Spanish Bike Tours

Spain is a festive country where different festivals are celebrated at different times of the year. All these involve a lot of fun and excitement. Some of the festivals celebrated here are:

Travel Spain (Sanfremines)– This is better known as the Running of the Bulls. The San Fermin festival in Pamplona starts on July 7 and lasts for a week. People wear white shirts and the red sash and go on the street to find bulls and outrun them. There are also many carnivals and ferris wheels. Many giant puppets are taken on the streets in a parade at night and bands accompany them. The festival closes on July 14 at the Plaza Consistorial where people sing mournful poems.

Travel Spain (Semana Santa) – More than a million people come to Seville in the week of Easter to watch this festival, which begins on Palm Sunday and closes on Easter. During the 16^th century, Catholics wanted to bring the passion of Christ to the common people on the street. Holy figures were made from wood and clothed in the best fabrics. They were placed in the front of the parade, which went to the Cathedral of Seville and returned.

Travel Spain (Feria de Abril ) – People come to the city of Andalusia for this festival. The most frequented place in Seville is the cathedral here. This is the largest Roman Catholic cathedral in the world and the largest medieval Gothic edifice. Seville is famous for the festivals held during Easter as well as the April festival. You will find a lot of Flamenco dancing and bull fighting during the april festival which does not have any set dates. Many beautiful women dressed in flowery dresses do the Flamenco dance. This dance takes place in the evening. A lot of bullfights take place during the day.

This festival takes place on the banks of the Guadalquivir River. Many tents are set up here during this time. There are separate tents for the Spanish families and separate ones for the tourists.

Travel Spain( Las Fallas de San Jose) – Seville is situated in Southern Spain. But Valencia is found on the eastern coast. Valencia is the place which one should visit in the spring. The Las Fallas de San Jose takes place from March 13-19. The Fallas are gaint models made using paper mache, wood and wax. These fallas are burnt after ten days when the festival ends in the middle of a lot of cheer and fireworks.

Travel Spain (Romeria Viking )- The Catoira region in Pontevedra, Galicia is the place for some fun and adventure. The Romeria Vikinga is held on August 3 every year. A Viking raid of the Spanish coast is acted out every year. A Viking ship attacks the ‘Torres de Oeste’ or ‘Towers of the East’. 30 Vikings come to fight and demand for wine. A feast of red wine and seafood is served at the end of this.

What’s involved in planning your bicycle tour?

How you approach planning your bicycle trip will determine how enjoyable it will be for you.

If you are going with a tour operator it is usual that your trip will be planned from the point where you meet your operator on the ground. They will do their best to allow for different ages, and preferences. They will also usually have years of experience doing this. So, the operator will know what works and what doesn’t.

If you’re going on a cycling trip by yourself, however, you will have to take your own cycling experience and ability into account when planning your trip.  If you’re going with a group then you will need to take everybody’s age, stamina and cycling experience into account.

You could start by checking out your local library or bookshop where you will doubtless find some books on camping and cycling.

But, leaving aside the books, the basic things you need to take into account include:
Do you prefer the company of a group or people, or are you happy to go it alone?
What distance can you comfortably cycle each day?
What kind of bicycle do you usually ride?
How fast can you cycle?
Do you prefer back roads or paved roadways which go through bigger towns/villages and which allow more comfortable accommodation and prepared food?
Do you prefer rougher country roads which are more off the beaten track and will require you to camp out and prepare your own food during your trip?

The type of bike and tyres you use will decide some of these decisions for you! Using a racing bike with suitable tyres will restrict you to main roads, and towns, which will add to your costs – accommodation and food, and restrict your route. Your tyres will also determine what load you can carry – light weight tyres = light weight load.

Heavy weight tyres, which are great for rougher terrain, are not the best for long trips.

A middle ground of middle weight tyres will allow for camping and motel accommodation, and some scenic route travel across country.

What Distance To Travel Each Day?

You are generally better to underestimate the distance you think you can travel earlier on in your trip. Usually about twice the distance of your usual daily trip is doable. As your tour progresses you will build up strength, but you will also feel tired each day from the previous days cycling. A good average distance might be 11 – 15 miles an hour depending on how long your trip is! The distance you can cover in a day will be determined by your fitness. If you can comfortably cover 40-50 miles a day, then settle for a target of 30 miles per day at the beginning of your trip and see how you do.

Some Things You Should Take With You

What equipment you bring will be largely determined by whether you decide to camp or stay in motels.

• Rain gear.
• A number of changes of clothing (outer, inner, socks, underclothes) and make sure it is kept dry!
• Water bottles, 2 or 3, and filled regularly.
• Hat or bandana to protect your head, face and ears and to help you be seen by motorists.
• Remember insect repellent.
• Travel vaccinations are a must for some destinations.
• If you’re going to camp, then get some camping experience first!
• For camping you will need at least a tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, stove, fuel bottle, one large pot, can opener, matches, and knife, fork, spoon.
• Lotion sun screen, chap stick.
• Tools you should carry include – screwdrivers – flathead and Philips, a crescent wrench, Allen wrenches, and tire irons. You can get kits with these at your local bicycle or hardware store.
• Bring a map with you. You can get adventure maps which map out complete cross-country routes for you to cycle.
• Mapping software can also help in planning your route.
• A GPS device could be handy to take with you.

As a final preparation make some smaller trips before you go away. This will allow you to test yourself, your bike, and camping. You should build yourself up physically before attempting any kind of long road trip. Trips of 10–30 miles duration are good for pre-trip preparation.

Finally get your bike completely overhauled and do a complete regrease of your bike.

Cycling France via bike tour sound like fun? To some, the idea of a “tour” can seem limited and forced. With set-in-stone itineraries, arrival and departure times and even restricted sightseeing, some travelers feel they are better left on their own. This is the reason bike touring has grown in popularity over the past few years.

Cycling France, in particular, can offer even the return tourist a new and refreshing visit to one of the world’s most culture-filled and scenic destinations.

There are countless France cycling companies which offer self-guided tour packages. All of which will supply bikes, safety gear such as helmets, knee and elbow pads, easy to follow route instructions, sight information and even 24 hour on-site or check-in point support.

Cycling France and bike touring, in general, is one of the best ways to discover hidden cultural treasures which may be too far off the beaten path for most tours. Some are even left off tourist maps altogether, making them easily missed or forgotten. These places could be sights such as vineyards which are centuries’ old, renaissance castles, pre-historic cave paintings and cliff dwellings and even ancient Roman monuments.

There are also some Cycling France companies which offer your own personal Tour De France, outlining and allowing you and your family to cycle some of the easier sections and stages of the world’s most famous cycling race!

These are just some of the sights and spectacles you can expect while cycling France, and the best part is, you will be guiding your own tour, which will allow flexibility and the option to stay, ride or even sleep as long as you want!

There will be no groups of strangers or uncomfortable buses, no itineraries to keep and absolutely no limitations on how much time you have! You can take as long as needed to build life-time memories!

Cycling France can take you beyond the hustle and bustle of Paris streets and museums to the seemingly untouched, unspoiled regions. Letting you leave with true feelings of exploration and adventure!

photo credit: crabchick

Swiss cycling truly bring the unsurpassed beauty of Switzerland to life!  To truly experience the magnificent majesty of the Swiss Alps you have to be among the vast wilderness which spans the valleys and cliffs and breathe the clean and crisp mountain air. It’s obvious that bike touring might not be the fastest or most convenient way to travel in these regions of Switzerland however, convenience and ease are not usually a part of true adventure. Swiss cycling surpasses almost all other cycling tours for both scenery and skill. Here are the two most popular and recommended Swiss cycling routes and what they have to offer.

Alpine Bike Route

From Scuol to Aigle

There is only one word to describe this trek, spectacular! Starting from the most eastern corner of Switzerland, you will travel south-east and experience what thousands of years and unimaginable geological forces can produce. From Scuol to Graunden to Aigle, you will work your way up steep climbs and fly down through seemingly untouched valleys. This route though beautiful, is challenging and is recommended only for the more experienced mountain cyclists. Swiss cycling is taken to a whole new extreme here and is sure to satisfy both the adrenalin junky and the earth-loving naturalists.

Panorama Bike Route

From Rorschach to Montreux

So many places on earth are said to be “scenic” however, until you have completed the Panorama Bike route through the Bodensee regions of Switzerland you have not experienced true scenery! With lakes, valleys, villages of painted houses, fields of wildflowers, cliff-dwelling wildlife and even the rigid peaks and cliffs of the Vaud Alps, this route is truly the experience of a lifetime! This route has some areas which are said to be more rough than difficult and is known for being the easiest of Swiss mountain cycling routes. However, it is only accessible during certain parts of the year. With only a few passages over 1000m and some places more than 1600 meters above sea level, this rote can be covered with snow as early as mid to late May.

Swiss cycling will allow you to experience Switzerland in ways that just aren’t possible by bus or train. Cycling Switzerland truly takes bike touring to a new level!

photo credit: Vinvin F
The idea of folding bikes may seem like a gimmick or gadget, one which was developed in recent years as a means to live a “greener” lifestyle. However, the truth is, folding bikes have been the convenient, compact choice of serious cyclists for decades and continue to be popular with every type of avid bicycle enthusiast.

“Folders”, as they are sometimes called, enable a cyclist to bring their bike into places where a regular, solid bicycle would not be allowed. For example, folding bikes fit easily into elevators, staircases, public transit, car trunks, and train luggage compartments and even into the small, limited storage of most city condos or studio apartments.

Convenience is a major bonus; however folding bikes have a few downfalls. Due to the fact they are constructed to be foldable in certain areas of their design, the frame of folding bikes are not as strong or as durable as that of a regular bike. Folding bikes are also unable to provide any great amount of speed. The compact nature and folding capabilities limits most folding bikes to a wheel size of 20” or less making them a slower, less impressive road bike. If you are looking for a bike with road racing capabilities or long-distance speed, a folding bike is not your best choice. However, most cyclists will agree, they did not purchase their folding bikes for the purpose of performance or speed, but simply for the compact convenience.

If you are an avid bike touring cyclist or even a commuter looking for a new mode of transportation, a folding bike may be a great investment. When purchasing your first folding bike, do not make the mistake of compromising on qualities such as comfort, safety and affordability. Do your research and find a reputable bicycle dealer. Make sure to inquire as much as possible about any issues concerning the features, maintenance and cost of any available folding bikes and ask for a test ride if possible. When folding bikes are purchased, maintained and kept properly, they can unfold a whole new world of cycling possibilities!

Enjoy!