Bicycle touring in Swisserland

Suggested Touring Trips

#	Name	From	Via	To	Level	Duration	Dist./Climb
1	GVA-MRS	Geneva Airport		Marseiless	Moderate	8 Days	560Km/3550m
2	PRG-Berlin	Prague Airport		Berlin	Moderate	8 Days	560Km/3550m
3	Dubno-Shepetivka	Prague Airport		Berlin	Moderate	8 Days	560Km/3550m
4	Krakow-Warsaw
Prague Airport		Berlin	Moderate	8 Days	560Km/3550m
5	Manchester-Lindon	Manchester		London	Moderate	8 Days	560Km/3550m
6	Paris-London	CDG Airport		Heathrow Airport	Moderate	8 Days	560Km/3550m
7	Rome-Venice	Rome Airport		Venice	Moderate	8 Days	560Km/3550m
8	Takayama-Kyoto	Takayama		Kyoto	Moderate	8 Days	560Km/3550m

Bicycle touring is a great way to explore the world. You carry your supplies in packs on your bike and either stay at hotels or campgrounds along the way. Many do a combination of both. I call this type of beneficial adventure bicycling for health. What could be better than indulging in natural beauty, culture, and history while also improving your health?

Guided Bicycle Touring

Breathtaking countries, such as France, Hungary, and Switzerland have organized bicycle tours. These tours provide knowledgeable guides, accommodations, and support vehicles. They offer the perfect opportunity to get better acquainted with a foreign land, meet like-minded people, and indulge in the culture of the area.

Take a look at my favorite bicycle touring operator: Spice Roads. They served us so well during our biking in thailand!

Choosing the Right Bike

You can adapt a mountain bike or road bike, but not all are good for undergoing conversions. See, cross country biking puts too much pressure on a road racing bicycle. You might think a mountain bike will be a better solution, but you will struggle to carry all your supplies with its thin frame.

A touring bike is highly recommended for travelling a long distance. It is designed to go the distance, yet its frame is far more travel-friendly. Touring bikes are not cheap, but they are well worth the money.

One of these bikes will likely cost you over $1,000, but if you are traveling hundreds or thousands of miles, you really cannot afford not to invest in one. A few design elements that distinguish these bikes from others include:

• Frame – Strong aluminum or steel frame
• Gearing – Low end starting gears
• Fork and Stay – The front fork and rear stay is deep and wide enough for touring tires
• Long Chainstay – Provides sufficient clearance for tire seat tube and heel pannier
• Brakes – V-brakes or cantilever brakes re powerful enough for the long haul
• Eyelets – Front and rear eyelets are essential for holding pannier racks
• Handlebars – Enjoy more hand position options and reduced wind resistance with drop handlebars

Essential Bicycle Equipment

The list of cycling equipment that you need for your trip, especially during multi-days cycling abroad is long. I recommend packing several days ahead of time and then examining the contents every day to see what you don’t need or what you might have missed.

What to Wear

When it comes to apparel and accessories, you can really never have too many bicycle touring tips.

To have the most enjoyable experience, you need cycling clothes that will keep you comfortable in a variety of weather conditions. Read here more about all the cycling clothing that you need for your trip.

Where to Stay

You will find that some of the most helpful bicycle training tips are regarding accommodations. You know where you want to go, but you need a place to rest your head at night. If you know your route, all you need to do is use the Internet to find hotels or campgrounds along the way. Be sure to make reservations if needed. For example, if you plan on camping at a State Park on a holiday weekend, you will likely need to reserve a space.

Get Educated

Make sure you research your destination and route. Are there any festivals or events that could cause road closings and fully booked hotels? Are there bicycle laws you need to be familiar with? Most importantly, pack a few maps, and plan your route.

10 Tips for Long Distance Cycling

1. Gradually Increase Your Training

You may feel ready to jump on your bike and ride for miles and miles.

If you do not want to pay for this choice through muscle aches, pains, and throbbing soreness, you should ramp up your training gradually as you prepare.

Trainers often suggest increasing the length of your ride by approximately 10 percent each week, giving your muscles plenty of recovery time between practice sessions.

2. Pack Food That Will Provide Energy

While you ride, you will need to have snacks on hand that are convenient and nutritious, as cycling on an empty stomach is never a good idea. Snacks that are great for long distance cycling include trail mix, granola bars, and dried fruit.

3. Don’t Forget Water

Your body requires a greatly elevated amount of hydration when you are cycling. Prepare yourself to meet this need with water bottles in your backpack or attached to your bike. You might consider using a water bladder that conforms to your bag and provides hands-free hydration to you via a tube.

4. Warm Your Muscles

Do warm up stretches to loosen the muscles and increase circulation. This can reduce the risk of developing cramps or becoming injured.

5. Become Familiar with Your Gears

Biking for long distances often means biking over varied terrain. Before you embark on your trip, familiarize yourself with which gears are best in a given situation, so you can quickly make the change when the time comes.

6. Pace Yourself

A common mistake made by beginners when long distance cycling is to burst forth at the beginning of the ride at maximum speeds. This will only lead to becoming very fatigued early, which is very bad news if you are competing. It is best to stay at a steady, comfortable pace that will help you sustain enough energy to sprint past fatigued competitors later.

7. Eat and Drink Regularly

Another way to avoid becoming fatigued during your ride is to eat and drink at regular intervals. You want to refuel your body before your resources become depleted. It can be wise to set a timer on your watch to remind you to have a snack.

8. Replenish Lost Salts

In addition to regularly drinking plenty of water, you will also need to restore your essential salts that are lost as you sweat. A good way to replenish these minerals is by using isotonic drinks, such as 100Plus or Pocari Sweat.

9. Stretch During Your Ride

Keeping your body in the same position for hours at a time can be very tough on your muscles and joints, and can reduce circulation, resulting in stiffness and cramps. You can reduce these problems while long distance cycling by changing your position, stretching, and loosening your muscles. This can be as simple as regularly straightening your back, rolling your shoulders, and shaking your hands down at your sides.

10. Cool Down

Just as you warmed your muscles, you will also need to stretch every time you stop riding to cool down your muscles and help with recovery.

My experience with Touring Trips

Cross country biking was never something I really thought about doing. Then, a couple of years ago, a few of my friends were planning a long ride that piqued my interest. Although challenging, I have to say the experience was more rewarding than I could have ever imagined it would be.

Preparation is really the key with long distance riding. Even though I was already an avid rider, I trained quite hard to be ready for the adventure. My bicycle touring preparation became a bit of an obsession for me. I am quite glad I did allow myself that prep time because I certainly was not expecting the trip to be so wearing mentally and physically.

Friends in a Cross Country Bicycling Trip

Last Word About Touring Trips

Your cycling trip is not always going to be smooth sailing. You may run into undesirable weather, construction zones, rude motorists, traffic jams, etc. Embrace each obstacle as part of the experience, rather than getting frustrated by them.

You may think this is a lot of money and time spent preparing for a cross-country endeavor. It is, but an experience like this comes with no regrets. You may think you will only do it once, but when you get out there and see how empowering the journey is, you will be planning your next ride before you are even done with the first one.