What to Expect
What To Bring Biking
Preparing for your Tour
Preparing for a multi-day biking tour requires thoughtful planning to ensure a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable experience. Start with your body and your bike: ride regularly in the weeks leading up to the tour to build endurance and identify any potential issues with your gear or riding posture. Schedule a full tune-up for your bike to make sure brakes, gears, and tires are in excellent condition. Equally important is planning your route and daily mileage, accounting for your fitness level and time constraints. Use a GPS device or smartphone with offline maps to stay on course, and let someone know your itinerary for safety.
When it comes to gear, pack light but intentionally. Essentials include a well-fitting helmet, padded cycling shorts, moisture-wicking clothing, gloves, sunglasses, and a compact rain jacket. Bring multi-day tools and supplies like a multitool, patch kit, mini pump, spare tubes, and basic first-aid. For hydration and nutrition, carry water bottles or a hydration pack and snacks like energy bars or dried fruit. Consider lightweight panniers or a bikepacking setup for load distribution, and always carry a power bank to keep your electronics charged. A small journal or notepad is also a nice touch for tracking your progress and reflecting on the ride.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR
THE WEATHER
What to bring for a cycling tour
Your choice of clothing should be influenced by (1) our comments concerning climate, (2) personal comfort, and (3) space limitation. Although we encourage cyclists to transport the majority of their clothing in our support vehicle between overnight destinations, cyclists should be prepared to carry those articles of clothing essential to changing weather conditions that may be encountered during the course of the day. Those articles that should be carried include rain gear and protective clothing in the event of dramatic drops in temperature (e.g., lengthy mountain descents). Some means of carrying this gear, such as a rear pack, will be needed on your bicycle. (Rental bikes are equipped with rear rack packs.)
Again, preparation is the key to a rich, exciting cyclo-touring experience. It is not impossible to encounter a 30-degree temperature variation in an amazingly short period of time. Properly prepared and equipped, such dramatic changes will only enhance our total touring experience, rather than detract from it.
For helmets, the preference always is to bring your own helmet for comfort and fit. If you don’t have a helmet, contact us and indicate your desire that we provide a helmet for you and we’ll be happy to do so without charge.
Clothing Recommendations
- shorts (comfortable for riding)
- t-shirts or jerseys (both long and short sleeved)
- shoes for cycling (can be a touring shoe, cleated shoe or tennis shoe)
- rain jacket and rain pants (pants are optional but recommended)
- sweater (wool or synthetic, not cotton), light jacket
- warm-up pants, tights or some other form of leg covering
- hiking shoes (particularly for tours that include planned hiking days)
- leisure clothing (for after cycling hours) Informal, casual, comfortable clothing is the rule – e.g. jeans, shorts, etc. Keep in mind that evenings can be quite cool.
- helmet
- cycling gloves
- binoculars (great means of viewing wildlife)
Personal Articles
- sun glasses
- sun screen (SPF-15)
- lip protection (SPF-15)
- camera
- binoculars (great means of viewing wildlife)
- daypack (for hiking)
- National Parks pass – if you have a pass, bring it along
Cycling Equipment
A good fitting, well equipped bicycle is your tool for an enjoyable and memorable tour. If you don’t have a suitable bicycle, or do not wish to transport your bicycle, we can provide a rental for the tour. If you bring your own, we recommend:
- A rear blinking red light visible from 300 ft is required on all bicycles
- alpine gearing, with a low gear in the range of 30”-36”
- 2 large water bottles
- rear pannier rack and rack top bag
- frame pump, tire irons, spare tube, patch kit
- clipless pedals or toe clips and straps
- We provide map cases for the cue sheets to be used on the front handle bars.
Tools and Other Gear
Our leaders will be riding with a full complement of tools to handle most repairs. Our support vehicle will also carry a wide array of tools and a supply of commonly required spare parts (tubes, tires, brake pads, brake and derailleur cables, etc.). If, however, your bike is other than a conventional model (e.g., tandem, recumbent, wheels that are other than 700c) you will need to bring spare tubes, at least one spare tire, and derailleur and brake cables. We also do not carry Campagnolo spare parts in our vans., but we are aware of the location of bike shops along our routes. If you have any question as to whether we will have the necessary repair parts and equipment for your personal bike, we urge you to contact our office for clarification.
If you require specialized nutrition needs for snacking or other, you are welcome to bring along a supply which we can carry in the van for you.
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