guided cycling holidays

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ianmac62

Guru
Location
Northampton
Thanks, @srw - CTC offer quite a range of tours and level of support. Having been on a CTC tour from Caen to Cannes (aka La Manche to La Med), and again from Hamburg to Dresden, I had some experience of what riders would want when I acted as a van man for a second Caen to Cannes tour with the same leader.

What did I learn in terms of choosing a tour? What questions would I ask before handing over my money?
  • the leader is important - you should be able to find out about the leader from the company and from other punters' comments; a good leader will attract many of the same participants each year, no matter the change of destination
  • has the leader cycled the route and the driver driven the route? did they do a recce within the last twelve months?
  • expectations of the van and driver are important: do you want what your contract with the company says? or do you want flexibility knowing that your driver is him/herself a cyclist who's done that kind of tour before? when there's an emergency illness or serious mechanical, what will you expect?
  • will your leader want everyone to ride together? will you be given a gpx track and find your own way? which do you prefer? and can you ride together one day and on your own the next, if that's what you fancy?
  • are there alternative routes for tough parts of the tour? or does everyone have to go up Mont Ventoux?
  • travel and bicycle insurance? berths on ferries? emergency phone numbers? full details of overnights for family at home?
  • rest day(s)? or not?
No doubt there are other questions. But commercial tours are expensive and there is a lot of competition in the market. You should be satisfied *before* handing over the deposit! Never forget it's *your* holiday!
 

mmmmartin

Random geezer
FWIW, that post on its own is worth signing in to Cycle Chat for. Shame there's no "post of the year" widget. Much sense is in that post.
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Post ride satisfaction level would be my concern with a guided tour.

Parkhead Station on the C2C is one of my regular turn around points on day rides, and I often see C2Cers on guided tours.

One mob arrived to be handed bottles of water from the support van.

I'm no cycling purist, quite the reverse as I usually ride an ebike, but not even carrying your own water seemed a bit naff.

Part of the fun of a long ride is using your initiative to route find and sort out snags such as mechanicals and sorting where your next drink/food/bed is coming from.

A small example, when I turned up during a long ride at the cafe at Thorpe Thewles in Cleveland to find it shut, I was pleased with myself when I located an outside tap.

To have everything spoon fed would would seriously reduce the sense of achievement for me.
 

Shut Up Legs

Down Under Member
To have everything spoon fed would would seriously reduce the sense of achievement for me.
That's alright if you don't live too far away, but what if you have to cross the world just to get to some place you want to ride? Or you have limited time to do the tour?

In the 1 week Pyrenees and Alps tour I'm doing in September, we will be "spoon fed" to some extent, and that's exactly what I'm paying for. I can't afford to take enough time off work to be able to do the tour completely self-guided, so I'll need all the help I can get. In 7 days I'll be riding 780km with 23,500m climbing, so having a support crew will definitely help.
 

srw

It's a bit more complicated than that...
Part of the fun of a long ride is using your initiative to route find and sort out snags such as mechanicals and sorting where your next drink/food/bed is coming from.

A small example, when I turned up during a long ride at the cafe at Thorpe Thewles in Cleveland to find it shut, I was pleased with myself when I located an outside tap.

To have everything spoon fed would would seriously reduce the sense of achievement for me.
Horses for courses. If someone hands me a bottle of water I'm delighted, even if I'm carrying my own. And I don't go on holiday to solve problems - I get enough of that when I'm in work. I want to know I've got a comfortable hotel room, a hot shower and a decent meal waiting for me at the end of a day.
 

1234

Active Member
Hi there, please take look at what we have to offer at Greek Cycle holidays. Not a tour as such as you will be based in a Villa but does offer a huge variety of scenic riding in a seldom explored Greek island, with full support out on route and back at the villa with a fully inclusive offer of food and bar to help you relax.

Only an hours drive from Athens Airport and transfers are included. Basically all you have to do is get ot Athens and the rest in our hands!

Would appreciate any comments or feedback www.greekcycleholidays.com

cheers
 
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