

The OP didn't write anything which indicates that he or his wife have irrational concerns about water.

Thanks for all the welcomes, replies and suggestions. Canada sounds very promising. As does South America. We don't have any date that we have planned to do the cycle trip. Our plans are flexible, so we can work around the best time of year to do specific cycles. Vancouver to Banff sounds particularly promising. Thanks so much.

Hi Chris, i really like the idea of Vancouver-Banff-Glacier Natl Park-Yellowstone. I've always wanted to visit Yellowstone. Is there a specific website, cycle route that I can check out about the route.

Depends a little on both your goals and your timing.

I am slightly surprised that you are specifically ruling out Europe. Normally, for someone new to touring I would recommend their own country or region first - because you have connections to history, geography and perhaps language as well. So for those from US, I'd say the Pacific Coast, Cross USA, coast of Maine, Natchez Trace, Alaska, etc. For those from Canada, I'd recommend the Canadian Maritimes, Canadian Rockies or perhaps further North through Yukon. For those from Australia, I'd recommend Tasmania, WA coast or with more time Top End. Also recommend New Zealand for both Kiwis and Australians. Indians and Chinese have plenty to cycle in their own countries including Kerala, Rajasthan, Ladakh in India and Yunnan, Tibet and many other areas in China. For Europeans a number of interesting places including Baltics, Croatia/Slovenia, number of spots in France, etc. Southeast Asia is pretty easy cycling including lots of Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and more off beat in Laos, Cambodia and perhaps coming Myanmar.

Most of these places will also be good places to visit for those from other parts of the world. However, also think there are plenty of places in Europe so don't need to go so far afield...

Another factor that comes into play is weather. Many places further from the equator will be nicer during local summer - with both long daylight hours and more favorable weather. Tropical zones may also have distinct wet and dry seasons.

For some of the areas your mentioned so far - I would recommend browsing http://www.crazyguyonabike.com and reading some of the journals there. You'll find trip reports from people traveling throughout the world and just reading how others have done these trips can give some ideas of what works (or doesn't work) for you. The Trento Bike pages: www.trentobike.org are also a good source with world-wide reports though a bit more emphasis on European trips.

Are you planning a 3 to 4 month trip, or 3/4 month (3 week) trip?

Yes, Canada! Please do. I'm a Brit (moved here eight years ago, now living on the East Coast). You will love it. I suggest New Brunswick (simply because I live there and would love to meet up!), a Cross-Canada tour can be done in the time you've allotted.

Do keep in touch!

Jack.

It is a good ride. Check out our blog for one route from Vancouver to Glacier NP. Look at July, 2013.

http://ddlivestrong.blogspot.com

Adventure Cycling Association is a good source of ideas for routes.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/

+1. That was my first thought.

I would start touring where you are first, and get some Touring coping skills up, first.

then go to other places where you add the cross cultural understanding as an additional challenge .

you already comfortable faking bike repairs in the field, and got camping skills?

@ fietsbob - i've got reasonable bike repair skills and we've both years of camping experience. We've both travelled extensively around the world, to many third world countries as well. Just never on bikes! We'd love to do more touring in Ireland first, but unfortunately we don't have a workable timescale before we depart in June that would allow that.
@indyfabz - 3 months to 4 months .
@Doug64 & @ mev - thanks a million for the website info. I will absolutely check those out.
@mev - I understand your logic and agree with what your saying, but neither of us are new to travelling, just touring. We've both travelled around Europe a fair bit as it's just a quick hop across the pond, and to be honest we want to go somewhere that's a little further away and more exotic...it'll sound better when we're telling our mates in the pub! Europes very accessible. We can cycle their anytime.It just doesn't seem as appealing or exotic as places we wouldn't normally be able to get to as easily.
@jack -If we make it over that neck of the woods I'll let you know.

Since when is having concern for safe water to drink "irrational"??? I am sorry but having no concern for water safety in many parts of the world is simply foolish.

I hate to be a wet blanket but I do not think committing to a 3/4 month tour for newlywed newbies is a very good idea. It would be one thing if you already have a bunch of shorter tours under your belt and now want to do this big adventure. A tour of this length is a good way to come away divorced.

And fietsbob makes an excellent point. Adding some exotic place as your choice of travel is a real recipe for disaster when you add it on to the other stresses of touring together.

Where did I write that I have "no concern for water safety in many parts of the world", spinnaker?

There is a big difference between have reasonable concerns and having irrational concerns. The comments I responded to were unreasonable, IMO. Urging the OP to avoid the majority of the world because of irrational fears about food and water is foolish. Those of us who have toured extensively in the developing world understand that. Indeed, it turns out the OP has already traveled himself in the developing world, and the OP specifically requested destination ideas outside of Europe.

It's not particularly difficult to take sensible precautions to stay healthy while traveling. Also, there are significant difference regarding water and food safety throughout the developing world, as well as in the developed world. Look at the recent water problem in West Virginia, for example. And for what it's worth, the only time I got sick enough from food or water while touring that I needed to see a doctor, happened to me in the US/Canada. (My symptoms began in the US, but I had just been in Canada)

It's clear that some folks on this forum are irrationally afraid to bike outside of wealthy, developed countries. On other bike touring forums which attract more cyclists from outside of English-speaking countries, people would laugh at some of the fearful comments in this forum. Some Americans seem to be particularly prone to these fears, but it's certainly not limited to Americans.

Just to clarify ... you're not talking about a 3/4 month tour (i.e. 3 weeks), you're talking about a 3-4 month tour. Is that right?

Canada is a good choice, and Vancouver to Banff would be nice between late May and early September ... really beautiful. I'd recommend adding a trip up to Jasper, back down to Hwy 11 and out to Rocky Mountain House, and then down the Cowboy Trail to Calgary.

Photos from that area of Canada: http://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...7619203595712/

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3259/2...7300ea39_z.jpg


But with 3-4 months, have you considered Australia? There are lots of nice places to tour here. :) I'd recommend February to April or October to mid-December.

Australia Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...7602419256784/


http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5258/5...7942d38a_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7203/7...ed7a45df_z.jpg

Do as much research on your visa requirements as you do on your activities at the destination. The US has a three-month limit on its ordinary tourist visa which would preclude completion of a trans-continental ride. Australia's is also three months. Canada's is six months.

Good advice. Also find out about re-entry requirements. This can be useful if you're starting your trip in Vancouver, Canada going west to Banff then south into the U.S. to explore the national parks there. If you've got 4 months, you might do that part in two months. At that point, you might want to either explore other parts of the U.S., but you might also consider taking the bus or train to Eastern Canada (e.g., Montreal going east into Nova Scotia, The Maritimes) if the weather still allows it. This will require a re-entry into that country.

Another piece of advice: Always get your passport stamped when entering/leaving a country and never over-extend your visa. The United States and Canada have very strict immigration regulations. People can easily end up in prison or become persona non-grata for future visits.

Here is another thought to add to Chris's recommendation. Do the Canadian portion to Yellowstone. The ACA Trans American Route, a classic, goes through Yellowstone. It could be picked up there and take you across the remainder of the U.S. Another option is to pick up Highway 20 in Yellowstone, and take it to the east coast. It is the longest contiguous coast to coast highway in the U.S. Highway 20 is not an established route, and it takes some improvisation to get around those areas where the road turns to freeway and bikes are prohibited. IMO it is much more interesting going through the plain states than the ACA routes. A plus for us is that we only ran into 6 other touring cyclist in the entire 3700 miles. It is also more fun for me not to know where every turn, store, and campground is located, and I really don't want to look at my elevation profiles days before I hit a hill :) Look at 2007 in our blog. We were in Yellowstone on July 19th.

If limited on time, Chris's suggestion of skipping the plain states or provinces and getting to the eastern seaboard quicker is a great idea. If you have to miss something, the plains might be the thing to miss. However,they are beautiful and challenging in their own way.

This isn't quite accurate. No visa is required for an Irish citizen to visit the US for up to 90 days as a tourist. There is a 90 day limit to enter the US under the "Visa Waiver Program" for those nationalities which may participate in the program, including Irish citizens. (It is 90 days, not 3 months. The distinction is important. A stay of 91 days under the Visa Waiver Program is a violation.) To stay for a longer period as a tourist from a Visa Waiver country, a visa IS required.

Note: the clock starts kicking upon the first entry in the US, even if it is merely for a connection at an American airport on the way to another country. Leaving the US to enter a neighboring country (including those in the Caribbean) does NOT automatically reset the clock. However, individual border agents do have some discretion. I had a touring cyclist from a visa waiver country stay with me last year who biked in the US, then biked in Canada, and then wanted to re-enter the US on his bike. He successfully convinced the US border agent that he would leave the US within a new 90-day period and was allowed to enter.

Given what you have written, I would seriously consider SE Asia, particularly Thailand, if the time period you'd be there would be OK weather-wise. Although it is certainly "exotic", I found touring there to be as easy or easier than touring in North American or Europe. You don't need to bother with camping gear or cooking gear because excellent and very inexpensive accommodations and food are readily available. There is a pretty good network of good roads. The scenery is lovely in much of Thailand and people are friendly. There's also fairly good hygiene.

I've toured in several countries in Latin America. The network of roads is generally not great, so devising a good route can be challenging. There are some exceptions, like the Carretera Austral in southern Chile, but that would have to be done during the southern hemisphere summer. Throughout Latin America, a lot of touring cyclists ride on the Pan American highway, but I have not enjoyed riding on that generally busy route.

Regardless of where you decide to go, I would urge you to do some serious climate research. In North America, the Rockies are pretty much limited to the summer. The same is true for the Pacific coast of the US. In the tropics, there are often distinct wet and dry seasons. Some places have monsoon periods which are best avoided, as well.

Thanks for all the great advice everyone. We really appreciate it. I'll be doing my homework over the next few weeks to decide on a location. I'll let ye all know how I get on. Thanks and slan go fhoil,